apush 5/6 essay choice
1. CCOT – Transatlantic Trade
Prompt: Evaluate the extent to which the growth of transatlantic trade changed British North American colonial society from 1607–1776.
Historical Context:
From the founding of Jamestown in 1607, the colonies were tied into the Atlantic economy. Mercantilist policies like the Navigation Acts attempted to control colonial trade, while triangular routes connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas. By the mid-18th century, the colonies were increasingly prosperous but also more socially divided.
Thesis: Transatlantic trade transformed colonial economies and societies by expanding commerce and slavery, though agriculture and political autonomy remained important continuities.
Body 1 — Change
Evidence:
Navigation Acts (1651–1663) bound colonial trade to Britain.
Port cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia grew into hubs.
Middle Passage expanded slavery; planter elite gained power.
Analysis: Trade reshaped economies and stratified society, embedding slavery in the South.
Body 2 — Continuity
Evidence:
Agriculture remained backbone (tobacco, rice, wheat).
Colonial assemblies like the House of Burgesses retained power.
Rural subsistence farming communities remained unchanged.
Analysis: While trade altered elites and port towns, most colonists lived with continuity in farming and self-rule.
D
Big A Paragraph (Wildcard Evidence):
Evidence: Colonies also traded with Africa and the Caribbean; Northern merchants profited from exporting fish and lumber to West Indies sugar islands.
Analysis: Colonies weren’t only tied to Britain but to a wider Atlantic World. This complicates the idea of dependence on Britain and shows colonists forging global links.
2. Causation – U.S. Victory in Revolution
Prompt: Analyze the political, diplomatic, and military causes for the United States victory in the Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
Historical Context:
By 1775, tensions over taxation and representation had escalated into war at Lexington and Concord. The colonists faced the most powerful empire in the world, but Enlightenment ideas, strong leadership, and international rivalries shaped the conflict’s outcome.
Thesis: The U.S. won independence through political unity, foreign alliances, and Washington’s leadership, though Britain’s global overextension also weakened its war effort.
Body 1 — Political + Diplomatic
Evidence:
Second Continental Congress organized the war effort.
Declaration of Independence (1776) provided ideological unity.
Battle of Saratoga (1777) secured French alliance; Spain and Dutch later joined.
Analysis: Political unity sustained the war, while diplomacy globalized it.
Body 2 — Military
Evidence:
Washington’s victories at Trenton and Princeton (1776).
Valley Forge (1777–78) and von Steuben’s training reforms.
Yorktown (1781) with French naval support.
Analysis: Washington preserved morale and avoided destruction; allied support tipped balance militarily.
Big A Paragraph (Wildcard Evidence):
Evidence: Britain fought global wars in India and the Caribbean during the Revolution.
Analysis: Britain’s resources were divided, showing American victory wasn’t only due to colonial strength but also imperial overreach.
3. Causation – Colonial Societal Changes
Prompt: Evaluate the extent to which changes in colonial societies in North America from 1700–1776 contributed to the growth of a revolutionary movement.
Historical Context:
By the 18th century, colonial populations had exploded, fueled by immigration and natural growth. New cultural and religious ideas challenged hierarchy, while political institutions matured. These developments coincided with Britain’s tightening control after 1763.
Thesis: Social, religious, and political changes nurtured revolutionary sentiment, though imperial taxation ultimately mobilized the broadest resistance.
Body 1 — Social/Religious
Evidence:
Great Awakening (Whitefield, Edwards) challenged authority.
Enlightenment thinkers (Locke, Montesquieu) influenced elites.
Print culture spread ideas (pamphlets, newspapers).
Analysis: Colonists grew accustomed to questioning authority and embraced liberty as universal.
Body 2 — Political/Economic
Evidence:
Colonial assemblies gained autonomy.
Stamp Act (1765) provoked Stamp Act Congress.
Tea Act (1773) → Boston Tea Party.
Analysis: Colonists moved from ideological protest to organized political rebellion.
Big A Paragraph (Wildcard Evidence):
Evidence: Scots-Irish and German immigrants; Regulator Movement in the Carolinas.
Analysis: Resistance to authority wasn’t only anti-British but part of broader internal challenges to elites, complicating the roots of revolution.
4. Causation – French & Indian War Aftermath
Prompt: Analyze the effect of the French and Indian War and its aftermath on the relationship between Britain and the colonies, 1754–1776.
Historical Context:
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) ended French power in North America but left Britain deeply in debt. To manage its expanded empire, Britain imposed new policies that upset colonists used to autonomy under salutary neglect.
Thesis: The war marked a turning point as Britain abandoned salutary neglect and imposed taxes, straining ties, though many colonists still sought reconciliation until the mid-1770s.
Body 1 — Imperial Control
Evidence:
Treaty of Paris (1763) expanded Britain’s empire.
Proclamation Line of 1763 restricted settlement west of Appalachians.
Sugar Act (1764), Quartering Act (1765) expanded oversight.
Analysis: Britain tried to manage empire but colonists saw violation of liberties.
Body 2 — Colonial Response
Evidence:
Stamp Act Congress (1765) coordinated opposition.
Nonimportation boycotts united colonists.
Olive Branch Petition (1775) showed lingering loyalty.
Analysis: Colonists resisted imperial control but many still sought compromise.
Big A Paragraph (Wildcard Evidence):
Evidence: Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763) pushed Britain to issue Proclamation Line.
Analysis: Britain’s policies weren’t just oppressive; they also responded to Native resistance. Complexity: colonists saw tyranny, Britain saw frontier security.
5. Causation – Self-Government
Prompt: Evaluate the extent to which ideas of self-government influenced American colonial reaction to British imperial authority from 1754–1776.
Historical Context:
For over a century, salutary neglect allowed colonists to govern themselves. Combined with Enlightenment ideas and Britain’s constitutional legacy, colonists developed strong expectations of political autonomy.
Thesis: Colonial traditions of self-rule and Enlightenment ideals shaped resistance to British authority, though economic grievances also mobilized colonists.
Body 1 — Tradition of Self-Government
Evidence:
House of Burgesses (1619) as precedent for assemblies.
Town meetings in New England.
First Continental Congress (1774) acting like a proto-government.
Analysis: Colonists believed imperial interference violated long-standing autonomy.
Body 2 — Enlightenment Ideals
Evidence:
Locke’s natural rights, consent of governed.
Montesquieu’s separation of powers.
Paine’s Common Sense (1776).
Analysis: Enlightenment framed rebellion as a moral struggle for liberty.
Big A Paragraph (Wildcard Evidence):
Evidence: Glorious Revolution of 1688 established constitutional monarchy in Britain.\
Analysis: Colonists cited this precedent to argue they too deserved protections from arbitrary power. This connects colonial resistance to older Anglo-Atlantic traditions.
b