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Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the governments, social structures, religions, technologies, and agricultural practices of major early Native American civilizations (e.g., Maya, Inca, Aztec, Mississippian).
- Analyze the economic, political, and religious reasons for European exploration and colonization of the Western Hemisphere and the short- and long-term effects of exploration and colonization.
- Examine the forced migration of Africans to the American colonies, the practice of enslavement of people, and colonial economic development.
- Analyze the causes and effects, key events, and significant figures of the American Revolution.
- Examine the foundations of the American nation and the principles elaborated in the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance.
- Analyze the problems arising under the Articles of Confederation and the debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists over the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
- Demonstrate knowledge of early presidential administrations and the establishment of a strong federal government from 1789 17 89 to the 1820s 18 twenties .
- Examine the connections between territorial expansion of the United States through treaties and purchases, economic and industrial development, Manifest Destiny, war with Mexico, debates over sectional issues, and the displacement of Native Americans.
- Analyze federalism, economic developments, sectional issues, and the practice of slavery as causes of the Civil War.
- Analyze the effects, key events, and significant figures of the Civil War.
- Analyze the effects of the Reconstruction period (e.g., changes to the U.S. Constitution, an affirmation of federal authority, interracial democracy, lingering social and political differences).
Sample Item:
Following the U.S. Civil War and several years of debate, the 11 states that had seceded from the Union were readmitted under conditions that mostly coincided with the preferences of which of the following political actors?
- the late President Abraham Lincoln
- President Andrew Johnson
- the Redeemers within the Democratic Party
- Radical Republicans in Congress
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
D. Congress passed the first Reconstruction Act, over President Johnson's veto, in 1867 18 67 . Three further Reconstruction Acts followed in 1867 18 67 and 1868 18 68 . Radical Republicans held a working majority in Congress, and their priorities were reflected in the acts. The acts required the former Confederate states to draft new constitutions guaranteeing universal male voting rights, to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, and to be divided into five military districts.
Descriptive Statements:
- Demonstrate knowledge of events surrounding the emergence of the United States as an urban industrial society.
- Examine the continued settlement of Americans in the West, the intensified conflict with Native Americans, and the forced reservation system that resulted from this.
- Examine the political and social structures of the South and the institutionalization of racial discrimination after Reconstruction.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the aims and achievements of the Progressive Era.
- Analyze the emergence of the United States as a world power and the conduct of foreign policy through the 1920s 19 twenties (e.g., Spanish-American War, World War I 1 , isolationism).
- Examine the developments that contributed to unrest, tensions, and social change in the 1920s 19 twenties (e.g., racial intolerance, anti-immigrant attitudes, the Red Scare, technological innovations and an improved standard of living, the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Migration, women's suffrage, Prohibition).
- Analyze the causes of the Great Depression and the government's responses to it.
- Examine U.S. participation in World War II 2 and the effects of the war on American society.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the origins, issues, and events associated with the Cold War and U.S. foreign policy since 1945 19 45 .
- Analyze major social, economic, and political developments in the United States since 1945 19 45 .
- Examine the aims, activities, strategies, prominent figures, and achievements of the struggle for African American equality (e.g., Brown v. Board of Education, Montgomery bus boycott, civil disobedience, sit-in movement, Birmingham and Selma campaigns, Civil Rights Act of 1964 19 64 , Voting Rights Act of 1965 19 65 , Black Power movement).
- Demonstrate knowledge of events and issues in the struggle for the further extension of civil rights.
Sample Item:
The net effect of the Bay of Pigs invasion and Cuban Missile Crisis on the course of the Cold War and the goals of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America can best be described as:
- a maintenance of the status quo with a Communist regime in place in Cuba.
- a success for the U.S. goal of separating Cuban interests from Soviet influence.
- a failure of the policy of containment as Communist-leaning governments spread in the Caribbean.
- an erosion of popular support for the Communist Party in Cuba and around the region.
Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)
A. U.S. policy toward Latin America during the Cold War can be summarized as a desire to limit the expansion and influence of Communist and other leftist regimes in the area. With specific respect to Cuba, a further goal was to destabilize and remove the pro-Soviet government of Fidel Castro. The Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 19 61 attempted to remove Castro from power directly through armed intervention. The attempt failed utterly, and Castro remained in power until he ceded power to his brother in 2008 2 thousand 8 . The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 19 62 also ended without war and with no lessening of Castro's alignment with the Soviet Union.
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