2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
UNITED STATES HISTORY
SECTION II
Part A
(Suggested writing time--45 minutes)
Percent of Section II score - 45
Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that integrates your
interpretation of Documents A-I your knowledge of the period referred to in the question. High
scores will be earned only by essays that both cite key pieces of evidence from the documents and
draw on outside knowledge of the period.
1. Discuss the how the rise in industry and labor unions, as well as the influx of
immigrants, influenced the social, economic, and political atmosphere of the Gilded
Age.
Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1870 – 1900 to construct your answer
Document A
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2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Document B
From: United States At Large, 47th Cong., Sess I, Chp. 126, p. 58 – 61
May 6, 1882
An Act
To regulate certain treaty stipulations relating to the Chinese
Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers to this
country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof: Therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That from and after the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act, and until the
expiration of ten years next after the passage of this act, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States
be, and the same is hereby, suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese
laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within the United
States.
Document C
Document D
Source: Andrew Carnegie, Gospel of Wealth, 1889
The price which society pays for the law of competition, like the price it pays for cheap comforts and
luxuries, is also great; but the advantages of this law are also greater still, for tit is to this law that we
owe our wonderful material development, which brings improved condition in its train. But, whteter
the law is benign or not, we must say of it as we say of the change in conditions of men to which we
have referred: it is here, we cannot evade it; no substitutes for it have been found; and while the law
may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures the survival of the
fittest in every department. We accept and welcome, therefore as conditions to which we must
accommodate ourselves, great inequality of environment, the concentration of business, industrial
and commercial, in the hands of a few, and the law of competition between these, as being not only
Beneficial, but essential for the future progress of the race.
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2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Document E
Document F
Source: Jacob Rii, How the Other Half Lives, 1890
WHEN once I asked the agent of a notorious Fourth Ward alley how many people might be living in it I was
told: One hundred and forty families, one hundred Irish, thirty-eight Italian, and two that spoke the German
tongue. Barring the agent herself, there was not a native-born individual in the court. The answer was
characteristic of the cosmopolitan character of lower New York, very nearly so of the whole of it, wherever
it runs to alleys and courts. One may find for the asking an Italian, a German, a French, African, Spanish,
Bohemian, Russian, Scandinavian, Jewish, and Chinese colony. Even the Arab, who peddles “holy earth”
Document
G his exclusive preserves at the lower end of
from the Battery as a direct importation from
Jerusalem, has
Washington Street. The one thing you shall vainly ask for in the chief city of America is a distinctively
American community. There is none; certainly not among the tenements
Document G
Source: Knights of Labor Constitution, 1878
The alarming development and aggressiveness of the power of great capitalists and corporations under the
present industrial system will inevitably lead to the pauperization and hopeless degradation of the toiling
masses. It is imperative, if we desire to enjoy the full blessings of life, the unjust accumulation and this power
for evil of aggregated wealth shall be prevented. This mush-desired object can be accomplished only by the
united efforts of those who obey the divine injunction: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."
H for the purpose of organizing, educating and
Therefore we have formed the Order of theDocument
Knights of Labor
directing the power of the industrial masses.
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2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Document H
"Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall standing on corpse of New York”
Document I
Source: Lucy Parsons, Haymarket Documents – To Tramps – the unemployed, the
disinherited and miserable, 1884
Yet your employer told you that it was overproduction which made him close up. Who
cared for the bitter tears and heart-pangs of your loving wife and helpless children, whe
you bid them a love "God bless you" and turned upon the tramper's road to seek
employment elsewhere? I say, who cared for those heartaches and pains? You were only a
tramp now, to be execrated and denounced as a "worthless tramp and a vagrant" by that
very class who had been engaged all those years in robbing you and yours. Then can you
not see that the "good boss" or the "bad boss" cuts no figure whatever? that you are the
common prey of both, and that their mission is simply robbery? Can you not see that it is
the INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM and not the "boss" which must be changed?
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2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Document Information and Inferences – DBQ
Commonly Seen Relevant Outside Information
Boss Tweed
Political Machine
Andrew Carnegie
John Rockefeller
Chinese Exclusion Act
J.P. Morgan
Laissez – faire
Bessemer process
Knights of Labor
American Federation of Labor
Trusts
Mark Twain
Industrial Revolution
Railroads
Mass production
Social Darwinism
Gospel of Wealth
Yellow journalism
Interstate Commerce Act
Horizontal and vertical integration
Jacob Riiʼs How the Other Half Lives
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2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Document Information and Inferences – DBQ
Document A
• Shows a rise in workforce due to rise of labor positions open
o Example: railroad construction also leads to need for steel factory
workers
• Now women begin to work as well
Document B
• Chinese Exclusion Act
• There were many Chinese immigrants working, especially on railroad
construction, because they were willing to work for cheap
• Native Americans feel crowded and donʼt like job competition
Document C
• Depicts a child worker
o Child workers were common – especially immigrants
• Had to work in awful, dangerous conditions
• Lead to rise of labor unions and child labor laws
Document D
• Andrew Carnegie – steel tycoon
• Social Darwinism – survival of the fittest
o In both business and life
o Lead to laissez-faire government interference with industries
 Further corrupts company
Document E
• John Rockefeller – oil tycoon – depicted holding the government in the
palm of his hand
o Shows how industry taken over government
• Oil and pollution in the background – further showing how dependent on
oil the country is – it basically fuels everything including government
Document F
• Excerpt from Jacob Riisʼ How the Other Half Lives
o Describing conditions in which immigrants live
o Show how many have come to America due to surplus jobs
• America is no longer a country of mainly native born citizens, instead it is
more like a mixing pot of cultures
o Could lead to prejudice against immigrants
Document G
• Knights of Labor constituion
o Labor union that accepted everyone regardless of race or skill
• Shows how labor unions came about
Document H
• Political cartoon depicting political Boss Tweed and other Tammany hall
collaborators as vultures feasting of corpse of New York
• Boss Tweed controlled political machines – which helped immigrants in
return for votes
Document I
• Haymarket Documents
o Illustrates why they revolted – disgusted with corruption of industry
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2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
•
Haymarket riot – shed a negative light on unions because of violence.
o People began to shy away from unions
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2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Question 1
Discuss the how the rise in industry and labor unions, as well as the influx of immigrants,
influenced the social, economic, and political atmosphere of the Gilded Age.
The 8 – 9 Essay
• Well-developed thesis that examines how industries, immigrants, and labor
unions influenced the social, economic, and political atmosphere of the Gilded
Age.
• Effective use of considerable amount of documents
• Uses substantial, relevant information to support thesis
• May have small errors
• Clearly organized and well written
The 5 – 7 Essay
• Has a thesis that answers the question in a clear, understandable way
• Effectual use of documents
• Uses relevant outside information to support thesis
• Could contain small errors that are not very detrimental to the quality of the essay
• Adequate organization and writing skills; may contain small errors that do not
inhibit one’s understanding of the essay
•
The 2 – 4 Essay
• Underdeveloped thesis
• Restricted analysis of the affects industry, labor unions, and immigration on
social, economic, and political atmosphere of the Gilded Age.
• Only addresses one category
• Briefly quotes or cites the documents
• Little outside information or incorrect and unrelated information
• Could have major errors
• May be poorly written and/or organized
The 0 – 1 Essay
• No thesis or a thesis that does not answer the question
• Incorrect understanding of the question
• Incorrect use of documents, or leaves them out completely
• Many major errors
• Poorly written in a way that makes it hard to comprehend
-- blank or completely off task
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2010 AP UNITED STATES HISTORY FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS
Gilded Age DBQ Bibliography
Document A
"Participation Rates of Men and Women in the U.S. Labor Force." American
History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=AMHC4072&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 26, 2010).
Document B
U.S. Congress. "Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882." United States Statutes at Large,
47th Cong., Sess I, Chp. 126, p. 58-61. American History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=E01410&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 29, 2010)
Document C
"Boy Works in a New York Sweatshop." Library of Congress. Prints and
Photographs Division. American History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=AHI0093&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 28, 2010).
Document D
Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York City, NY: Charles Scribner
Son's, 1890. Bartleby.com. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. <http://www.bartleby.com/
208/3.html>.
Document E
“Political cartoon entitled, 'What a Funny Little Government!', inwhich John D.
Rockefeller holds the White House in the palm of his hand." Picture
History. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2010.
<http://www.picturehistory.com/product/id/42316>.
Document F
Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York City, NY: Charles Scribner
Son's, 1890. Bartleby.com. Web. 29 Apr. 2010. <http://www.bartleby.com/
208/3.html>.
Document G
Noble Order of the Knights of Labor. "Knights of Labor Constitution." Courtesy
Department of Archives and Manuscripts. The Catholic University of America,
Washington DC. American History Online. Facts On File,
Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=E11140&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 29, 2010).
Document H
"Government Corruption." The Progressive Area Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr.
2010. <https://progressiveerausm.wikispaces.com/1govt>.
Document I
Various. "Haymarket Documents." The Chicago Historical Society. American
History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=E13560&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 29, 2010).
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