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PA R T PRACTICE ESSAY QUESTIONS

DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTION Suggested reading period: 15 minutes. Suggested writing time: 45 minutes
DIRECTIONS: Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.

1. Evaluate the extent to which revolutionary ideals changed American society in the
period 1776 to 1800.

DOCUMENT 1

Source: The Declaration of Independence, 1776.
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the
Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should
declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever
any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

DOCUMENT 2

Source: The New Jersey State Constitution, 1776.
“That all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money, clear estate in the same,
and have resided within the county in which they claim a vote for twelve months immediately preceding the election, shall
be entitled to vote for Representatives in Council and Assembly; and also for all other public offices, that shall be elected
by the people of the county at large.”

DOCUMENT 3

Source: Letter from Henry Knox to George Washington, 1786.
“This dreadful situation has alarmed every man of principle and property in New England. . . . Our government must be
braced, changed, or altered to secure our lives and property. We imagined that the mildness of our government and the
virtue of the people were so correspondent, that we were not as other nations requiring brutal force to support the laws
— But we find that we are men, actual men, possessing all the turbulent passions belonging to that animal and that we
must have a government proper and adequate for him — The people of Massachusetts for instance, are far advanced in
this doctrine, and the men of reflection, and principle, are determined to endeavor to establish a government which shall
have the power to protect them in their lawful pursuits, and which will be efficient in all cases of internal commotions or
foreign invasions. . . .”

Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
243-c Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.

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