Us History
The College Board
Advanced Placement Examination
1987
UNITED STATES HISTORY
Section II - Part A
(Suggested writing time - 45 minutes)
Percent of Section II score - 45
Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that integrates your interpretation of Documents A-1 and your knowledge of the period referred to in the question. In your essay, you should strive to support your assertions both by citing key pieces of evidence from the documents and by drawing on your knowledge of the period.
1. "By the 1850's the Constitution, originally framed as an instrument of national unity, had become a source of sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created."
Using the documents and your knowledge of the period 1850-1861, assess the validity of this statement.
Document A
Document B
Source: An Anonymous Georgian, "Plain Words for the North," American Whig Review, XII (December 1850)
"In a government where sectional interests and feelings may come into conflict, the sole security for permanence and peace is to be found in a Constitution whose provisions are inviolable. . . . 'Every State, before entering into that compact, stood in a position of independence: Ere yielding that independence, it was only proper that provision should be made to protect the interests of those which would inevitably be the weaker in that confederacy.
" [The framers of the Constitution] acted wisely, and embodied in the Constitution all that the South could ask. But two Constitutional provisions are necessary to secure Southern rights upon this important question,-the recognition of slavery where the people choose it and the remedy for fugitive slaves. . . . We hold that the Constitution of the Union does recognize slavery where it exists. . . .
'A large portion of our States have adopted and allow slavery. The entire country becomes possessed of new territory, to the acquisition
Advanced Placement Examination
1987
UNITED STATES HISTORY
Section II - Part A
(Suggested writing time - 45 minutes)
Percent of Section II score - 45
Directions: The following question requires you to construct a coherent essay that integrates your interpretation of Documents A-1 and your knowledge of the period referred to in the question. In your essay, you should strive to support your assertions both by citing key pieces of evidence from the documents and by drawing on your knowledge of the period.
1. "By the 1850's the Constitution, originally framed as an instrument of national unity, had become a source of sectional discord and tension and ultimately contributed to the failure of the union it had created."
Using the documents and your knowledge of the period 1850-1861, assess the validity of this statement.
Document A
Document B
Source: An Anonymous Georgian, "Plain Words for the North," American Whig Review, XII (December 1850)
"In a government where sectional interests and feelings may come into conflict, the sole security for permanence and peace is to be found in a Constitution whose provisions are inviolable. . . . 'Every State, before entering into that compact, stood in a position of independence: Ere yielding that independence, it was only proper that provision should be made to protect the interests of those which would inevitably be the weaker in that confederacy.
" [The framers of the Constitution] acted wisely, and embodied in the Constitution all that the South could ask. But two Constitutional provisions are necessary to secure Southern rights upon this important question,-the recognition of slavery where the people choose it and the remedy for fugitive slaves. . . . We hold that the Constitution of the Union does recognize slavery where it exists. . . .
'A large portion of our States have adopted and allow slavery. The entire country becomes possessed of new territory, to the acquisition