United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

Name _____________ANSWER KEY_______________ Teacher ________________School ___________

On the following pages, you will find a representative sample of questions from the United
States History II curriculum. Select four document sets to complete. Be sure to answer in
complete sentences and provide as much detail and knowledge about each topic as
possible.

Each document-based question set is worth a total of 25 points and each will be scored
using the rubric below.

Document Set

Advanced The response represents a close examination of the documents, citing

important facts and insights. The response completely answers the
25 points
questions and includes accurate information and interpretation of the
documents. The interpretation is more analytical than descriptive. The
student included details to show an excellent understanding of the
significance of this historical period/event. The response is written in
complete sentences.

Proficient The response represents a close examination of the documents, citing

some important facts and insights. The response is mostly complete
20 points
and includes accurate information and interpretation of the documents.
The student included some details to show a good understanding of the
significance of this historical period/event. The response is written in
complete sentences.

Emerging The response does not represent a close examination of the documents.
Few, if any, important facts or insights are cited from each document.
15 points
The response is somewhat incomplete and/or includes some
inaccurate information. The student included some details but shows a
minimal understanding of the significance of this historical
period/event. The response may have errors in sentence structure.

Not yet or The response includes an attempt to brainstorm information about the
Missing document and/or the historical period/event. Major omissions, lack of
detail, and inaccuracy are present. The response was largely
10 points
incomplete and/or inaccurate. The response may have errors in
sentence structure.
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

Document 1a Document 1b

President John F. Kennedy and … I speak of peace because of the new face of war.
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev Total war makes no sense in an age when great
powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable
nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort
to those forces. It makes no sense in an age when a
single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the
explosive force delivered by all the allied air forces in
the Second World War. It makes no sense in an age
when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear
exchange would be carried by wind and water and
soil
and seed to the far corners of the globe and to
generations yet unborn.…
In short, both the United States and its allies, and the
Soviet Union and its allies, have a mutually deep
interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the
arms race. Agreements to this end are in the interests
of the Soviet Union as well as ours — and even the
most hostile nations can be relied upon to accept and
keep those treaty obligations, and only those treaty
obligations, which are in their own interest.…
Source: President John F. Kennedy, Commencement Address at
American University, Washington, D.C., June 10, 1963

Source: Herblock, Washington Post, November 1, 1962

(adapted)

1. Based on these documents, what are two reasons the United States and the Soviet
Union needed to address the issue of nuclear war?
TWO OF THESE--

-WEAPONS TOO POWERFUL

-DEADLY POISONS
-DESTROY EVERYBODY
RELIED ON AS LEADERS TO KEEP PEACE/TREATIES
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

Document 2a Document 2b

During civil rights protests in

…In any nonviolent campaign there are
Birmingham,
four basic steps: (1) collection of the facts
Public Safety Commissioner Eugene “Bull”
to determine whether injustices are alive;
(2) negotiation; (3) self-purification; and Connor was in charge of the police and
(4) direct action. We have gone through all fire departments. Acting on his orders,
of these steps in Birmingham. There can firefighters turned their hoses on
be no gainsaying [denying] of the fact that demonstrators.
racial injustice engulfs this community.
Birmingham is probably the most
thoroughly segregated city in the United
States. Its ugly record of police brutality is
known in every section of this country. Its
unjust treatment of Negroes [African
Americans] in the courts is a notorious
reality. There have been more unsolved
bombings of Negro homes and churches
in Birmingham than any city in this nation.
These are the hard, brutal, and
unbelievable facts. On the basis of these
conditions Negro leaders sought to
negotiate with the city fathers. But the
political leaders consistently refused to
engage in good faith negotiation.…
Source: AP/World Wide Photos, May 1963

Source: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,

“Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963

2. Based on these documents, what were two examples of racial injustice addressed by Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.?
-SEGREGATED CITY (BIRMINGHAM)
-POLICE BRUTALITY
-TREATMENT OF BLACKS IN COURTS
-UNSOLVED BOMBINGS OF BLACK HOMES/CHURCHES
-REFUSAL TO ENGAGE LEADERS & BLACKS TO NEGOTIATE
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

Document 3

Joseph Keppler, 1889. “The Bosses of the Senate”

3. Choose 3 symbols in the cartoon. Explain what each symbol represents.

FAT GUYS “TRUST” SENATE

MONEY SIGNS/BAGS CAPTION DIFFERENT PRODUCTS

SIZE OF CHARACTERS “MONOPOLY” PEOPLE-“CLOSED”

SMALL BIG
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

3a. Interpret the artist’s meaning. What is the intended message?

MONOPOLISTS HAVE POWER OVER LAWMAKERS

… As [Elizabeth Cady]
Stanton predicted,
women’s professional and
tactical experience
contributed powerfully to a
reinvigorated suffrage
movement. NAWSA
[National American
Woman Suffrage
Association] proved to be
an effective, formidable Document 4
organization. Its
membership increased
geometrically, from 13,150 Document 4b
in 1893 to over two million
in 1917.
Suffragists mounted
hundreds of campaigns
within party conventions,
legislatures and
constitutional convocations
[assemblies]. They raised
millions of dollars, mostly
in small sums.
Countless men and women
participated in vigils,
parades, hunger strikes and
illegal invasions of
polling places. Dozens 4. Based on these documents, what were two methods used
suffered imprisonment and by women’s rights groups to influence American public
fines. In 1873, Susan B.
opinion?
Anthony was arrested
for the federal crime of
1. VIGILS
“having voted without the
2. HUNGER STRIKES
lawful right to vote.” At her
3. PARADES
highly publicized
4. CAMPAIGNS
trial in Rochester, New
5. WENT TO JAIL/IMPRISONED FOR THEIR CAUSE
York, she was convicted
and fined by a judge who
brushed aside the jury
and whose opinion had
been written in advance of
the trial.…
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

6. PICKETING THE WHITE HOUSE

7. VOTING ILLEGALLY

Document 5a (Page 1 of 2)

…Under f i v e Presidents a n d 12 Congresses, the United States was engaged in

Indochina. Millions of Americans served, thousands died, and many more were
wounded, imprisoned, or lost. Over $150 billion have been appropriated f o r that
war by the Congress of the United States. And after years of effort, we negotiated,
under the most difficult circumstances, a settlement which made it possible for us
to remove our military forces and bring home with pride our American prisoners.
This settlement, if its terms had been adhered to [followed], would have permitted
our South Vietnamese ally, with our material and moral support, to maintain
its security and rebuild after two decades of war.…

Source: President Gerald R. Ford, Address to Joint Session of Congress, April 10, 1975

Document 5b
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

See question on the next page.

Document 5 continued

5. Based on these documents, what were two results of United States involvement in
Vietnam?
1. MILLIONS OF AMERICANS SERVED
2. THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS DIED, MANY WOUNDED OR LOST
3. 150 BILLION SPENT BY CONGRESS ON THE WAR
4. THE UNITED STATES PULLED OUT THE WAR
5. VIETNAM BECAME A COMMUNIST COUNTRY ONCE THEY REUNITED
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

Document 6

6. Choose 3 symbols in the cartoon. Explain what each represent.

SHADOW - REPRESENTS THE WEALTHY MEN AS IMMIGRANTS ONCE

WEALTHY MEN - “OLD” IMMIGRANTS MAN ON DOCK - “NEW” IMMIGRANT

HATS/COATS - WEALTH DOCK-ROPE KNAPSACK - POOR

HANDS OUTREACHED - STOP

United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

6a. Interpret the artist’s meaning. What is the intended message?

THE AUTHOR IS SAYING THAT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WERE ALL IMMIGRANTS AT ONE TIME AND
THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN WHERE THEY CAME FROM. NOW THEY ARE NATIVISTS - EXPRESSING AN
ANTI-IMMIGRANT POINT-OF-VIEW.

Document 7
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

7. Choose 3 symbols in the cartoon. Explain what each symbol represents.

EAGLE - US

VULTURE HEAD - IMPERIALIST

GLOBE - LAND MASS

1898 - SPANISH AMERICAN WAR

7a. Interpret the artist’s meaning. What is the intended message?

IMPERIALISM

Document 8
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

Source: Clifford Berryman, Washington Star, January 5, 1934, Library of Congress (adapted)

8. Choose 3 symbols in the cartoon. Explain how each is used to influence public opinion.
-Bottles represent New Deal Programs (used as medicine to cure the ills of America)
-The people represent Uncle Sam, President FDR and Congress
-Doctor Bag (he was the leader charged with finding the remedy)
(The Federal Govt is working on behalf of the people to address and heal the issues)

8a. Interpret the artist’s meaning. What is the intended message?

The cartoonist is portraying new leadership found in President FDR, as he works with
Congress to pass new laws to put people back to work. FDR shows his willingness to work on
behalf of the people to end the Depression.

Exemplary: FDR’s flexibility in finding another remedy if needed.

Document 9
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015

9. Choose 2 symbols in the political cartoon. Explain how each is used to influence public
opinion.
German U-Boats Bloody knife held in hand: blood symbolizes injury or death caused by
another’s hand

Ship in Background - preventing the sinking of ships traveling in dangerous enemy waters

9a. Interpret the artist’s meaning. What is the intended message?

This is used as an attempt to support the purchase of liberty bonds. It is an example of
propaganda used to influence Americans into buying bonds to create revenue to combat
the enemy. People on the homefront may also work to destroy our common enemy.
United States History II 1865 to Present Alternative Assessment -- 7th Grade Spring 2015