Advanced Placement United States History

1. Advanced Placement United States History August 28, 2008

2. Immigration Wiki Responses • Everyone received full credit for the group component.

3. Wiki Response Expectations Grades for the Individual postings (3 were required): • √+ (Check Plus): The response • was well reasoned, • was logical, • incorporated relevant historical facts or data, • was relevant to the question, • was grammatical.

4. Wiki Response Expectations Grades for the Individual postings (3 were required): • √ (Check): The response • was reasoned, • was somewhat logical, • contained some relevant historical facts or data, • was related to the question, • was mostly grammatical.

5. Wiki Response Expectations Grades for the Individual postings (3 were required): • √- (Check minus): The response • was partly irrational, • was partly illogical, • contained no historical facts or data, • was not related to the question, • was hard to understand due to poor grammar.

6. Some stellar examples • Question: Why do you think that certain colonies in the 17th century flourished while others were not able to survive? • “…. – the resources/benefits/setbacks of each of the colonies directly affects why some were able to flourish or decline. Highly competant (sic) and effective leaders in the successful colonies had great impact as well. The varying interactions with the natives should be considered as well – in some cases, they were able to somewhat ‘compromise’ while in others, there was major turmoil leading to the eventual failure to establish any kind of society. ….”

7. Some stellar examples • Question: How did racial views of Americans in the 18th century affect the country’s immigration trends? • “The systematic racial, cultural, and religious bias which explicitly guided U.S. immigration policy during the 1700's had a profound effect on the country's population trends; its result was the maintenance of a relatively homogeneous populus and the temporary delay of the inevitable influx of diversity which has taken place in the years since.”

8. Some stellar examples • Question: Do you feel that by immigrating to America in the 19th century immigrants were bettering or worsening their quality of life? Why do you feel this way? • “The 19th century was filled with turmoil for many European countries and their inhabitants definitely came to America to better their lives. There were plenty of good paying jobs, food, … and other aspects that brought them to this country; a welcomed change from restrictive governments, failing economies, food crises, and other serious problems that people were desperate to escape from. This becomes evident in the statistics revealing the mass influx of people from Germany, Ireland, and other countries during this century. (coinciding with the various problems going on in these countries at this time: potato famine/industrial revolution/etc)”

9. DBQ Discussion • What a DBQ actually is. • Relevant to college and professional historical scholarship. • An AP DBQ is not only a question, it is the answer. • Strengths of the DBQs • Creativity. Thoughtfulness. Effort. • Weaknesses of the DBQs • Thesis • Lack of incorporation of documents and appropriate outside information. • Lack of supporting one’s statements with historical information.

10. How to spot a thesis from a DBQ question Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur?

11. The “answers” • Society, Politics, and Economics • Society “a body of individuals living as members of a community” (dictionary.com) (i.e. culture, religion, etc.) • Politics “the science or art of political government” (dictionary.com) (i.e. opinions, conflicts, negotiations). • Economics “the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind.” (dictionary.com) (i.e. social classes, macro economics). • “Document B” versus “Document C” • Documents A,D,E versus Documents F,G,H