AP US History : Identity, Ideas, Beliefs, and Culture 1755–1800
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP US History
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Identity, Ideas, Beliefs, And Culture 1755–1800
Passage adapted from Richard Allen's "To Those Who Keep Slaves, and Approve the Practice" (1794)
"The judicious part of mankind will think it unreasonable that a superior good conduct is looked for from our race, by those who stigmatize us as men, whose baseness is incurable, and may therefore be held in a state of servitude, that a merciful man would not doom a beast to; yet you try what you can to prevent our rising from a state of barbarism you represent us to be in, but we can tell you from a degree of experience that a black man, although reduced to the most abject state human nature is capable of, short of real madness, can think, reflect, and feel injuries, although it may not be with the same degree of keen resentment and revenge that you who have been and are our great oppressors would manifest if reduced to the pitiable condition of a slave.
We believe if you would try the experiment of taking a few black children, and cultivate their minds with the same care, and let them have the same prospect in view as to living in the world, as you would wish for your own children, you would find upon the trial, they were not inferior in mental endowments."
To what group is Allen addressing his speech?
Southern Politicians
Northern Abolitionists
Southern Plantation Owners
Northern Manufacturers
Southern Plantation Owners
Richard Allen's speech is directed "To Those Who Keep Slaves," which indicates his concern is primarily with those who own slaves. While slavery was not strictly regionally confined before 1800, the large Southern plantations had already been established as the main places where slaves were held. In particular, the plantation system featured chattel slavery, which is reflected in Allen's language about slaves being kept in a state that "a merciful man would not doom a beast to."
Example Question #2 : Identity, Ideas, Beliefs, And Culture 1755–1800
Passage adapted from Richard Allen's "To Those Who Keep Slaves, and Approve the Practice" (1794)
"The judicious part of mankind will think it unreasonable that a superior good conduct is looked for from our race, by those who stigmatize us as men, whose baseness is incurable, and may therefore be held in a state of servitude, that a merciful man would not doom a beast to; yet you try what you can to prevent our rising from a state of barbarism you represent us to be in, but we can tell you from a degree of experience that a black man, although reduced to the most abject state human nature is capable of, short of real madness, can think, reflect, and feel injuries, although it may not be with the same degree of keen resentment and revenge that you who have been and are our great oppressors would manifest if reduced to the pitiable condition of a slave.
We believe if you would try the experiment of taking a few black children, and cultivate their minds with the same care, and let them have the same prospect in view as to living in the world, as you would wish for your own children, you would find upon the trial, they were not inferior in mental endowments."
Which of the following best explains why the conditions of slavery Richard Allen describes in his address were created?
The British government incentivized the development of large slave populations to help colonial efforts.
Southern colonists were more inclined to view Africans as inferior and able to be kept as slaves.
The plantation culture of the south required serious amounts of labor in order to function.
Northerners were unwilling to countenance keeping labor that was not being paid.
The plantation culture of the south required serious amounts of labor in order to function.
The first slaves came to the British Colonies in America by the mid-17th century, first in Virginia, but then populated across the colonies; however their numbers were never even. The peculiar geographical and agricultural realities of the southern colonies, which were attempting to have large cash crop plantations, necessitated large and cheap labor forces. The solution most plantation owners found was to invest deeply in the transatlantic slave trade.
Example Question #3 : Identity, Ideas, Beliefs, And Culture 1755–1800
Passage adapted from Richard Allen's "To Those Who Keep Slaves, and Approve the Practice" (1794)
"The judicious part of mankind will think it unreasonable that a superior good conduct is looked for from our race, by those who stigmatize us as men, whose baseness is incurable, and may therefore be held in a state of servitude, that a merciful man would not doom a beast to; yet you try what you can to prevent our rising from a state of barbarism you represent us to be in, but we can tell you from a degree of experience that a black man, although reduced to the most abject state human nature is capable of, short of real madness, can think, reflect, and feel injuries, although it may not be with the same degree of keen resentment and revenge that you who have been and are our great oppressors would manifest if reduced to the pitiable condition of a slave.
We believe if you would try the experiment of taking a few black children, and cultivate their minds with the same care, and let them have the same prospect in view as to living in the world, as you would wish for your own children, you would find upon the trial, they were not inferior in mental endowments."
Allen's statements about educating slaves most directly foreshadows the beliefs of which African-American leader?
Booker T. Washington
Ida B. Wells
W.E.B. DuBois
Marcus Garvey
Booker T. Washington
Allen asserts that if a group of black children were selected and educated to the standards made by plantation owners, then those black children would be shown to be just as gifted, bright, and achieving as white children. This line of argument directly foreshadows the reasoning used by Booker T. Washington in the late nineteenth century. Washington argued that education and self-improvement would change the lives of African-Americans for the better.
Example Question #1 : 1755–1800
Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or Ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
Passage adapted from "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" by Thomas Jefferson (January 16, 1786)
Which document does not mirror the views found in this excerpt by Thomas Jefferson?
John Winthrop's "A City on a Hill" speech (1630)
Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man (1791)
The First Amendment of the US Constitution
Epperson v. Arkansas
John Winthrop's "A City on a Hill" speech (1630)
John Winthrop was a Puritan governor of Massachusetts. The Puritans separated church and state, but they clearly thought the two institutions should work in tandem to support, protect, and promote "true" Christianity.
The First Amendment says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Thomas Paine was firmly a part of the same school of thought as Jefferson and the other founding fathers, and believed in the separation of church and state. In The Rights of Man, he wrote that “Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. Take away the law-establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity.” Lemon v. Kurtzman held that states could not reimburse private religious schools for teacher salaries and materials. Epperson v. Arkansas struck down an Arkansas statute that prohibited the teaching of human evolution on religious grounds.
Example Question #4 : 1755–1800
I have heard it asserted by some that, as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. We may as well assert that, because a child had thrived upon milk, it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. But even this is admitting more than is true. For I answer roundly that America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of her…
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)
Thomas Paine's writing style was primarily employed to achieve which of the following goals?
To render complex ideas in a way that was easily understood by average readers of the day by with clear, concise writing
To appeal emotionally to his readership through impassioned language and religious metaphors
To demonstrate his intelligence and refinement by using the formal, learned style favored by educated men during his time period
To target the colonial elites, whom he felt would be the only ones that could act responsibly in the face of Revolution
To address King George III directly and appeal to him to stop oppressive trade practices
To render complex ideas in a way that was easily understood by average readers of the day by with clear, concise writing
Thomas Paine was a populist who wrote Common Sense, pioneering a style of political writing suited to the democratic society he envisioned. His goal was to break down and explain complex ideas in a way that the general population could understand.
Example Question #4 : Identity, Ideas, Beliefs, And Culture 1755–1800
On Reflection it now seems probable, that if the foregoing Plan or some thing like it, had been adopted and carried into Execution, the subsequent Separation of the Colonies from the Mother Country might not so soon have happened, nor the Mischiefs suffered on both sides have occurred, perhaps during another Century. For the Colonies, if so united, would have really been, as they then thought themselves, sufficient to their own Defence, and being trusted with it, as by the Plan, an Army from Britain, for that purpose would have been unnecessary: The Pretences for framing the Stamp-Act would not then have existed, nor the other Projects for drawing a Revenue from America to Britain by Acts of Parliament, which were the Cause of the Breach, and attended with such terrible Expence of Blood and Treasure: so that the different Parts of the Empire might still have remained in Peace and Union.
-"Remark on the Albany Plan of Union" by Benjamin Franklin (1789)
What was the purpose of Benjamin Franklin's Albany Congress meeting?
none of these
to fight the British
to unite the colonies for the purposes of defenses
to levy taxes against the French
to unite the colonies for the purposes of defenses
The Albany Congress had two major purposes to gain help from the Iroquois and to discuss unification for defensive purposes. This congress would have had power to maintain an army, levy taxes, deal with Indian attacks and control westward expansion had it succeeded. This early attempt at unification was shot down by Britain and colonial legislatures as they felt that a union in the colonies would make them too strong. Individual colonies were unwilling to give up any of their powers to a grand council.
Example Question #6 : Identity, Ideas, Beliefs, And Culture 1755–1800
"I am greatly astonished that the French have so little cleverness, as they seem to exhibit in the matter of which thou hast just told me on their behalf, in the effort to persuade us to convert our poles, our barks, and our wigwams into those houses of stone and of wood which are tall and lofty, according to their account, as these trees. Very well! But why now, do men of five to six feet in height need houses which are sixty to eighty? For, in fact, as thou knowest very well thyself, Patriarch—do we not find in our own all the conveniences and the advantages that you have with yours, such as reposing, drinking, sleeping, eating, and amusing ourselves with our friends when we wish?"
Passage adapted from William F. Ganong, trans. and ed., New Relation of Gaspesia, with the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians,by Chrestien LeClerq (1910).
To what attitude or belief is the author of this passage likely responding?
The French belief that they were superior to the British.
The French belief that its tall, imposing Gothic buildings were superior to all others.
The French belief that their culture was inherently superior to the culture of Native American.
The French belief that Indians did not live inside.
The French belief that their culture was inherently superior to the culture of Native American.
Relations between Europeans and American Indian populations were often tense. Initial interactions were characterized by mutual misunderstandings of language, culture, and many other aspects of life. Europeans often espoused racial, cultural, and religious justifications for the subjugation of Native Americans, some of which are mentioned in the passage. As the Europeans encroached on more and more Native American land, native people pushed back in an attempt to maintain their belief systems and ways of life.
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