How to Write AP® U.S. History SAQs – Smart Tips and Strategies

Secondary Source Question (required)

SAQ Example 1

"The New Deal economic policies ... implanted several ‘stabilizers' that have been ... successful in averting another such depression. ... Such safeguards restored confidence in the discredited banking system and established a firm economic foundation that performed well for decades thereafter. The New Deal was also responsible for numerous other notable changes in American life. In the space of a decade government laws eliminated sweatshops, severely curtailed child labor, and established enforcement standards for hours, wages, and working conditions. ... The New Deal's safety net ... firmly established the principle that the government had an obligation to assist the needy."

Roger Biles, historian, 1991

"My principal problem with Roosevelt and the New Deal [is] not over specific reforms or his social programs, but with the failure of the United States to recover from the depression during the eight peacetime years that he and his policies governed the nation. ... There were certainly positive contributions under the New Deal, but they may not have outweighed the negative aspects of the period. When one examines the full range of New Deal proposals ... the outline emerges of a form of government alien to any definition of liberalism except that of New Dealers themselves. Historians need to weigh more thoroughly and objectively the implications for the United States if Roosevelt's programs had been fully implemented. They also need to assess the costs in human misery of the delay in recovery, and of reduced U.S. influence abroad at a critical time in world affairs owing to its economic prostration."

Gary Dean Best, historian, 1990

Using the excerpts above, answer (a), (b), and (c).

1. Briefly explain ONE major difference between Biles's and Best's historical interpretations of the New Deal.
2. Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event or development during the period 1932 to 1980 that is not mentioned directly in the excerpts could be used to support Biles's interpretation.
3. Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event or development during the period 1932 to 1980 that is not mentioned directly in the excerpts could be used to support Best's interpretation.

Source: 2016 Administered test

Non-stimulus question

SAQ Example 2

Answer (a), (b), and (c).

1. Briefly explain why ONE of the following was the most significant factor in the failure of Reconstruction.
   • Economic factors
   • Political factors
   • Societal factors
2. Provide ONE example of a specific historical event or development that supports your explanation in (a).
3. Provide specific historical evidence for why ONE of the options is less convincing than your choice in (a) as the most significant factor in the failure of Reconstruction.

Exemplar:

1. The societal backlash from white Southerners against African Americans' civil rights following the Civil War made Reconstruction's failure inevitable. This is supported by over a century of continued efforts during and following Reconstruction in Southern states to reverse African American gains and keep African American society separate from and inferior to Southern white society.
2. White Southerners established militia groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, that maintained white supremacy by terrorizing and lynching African Americans during Reconstruction. The violence was so severe that in 1870 President Grant signed the Enforcement Acts to help end the violence against African Americans.
3. Political factors make for a less convincing argument than societal factors because white southerners used violence to reverse political gains of African Americans. For example, despite the political success of the 14^th and 15^th Amendments that constitutionally protected African Americans' civil rights, racial violence reinforced white superiority, and voter intimidation kept African Americans from exercising their political rights.

Primary source question (art)

SAQ Example 3

Using the image above, which depicts the United States in the nineteenth century, answer (a), (b), and (c).

1. Briefly explain ONE historical perspective expressed in the image.
2. Briefly explain how ONE specific event or development in the period from 1865 to 1877 contributed to the process depicted in the image.
3. Briefly explain ONE specific historical effect in the period from 1877 to 1898 that resulted from the process depicted in the image.

Exemplar:

1. The image illustrates the various ways in which America's Manifest Destiny is being fulfilled. For example, the railroad is expanding westward, farmers are seeking land and opportunity, and technological innovations such as the telegraph follow. The progress of the East, shown by cities, bridges, and boats, is spreading west.
2. The transcontinental railroad facilitated westward expansion. Faster transportation of people and goods allowed population centers to be established in the West and contributed to the rapid expansion of American settlement.
3. As Americans moved westward to fulfill America's Manifest Destiny, Native Americans were displaced from their traditional homelands. In the late 19^th century, Native resistance to westward expansion led to conflict with US troops. By 1890, the westward expansion of US settlement forced many American Indian nations onto reservations and led to significant declines in the Native way of life.

Data driven questions

SAQ Example 4

In your responses, be sure to address all parts of the questions you answer. Use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable.

Using the chart above, answer (a), (b), and (c).

1. Briefly explain ONE specific historical event or development that accounts for changes in the personal wealth of Americans between 1929 and 1933.
2. Briefly explain ONE specific historical event or development that accounts for changes in the personal wealth of Americans between 1933 and 1940.
3. Briefly explain a SECOND specific historical event or development that accounts for changes in the personal wealth of Americans between 1933 and 1940.

Exemplar:

1. The stock market collapse of 1929 accounts for a change in personal wealth shown on the graph. Because the stock market lost half its value in three months, personal wealth drastically declined, since the resulting bank failures and business closings left millions with no savings or jobs.
2. The Public Works Administration accounted for a change in personal wealth shown on the graph. The PWA oversaw billions of dollars used to employ millions of people on federal relief. These federal government jobs reduced unemployment and increased personal wealth.
3. The Works Progress Administration accounted for a change in personal wealth shown on the graph. The WPA allocated billions of dollars for private businesses to build roads, bridges, hospitals, and other public works projects, which put over 5 million people back to work.