SAQ Notes

SAQ - A.C.E. It

  • Assertion: Answer the question completely with specific evidence.

  • Cite: Cite specific evidence/factual information to support your assertion; define/describe the specific evidence.

  • Expand: Explain the connection between the information cited and the answer.

General Scoring Notes

  • Each point is earned independently.

  • Accuracy: Demonstrate historically defensible content knowledge.

  • Clarity: Grammatical errors should not obscure content.

  • Describe: Provide the relevant characteristics of a specified topic (more than just mentioning).

  • Explain: Provide information about how or why a historical development or process occurs.

Examples of SAQ Responses

  • (A) Agriculture's Influence on Migration (1607-1776):

    • Need for labor on plantations led to the forced migration of enslaved Africans.

    • Profits from tobacco motivated European migration.

    • Demand for labor on tobacco plantations led to indentured servants.

  • (B) Similarity in Agriculture's Influence on Regional Development (1607-1776):

    • Southern colonies and the Chesapeake had farming which led to the extensive use of enslaved labor.

    • The labor-intensive cultivation of rice in the southern colonies and sugar in the Caribbean resulted in the forced migration of larger numbers of enslaved Africans.

    • Tobacco, grown in the Chesapeake, and rice, grown in the southern colonies, could both be sold profitably outside of the colonies, so both regions developed export economies.

  • (C) Difference in Agriculture's Influence on Regional Development (1607-1776):

    • Cash crops in southern colonies needed more labor than family farms in the North, leading to more enslaved people in the South.

    • Southern economy focused on exporting crops, while the Northern economy was more diverse.

    • Demand for labor on plantations led to more males migrating from Europe to the Chesapeake Colonies, while smaller family farms in New England generally had a more equal balance of males and females.

    • Southern economy greatly influenced by agriculture resulting in the development of cash crops and the extensive use of slavery, the land in the North was not as conducive to this and thus resulted in an economy more reliant on trade, shipbuilding, and manufacturing.

SAQ Reminders

  • Address all parts of the question.

  • Use complete sentences.

  • Label responses a), b), and c).

  • Use only the space provided.

  • Read the directions and prompt closely.

  • Be specific.

  • Do not reuse evidence.