thesis for comparison leq

The 6 Best Ways to Prepare for the LEQ APUSH Section

What Is the LEQ APUSH Section?

The LEQ APUSH section (a.k.a. the long essay question section) is worth 15% of your overall score. It asks you to choose one of two prompts. Then, you need to write a solid essay within the 35 allotted minutes. The essay should demonstrate one of the historical thinking skills . Here are the 6 best ways that you can prepare in order to ace the LEQ APUSH section.

1. Dissect the Question

Start by analyzing the question. Find out what the question is asking you to do. You need to make sure that you answer every part of it.

Go through the question and circle all the directive words, such as analyze , compare/contrast , or assess .

There may be a few trick directives in the question. These are there to distract you from the topics you really need to address. Pay attention, and read closely to determine what the question is really asking you to answer.

2. Craft a Solid Thesis

One of the most important parts of any essay is the thesis. Why? Because it is the outline to your paper. Your thesis tells the reader what your stance is on the issue, what you’re going to compare and contrast, etc. Then, it tells the reader which supporting details you will discuss further.

Practice crafting a thesis that won’t just reiterate the question. Be prepared to answer every part of the question, with relevant evidence to support your ideas.

3. Create an Outline

Once you have your thesis, you have a pretty good idea of what you’re going to discuss throughout your essay. Take a minute to brainstorm ideas. It could be a cluster, bulleted list, or other way to get your ideas on paper.

Then, jot down an outline with a few notes to remind you what you want to include in each paragraph. Refer to your outline while writing the essay. This will allow you to attack the question methodically to help you earn more points.

4. Use Historical Lingo

Since your essay should prove to graders that you know what you’re talking about, try to use as much historical lingo as possible. Of course, you need to use it correctly. Study the vocabulary so you can speak as an expert on American history.

5. Make Connections

The paragraph before your conclusion should be used to make connections to a different historical period , geographical area, or theme. Don’t just make the comparison. Take some time to develop the idea, so you can describe the period (or theme, geographical area, etc.) and discuss why you chose it.

6. Practice Good Writing Techniques

Don’t simply spill all your good ideas on the paper. You need to use good writing techniques, and pay attention to your spelling, grammar, capitalization, and so on. Some of the common things to watch for include:

• Active voice (not passive voice)
• Third person
• Strong verbs
• Descriptive adjectives and adverbs

Refrain from using abbreviations, casual language, or a lot of fluff. Keep your essay concise as you answer the question.

As you work on these 6 things, practice writing solid essays for the LEQ APUSH section. Have a friend or teacher check your writing to help you determine what you can do to improve. You can also refer to the College Board’s LEQ scoring guidelines and commentary for examples that can guide your writing, and help you ace the LEQ APUSH section. Remember, practice makes perfect!

Jamie graduated from Brigham Young University- Idaho with a degree in English Education. She spent several years teaching and tutoring students at the elementary, high school, and college level. She currently works as a contract writer and curriculum developer for online education courses. In her free time, she enjoys running and spending time with her boys!

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Score Higher on AP US History 2024: Tips for LEQs

11 min read • june 18, 2024

Long Essay Question (LEQ)

This guide organizes advice from past students who got 4s and 5s on their exams. We hope it gives you some new ideas and tools for your study sessions. But remember, everyone's different—what works for one student might not work for you. If you've got a study method that's doing the trick, stick with it. Think of this as extra help, not a must-do overhaul.

• 15% of Exam Score
• Recommended you spend 40 minutes on the LEQ
• Thesis/Claim (1)
• Contextualization (1)
• Uses Specific Evidence (2)
• Complexity (2)

💭 General Advice

Tips on mindset, strategy, structure, time management, and any other high level things to know

• Imagine that it just so happens that your AP reader happens to be grading their last set of LEQs for the day, which includes yours! Your AP reader is going to be pretty excited/ready to leave after a long day of grading, so make it easier for them by being simple and straight to the point, while still nailing everything on the scoring guide. AP readers get a little under 5 minutes to read your LEQ. In other words, remember that it’s not so much about how you write (even though you should try to be at least a little sophisticated), but the content and what you write!
• In regards to structure, let your thesis be your outline. If you’re able to create a whole outline-do it. However, if you’re short on time or just need some more time to finalize what details to use to support your argument, make sure your thesis isn’t too specific and restrictive. Give yourself some leeway to further develop your reasoning in your essay.
• Trust yourself! You spent all year learning so many different events in history. Come prepared with some examples from various time periods, so if the need calls for it, you have something to fall back on.
• Remember that the AP graders reward you for what you do- they don’t penalize you for what you don’t do. Think about writing these essays as you earn points for everything you do. Be positive about it.
• Before the exam, make sure you have a plan on how to approach the essay! Being prepared is being smart, and being prepared means you can be confident!
• The more confident and relaxed you are during this part, the better you will write. Take a deep breath and let your words flow. You are not given a lot of time, so make sure to stay focused during the entirety of this part of the exam. This is not AP Lit; you need to write well but flowery language is not required and will waste your time.
• Give yourself at least a month to fully study for the AP US History exam because it allows you to study for a couple minutes every day to feel fully prepared for the test. The month-long study technique helps your brain digest every concept and historical events to use for the LEQ and doesn’t overwhelm you when studying for this long test.
• Take many practice tests! They are so helpful and they help you practice the writing style and format before the test. You can time yourself taking the tests and it’ll better prepare you for exam day. LEQs are hard to write, but just know to use helpful pieces of evidence to help write your LEQ.
• To write an LEQ, ask your teacher for help and any pieces of advice they have. They have possibly experience grading LEQs and can help you.
• Your opening paragraph should embody compositional balance by succinctly presenting the context, evidence, and qualifier in a seamless manner. Start with a brief introduction that sets the stage for your argument. Then provide contextual information that highlights the conditions relevant to your argument. Next provide a qualifier that reflects the strength of the change as your claim. Finally, provide evidence that highlights the changes or correlations relevant to your argument. This establishes a clear trajectory for your essay, guiding the reader through the logical progression of your analysis.

🕐 Before you Write

What should a student do in the first few minutes, before they start writing?

Analyze the prompt. Determine the “Ws” of the prompt. What is the period, who is involved, What is the issue, why is it important? Use that information to develop a thesis statement.

• Lead-in/hook/intro information
• Whatever explanation is necessary to connect the thesis to your intro
• Short note about the important information and context
• Short note about what it means
• Short note about linking it back to thesis
• Reiterating the thesis and what is so important about it
• Connecting it to other world events/time periods (contextualization and complexity!)
• Final call to action/statement
• You can play with this format as needed, but this is a great general structure for outlining an LEQ!
• Forever and always you should identify exactly what the question is asking you to do. It helps to bullet point your main thoughts, and then turn your bullet points into a broad thesis. Your thesis will guide your entire essay, and all your topic sentences should go directly back to the line of reasoning in your thesis. Use this to keep yourself organized.
• When more content is expected it can be easier to accidentally go on a tangent/pull away from the original prompt to try and maximize knowledge demonstration. Creating an in depth outline can help ensure that your response has direction.
• You need to make sure before you invest time writing that you know enough evidence to analyze the thesis you want. If you don’t know enough, modify your thesis or choose an LEQ about a period you remember better.
• The common introduction-body paragraphs-conclusion outline may lead you to write all three sections in chronological order. While that would be the best choice for paper and pen testing, it is encouraged that you begin outlining your thesis along with pieces of evidence (+ commentary and reasoning) and saving your introduction and conclusion for the last parts to write for your essay. This strategy would definitely be more comfortable for those taking the digital version of the test; however, it’s not impossible for pen and paper students to implement this strategy as well.

🤔 Choosing which Question to Answer

• You can often knock this step out during your outlining process. You can make a very short outline of what evidence you can use for each prompt, what you would want to say, and then analyze which prompt has given you the most material/has the most information you feel confident about. Once you’ve done that, you can much more comfortably choose your question and write out the corresponding outline.
• Read through each question- don’t spend too much time on any of them. Honestly go with your gut. Answer the question that is “easiest” to you. Don’t pick a “harder” one because you think it will be more impressive. You’re in a time crunch- write about the question you can most effectively answer. Choosing the “easier” one also gives you room to go in depth and be sophisticated- which in general can help your score.
• If you are stuck and none of them seem easy, go through each question and bullet point 3 main ideas you could use to answer it. Thinking about it that way may help you if you’re overwhelmed. Pick whichever one you can most completely answer. If all else fails, write a mediocre thesis point for each one- something is better than nothing!
• To choose which question to answer can be hard, but what you can do is understand what period each question is asking. The knowledge of the known period helps you determine what you feel most confident in. Whatever period of US History you feel most comfortable with and the LEQ asks the question of that period, choose that question.

💡 Tips for Earning Each Point

Claim/thesis.

• Before the exam, understand the key kinds of questions they can ask you, and have a plan on how you approach them.
• There are three types of prompts: causation, continuity and change over time (CCOT), and comparison. In your thesis for the second two, use the words! For CCOT, you must say continuity and change. For comparison, you must say similarity and difference. Do not get fancy, your grader wants clarity, not fluff!
• Think about your evidence before you write your thesis statement so you can tailor the supporting commentary with the evidence that you already have in mind.
• Evaluate the extent (small, moderate, or large)
• Evaluate the relative importance (rank the causes)
• To the side or on a scratch piece of paper, create a T-Chart or a bulleted list of key pieces of evidence that you will use (since it’s a LEQ, you must pull evidence from memory for the entire essay!). Depending on how much evidence you have for each side, it will help you determine which position you’ll take.
• Always use the language of the prompt! In other words, rephrase the question and frame it in a way that suits the position you’re taking. Your position should be stated very clearly.
• While X ( counter argument), ultimately Y and Z (argument).
• Your thesis statement should be your answer to the question. It really is as simple as that- make sure everything you write in the essay supports whatever you write here. If you end up drifting, or thinking of a better statement to support, go back and adjust the thesis statement as necessary.
• Pick strong pieces of evidence that you know you feel confident writing about!

Contextualization

• Your contextualization should be a backstory of events related to your claim & tells the reader you know where you are in history! Do not just list “things that happened”, but make sure that it connects and flows with the content of your LEQ.
• Contextualization should not go farther than 50-60 years prior to events listed in question.
• WRITE A BRIDGE SENTENCE!! This is something that connects your “contextualization” directly to the claim. (Not necessary, but strengthens your LEQ)
• Be more direct and obvious than you think you have to be. The readers want to know what you know, and won’t make assumptions even though they could.
• Try to cite specific events with an emphasis on context relevant to the prompt or the claims you’re going to make in your essay.
• Use a ladder approach. Start with the first rung, furthest past/earliest event, then the middle event, and lastly the event immediately before the prompt. Use specific evidence or you won’t get the point! But don’t forget, any evidence mentioned in the context cannot be repeated as outside evidence later.
• First, look at all the context clues given in the prompt (time, place, era, location, who, etc…). Take these context clues and then talk about what happened before this era or during this era for contextualization. For example, if the thesis had the date 1940’s and talked about social, political, and economic factors, you’d write the contextualization on what happened during the 20’s or during WW1. Make sure to address the who, what, when, and where in your contextualization.

Using Specific Evidence

• When writing “be specific as possible and as general as necessary”. This means if you remember the specific act or amendment cite it! If not, write as many details as you can.
• Whenever possible, throw in dates, names, events to meet the specific evidence component. Instead of stating that “much change occurred during the Progressive Era,” for example, state that “political change occurred when the 17th amendment allowed for the direct election of senators.” The difference goes from generic to specific!
• Try picking only 1-2 specific examples of events per paragraph and milking those to support my greater claim. Before the exam, spend some time making sure you have a tool belt of different events that you can use in different ways. You’ll want to clearly state what you’re referring to at least once, and then describe and apply from there.
• Finding evidence for your question can be difficult, but as long as you study every time period and know a couple general events from each, it will help you answer the prompt fully. Study the subject by knowing general events and with your general knowledge, you can answer the prompt and get your points for evidence.
• Like in other AP exams, you can score a 4 or a 5 without this point honestly. If you feel confident and want to go for it, it helps to build the complexity into your overall thesis statement. Begin it with words such as “although,” or “while,” to create the possibility for a different perspective into your main statement. Then, spend a paragraph exploring this exception you have identified using “while” or “although.” It helps the AP readers see that you see different lenses and layers to a bigger idea, which is a big idea of sophistication.
• Additionally remember you can earn the complexity point by highlighting similarities and differences or continuity and change. This could mean relating your thesis to other time periods or historical situations.
• Another way to earn the complexity point is to explain how a different historical group was impacted or reacted to the events you used as evidence.
• You could also earn the complexity point is explaining the reasoning (e.g. explaining why the change happened or why was x similar/different to y).
• If you try to integrate actually everything you remember about the topic you’re writing about, it usually falls into place that you’re writing about more than one perspective or development. Incorporating the modern day also looks really good, and so does a counter-argument paragraph with rebuttal, but if you’re running low on time for extra paragraphs, just try to incorporate as much well-phrased info as you can – pack in your essay with information, like the meat of a burger.

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AP U.S. History Long Essay Example

The second part of Section II of the AP exam contains three long essay questions—you must respond to one. The AP U.S. History long essay question assesses your ability to apply knowledge of history in a complex, analytical manner. In other words, you are expected to treat history and historical questions as a historian would.

This process is called historiography—the skills and strategies historians use to analyze and interpret historical evidence to reach a conclusion. Thus, when writing an effective essay, you must be able to write a strong, clearly developed thesis and supply a substantial amount of relevant evidence to support your thesis and develop a complex argument.

The College Board’s characteristics of a high-scoring long essay question response are listed below. Note that the requirements are very similar to those of the DBQ; the primary difference is that any requirements related to use of the documents are removed from the scoring requirements for the long essay question.

[ RELATED: Reading Strategies for AP US History Exam ]

Long Answer Sample Question

Evaluate the extent to which the migration of European colonists and the resulting encounters with American Indians affected social patterns in the period from 1495 to 1650.

Step 1: Analyze the Prompt

As you choose which question you will answer, begin thinking about what your thesis will entail and how your essay will demonstrate a complex understanding. The notes of a sample high-scoring writer are below.

Thesis (with complex understanding): Spanish, French, and British each used territory differently; result: distinct social patterns

This writer claims that three different countries’ approaches to settling territories resulted in different types of social development, but other types of thesis claims are possible. For instance, the thesis could make a single claim about overall social patterns (such as “Europeans’ economic goals in the New World and their attitudes of superiority over American Indians resulted in exploitative and hierarchical social structures”) or focus on only one or two European nations.

Step 2: Plan Your Response

• Context : motives for European exploration: new technology, navigation techniques, and trade routes
• Thesis   (with complex understanding ):  Spanish, French, and British each used territory differently; result: distinct social patterns
• goals: wealth and spread Catholicism
• methods: mining, large-scale agriculture, encomienda, disease/weapons, missions
• results: forced assimilation, social structure
• goal: fur trade
• method: mutually profitable trade relationships
• result: alliances
• goals: permanent settlements, Jamestown, religious freedom (New England)
• methods: occupying more land for farming, smallpox, Metacom’s War
• results: deaths of indigenous populations
• ¶ conclusion: where Europeans sought permanent settlements or forced labor, resulted in American Indian population decline, upheaval, and threats to tradition

Step 3: Action! Write Your Response & Step 4: Proofread

See the following high-scoring response, and be sure to read the rubric to help you identify what makes this response effective. Think about what features you can incorporate into your own free- response answers.

Sample High-Scoring Response

The Spanish had two major goals: to gain wealth and to spread Catholicism to the native populations. Realizing the potential to mine precious metals and profit from large-scale agriculture, the Spanish forced American Indians into labor, such as through the encomienda system. Violence and deception were often used to subdue the indigenous populations, aided by the technological superiority of European weapons and the spread of devastating diseases. Although some Spanish came as missionaries with the goal of converting American Indians to Christianity and often protested the abusive treatment of the American Indians, even missions sometimes essentially forced labor and coerced assimilation to Spanish culture. In the long term, a hierarchical social structure developed in the Spanish colonies in which the Spanish-born and their descendants (peninsulares and creoles) dominated those of mixed background (mestizos and mulattos) and especially those of pure African or American Indian heritage. Overall, millions perished between disease and mistreatment, devastatingly weakening traditional cultures but enriching the Spanish.

The French differed from the Spanish in their relationship with the indigenous populations. Using the St. Lawrence River for transportation and trade, the French profited from trading fur pelts, particularly beaver, with the American Indians, and then sending the pelts to Europe. These traders profited from the knowledge and goods of the American Indian populations who lived there, and certainly desired to develop mutually profitable relationships with them. Overall, this more cooperative relationship helped preserve American Indian cultures and led to alliances between the French and different American Indian nations. These alliances benefited the French in later wars with the British.

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AP® US History

The ultimate guide to the 2015 ap® us history leq.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

Only at the very end of the AP® U.S. History exam do you reach the Long Essay Question (LEQ). As a result, the LEQ is a challenge for even the most prepared test-taker. By this point in the exam, you are mentally exhausted, your hand is tired from writing all the other free response questions, and you just want to go home. That is what makes it so important that you practice for the exam so that even when you’re worn out, you’ll still be able to get the full six points on the AP® U.S. History LEQ.

In this post, we will help you prepare for this part of the test by walking through how the LEQ is scored, with specific examples from the 2015 U.S. History LEQ. By the end of the post, we hope you will be more confident in your ability to succeed on this year’s LEQ. So, let’s get started! Before we get into the specifics of the 2015 questions, though, let us review the overall format of the LEQ in the AP® U.S. History exam.

Format of the AP® US History LEQ

For the 2016 test, the CollegeBoard implemented a new format and rubric for grading the Free Response section of the AP® U.S. History Exam (see here ). Here we will focus on the revised format and rubric, addressing how the 2015 LEQ questions would have been scored under the new system and how you can succeed on this year’s LEQ. Be careful, though, when using resources from before 2016 that focus on the old AP® U.S. History exam format.

The LEQ occurs in the last half of the second section of the exam. It is the final part the exam and lasts for a total of 35 minutes. You will be asked to pick one of two questions to answer, and your response will count for a total of 15% of the overall exam score (see here ). Ideally, you should probably spend about five minutes outlining and the remaining thirty minutes writing the actual response.

The CollegeBoard grades you based on four general categories (with points indicated in parentheses), for a total of six points overall:

• Argument Development Using Targeted Historical Thinking Skill (2)
• Argument Development Using Evidence (2)
• Synthesis (1)

Note that you earn each point in the rubric independently and you will need to show unique evidence for each point (see here ). Thus, you can’t get both a Thesis and Argument Development point from the same sentence.

For the remainder of the piece, let us dive deeper into what each one of these point categories mean and how you can be sure to get all of the points for each one. We will use the 2015 questions and student responses as our examples. Let’s briefly look at the questions and then we will address what students did well and what they did poorly in answering the questions in 2015.

The 2015 LEQ Questions

For the 2015 AP® U.S. History exam, the CollegeBoard asked students to respond to either of the following two LEQs (see here ):

“Evaluate the extent to which the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War, 1754-1763) marked a turning point in American relations with Great Britain.

In the development of your argument, analyze what changed and what stayed the same from the period before the war to the period after it. (Historical thinking skill: Periodization)”

“Evaluate the extent to which the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) marked a turning point in the debate over slavery in the United States.

The 4 Keys to LEQ Success

The key to LEQ success is to follow the rubric closely. The CollegeBoard looks for concrete evidence that you have completed each element of the rubric. If you have them, you’ll earn points. If you don’t, you will not. There is no partial credit on the AP® exam. Let’s take a look at the general rubric categories you need to touch upon to earn credit on the AP® U.S. History LEQ.

1. Write a Strong Thesis

For the first point in the rubric, the CollegeBoard demands a strong thesis: a historically defensible claim or argument that addresses all parts of the question (see here ). Your thesis should be a relatively easy point for you to achieve because your entire essay depends on having an argument you wish to make—a stand you take on the question. It is simply a matter of stating that overarching argument clearly, either in the introduction or the conclusion. Let us take a look at what made a successful LEQ thesis statement for students taking the 2015 AP® U.S. History exam.

For the first LEQ question about the French and Indian War, you must address the entire question: evaluating the extent to which the Seven Years’ War marked a turning point in American relations with Great Britain. Thus, if you choose to answer this one, you must make a historically defensible claim about the period. For instance, one student argues (see here ):

“The French and Indian War marked a major turning point in American relations with Great Britain, with changes such as increased British control and anti-British sentiment in the colonies, but also continuities such as loyalty to Britain that remained largely untouched by the war”.

Note that the student provides specific historical examples of things that changed with the French and Indian War (that they will follow up on in their essay with evidence) and clearly states their argument that the war marked a major turning point in American relations with Great Britain. A good example of a thesis from the second 2015 LEQ option might be as follows (see here ):

“The Mexican-American War marked a huge turning point in the debate over slavery because it brought to light the controversy of territorial self- determination and asked the question that would define America on a fundamental level: is this country one of slavery or one of freedom?”

This student argues that the Mexican-American war was a turning point and also specifically discusses its relationship to slavery, which they will address for the remainder of the essay. Note, however, that one answer is not necessarily the only answer. For instance, this student earned a thesis point for arguing that the war was not a turning point in the debate over slavery (see here ):

“The Mexican-American War was not a significant turning point in the debate over slavery because sectional divisions over the Mexican Cession did not increase until after the Compromise of 1850, a much more significant turning point.”

You will want to make sure that you can support your thesis statement to get the remaining points for the LEQ, but there is a bit of flexibility in how you can get the “Thesis” point of the rubric.

One way not to get “Thesis” credit on the U.S. History LEQ is to provide only a vague restatement of the question. For instance, this student’s thesis for the Seven Years’ War prompt fails to fully address the question (see here ):

“The Seven Years’ War was a major event in the world’s history, and it played an important role in shaping many nations.”

While the student does make an assertion, they do not evaluate the extent to which the war was a turning point in American relations with Great Britain, nor do they link the war to changes in relations with Great Britain. By not addressing the entirety of the question, the student did not receive credit for the “Thesis” portion of the grading rubric. Similarly, this student address only part of the second LEQ prompt about the Mexican-American War (see here ):

“The Mexican-American War marked a turning point in the debate over slavery in the U.S.”

To receive credit for this thesis, the student should have responded to the entire question, specifically evaluating the extent to which the war was a turning point. If your reader couldn’t read anything from your essay but your thesis, they should still be able to capture your entire argument from the thesis statement alone. When you practice writing theses, be sure to look at them and ask yourself whether or not you can do this: does your thesis completely address the question? If so, you’re ready to further develop your thesis argument with your historical thinking skills and specific historical evidence.

2. Apply Historical Thinking Skills

You will notice at the bottom of each LEQ option, the CollegeBoard prints a “Targeted Historical Thinking Skill”. For the 2015 exam, both of these historical thinking skills were “Periodization,” meaning the graders want you to describe and explain the extent to which the historical development specified in the prompt was different from and similar to developments that preceded and followed it (see here ). Specifically, you will receive one point for successfully describing this period change and a separate point for explaining the extent to which the historical development was similar to or different from developments that preceded and followed it.

Other examples of Historical Thinking Skills you might see on this year’s exam include Causation, Comparison, and Change and Continuity over Time (see here ). For each one of these, you will also be asked to describe the elements involved the causation, comparison, or change/continuity for one point and then explain how they played a role in causation, comparison, or change/continuity.

In the 2015 exam, both questions were “Periodization” questions, however, so let us get to the bottom of how “Periodization” questions are scored:

Your first point for using the Targeted Historical Thinking skill demands that you describe the ways in which the historical development in the prompt differed from or was similar to developments that preceded and followed it. One student writing on the French and Indian War, for instance, focused on similarities between the periods before and after the war as a means of developing their overall thesis that the war was not a turning point in American relations with Great Britain (see here ):

“Both before and after the war, officials attempted to place taxes on colonial goods to finance the empire.”

For this statement, the student earned a point for describing a similarity that carried on before and after the war in support of their thesis. Another student working on the second prompt about the Mexican-American War successfully emphasized the differences between pre- and post-war periods (see here ):

“The Mexican War did exacerbate sectionalism significantly. Before the war, the debate over the expansion of slavery and the balance of free and slave states had been somewhat settled by the Missouri Compromise. However, in the Treaty of Guadalupe – Hidalgo, the U.S. was granted vast new lands, including California and New Mexico. Debate immediately ensued over the state of slavery in the new lands.”

Once you have earned a point for either describing differences and similarities between periods before and after the time frame described in the prompt, you must explain the extent of these differences and similarities for the second point. For instance, differences or similarities that are limited to a particular city or medium have a very different pragmatic impact than do those that occur across the country in a variety of mediums. For instance, one student explains the extent of discontent before and after the French and Indian war, as follows (see here ):

“Discontent became a major change in Anglo-American relations with one another as protest grew to British involvement in American affairs and duties. Before the war, Americans were okay with some taxes and controlled trade restrictions, but the sudden and seemingly illegal tax actions forced protests and traitorous talks, none of which had been prominent before the war.”

The student goes beyond simply describing differences between periods (as required for the first point) and addresses the extent to which they occur (via protests and traitorous talks, for instance). Another student (who had already addressed the level of debate before the war), explains the differences after the Mexican-American War in the second prompt as (see here ):

“After the Mexican- American War, the debate became over what to do with the newly acquired territory and ultimately led to the creation of new parties. … Though the United States was unwilling to admit it, the political aspect of the country was turning into one all about slavery. The demographic of political parties changed and foreshadowed the civil war.”

This student addresses the extent of differences in the demographic composition of the political parties themselves. The key is to tie in an explanation of this extent to a description of the differences and similarities between previous and later periods. If you provide both a description and an explanation of the extent to which these differences and similarities were true, you will receive two points for this section of the rubric.

If on the other hand, you are unable to describe and explain the differences between events before and after the prompt’s period of interest, you will not receive the two points for this section of the rubric. For instance, this student confused the period under question (see here ):

“The U.S. and Great Britain had been on bad terms ever since the American Revolution.”

Since the American Revolution occurred after the French and Indian War, this cannot be an adequate description of the period before the war. Thus, they would not receive a point for their description. Even if you have a factually correct description, however, you may not receive a point if that description is off-topic. For instance, this student’s response to the Mexican-American War prompt does not tie directly into the slavery debate—an essential part of the question (see here ):

“After the Mexican-American War, U.S. gained land in the southwest. Because this would upset the balance of slave and free states too much, the government decided to implement popular sovereignty.”

While the student mentions slavery, they do not complete their thought on why (or if) this relates to the slavery debate itself. As such, they did not earn a point for their description.

Similarly, you will not receive the second point for your explanation of the extent of differences and similarities if you provide only a vague statement or do not clearly tie your writing in to answer the question provided in the prompt. For instance, this student does not move beyond the description of differences phase, providing only a vague statement about the extent (see here ):

“When the war began, colonists did take up arms to assist the British and protect their land, but it wasn’t until the war ended that relations began to change between the colonies and the motherland.”

Likewise, this student writing the from the Mexican-American war prompt provides only a vague description of the differences between periods, without clearly addressing the extent to which the difference was true (see here ):

“When the war ended, the acquisition of new land led to debates over the status of slavery in those territories.”

The key for this point is to be clear. For a periodization question like the ones in 2015, you want to make sure your graders know that you can effectively describe the periods before and after the period in question. Once you have described the periods, then you want to be able to explain the extent to which your description holds. If you do both of these things, you will receive two points for the section.

3. Support Your Argument with Specific Evidence

Up to this point, we have covered three out of five points you can earn through the LEQ rubric. You earn an additional two points by developing your argument by “Using Evidence”. On the exam, you should be able to provide specific, relevant historical examples that address the topic of the question (for one point) and (for a second point) support or substantiate your thesis (see here ).

Some acceptable evidential references that relate to the Seven Years’ War topic might be, for instance (see here ):

• British debt from the Seven Years’ War
• Colonial attitudes toward autonomy before the war
• Similar intellectual and religious attitudes between the colonies and Britain before the war
• Imperial policies in the wake of the Seven Years’ War
• Colonial resentments over treatment of colonial forces by British regulars
• British efforts to pacify and negotiate with American Indians
• Albany Plan of Union

Likewise, if you chose the Mexican-American War LEQ, you might choose to use some of the following acceptable evidence (see the complete list of acceptable evidence here ):

• Manifest Destiny
• Missouri Compromise (1820)
• Increasing fear of slave power
• William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator (1830)
• Frederick Douglass
• Annexation of Texas (1845)
• Opposition to Mexican–American War among northern Whigs
• Abraham Lincoln’s Spot Resolutions (1846)
• Wilmot Proviso

The key is that you provide some evidence that is relevant to the topic at hand. As long as you do, you will earn a point for this first part of the “Using Evidence” portion of the rubric. This point should be a relatively easy one for you to get if you review your course notes before the exam. To earn this first evidence point, you do not even need to have a stated thesis or a relevant argument—only reference to a relevant piece of historical information (see here ). So, even if you know nothing about the question but a single relevant fact, you will be able to get at least one point for it.

To receive the second point in the “Using Evidence” section of the rubric, however, you need to provide evidence that substantiates your thesis or a related argument. For instance, the CollegeBoards states that acceptable evidence for arguing that the Seven Years’ War was less important as a turning point in different areas might include (see here ):

• The attitudes of everyday colonists
• Trans-Atlantic exchanges throughout the period
• Longstanding trans-Atlantic belief systems including republicanism, natural rights, the Enlightenment, and the Great Awakening
• Unchanged labor systems, including slavery
• The Zenger trial or other events illustrating a growth of distinct colonial identity well before the war
• Previous British policies of mercantilism.

On the other hand, for the same question, evidence that could be used to argue the Seven Years’ War was a major turning point in different areas might include (see here ):

• Taxation and efforts of Britain to assert greater control over colonial affairs
• The fact that British troops remained in the American colonies, there was a standing army, and the Quartering Act of 1765
• The passage of the Proclamation of 1763 to prevent movement of settlers across the Appalachians
• The passage of the Sugar Act (Revenue Act)

For each of these pieces of evidence, you need to make specific reference back to your thesis or relevant argument, demonstrating how this piece of evidence develops the overall argument of your essay to answer the exam prompt.

In the same way, examples of acceptable evidence that could be used to argue the Mexican–American War was not a turning point might include (see here ):

• Ongoing debates over slavery that continued before and after the war with William Lloyd Garrison, as well as The Liberator (1830), and the passage of the Gag Rule before the war
• Prior expansion of slavery into the Texas territories and debates over this expansion, including debates over Texas annexation
• Possibly more significant turning points, such as The Compromise of 1850 or the Kansas–Nebraska Act.

In contrast, evidence that could be used to argue the Mexican–American War was, in fact, a turning point might include (see here ):

• The increased debate over “free soil” and expansion of slavery
• The debates surrounding the Wilmot Proviso
• The need for addressing the influx of new territories and the effect that had on increasing sectional debates over slavery
• The changes to the political party system, including the death of the Whigs and the rise of the Republican Party, much of it centered on issues of expansion of slavery into the territories acquired by through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

If you successfully use a piece of evidence like those listed to substantiate your thesis, you will receive a point for the “Using Evidence” section of the LEQ. The key point here is to make sure you support your arguments with evidence. The CollegeBoard does not want you to be tossing around statements without providing clear evidence to support them.

The first point in the “Using Evidence” section gives you a lot of leeway regarding how you earn it. You simply need to mention a relevant piece of evidence to the prompt and you can earn points for your response. However, even if you provide a piece of evidence, you will not necessarily get points for it if it is not relevant to the question or true. For instance, this student confuses the chronology of events when trying to answer the Seven Years’ War LEQ (see here ):

“Some examples of the harsher rules and taxes that were enacted after the war were the Navigation Acts …”

The Navigation Acts were first enacted long before the start of the Seven Years’ War. As a result, even though they the acts did exist, the student did not receive a point because they incorrectly identified how the facts relate to the prompt.

Besides providing chronologically incorrect evidence, however, you can also lose the first point in the “Using Evidence” section by failing to connect it to all aspects of the question. For instance, a student writing about the Mexican-American War failed to clearly connect their evidence to the debate over slavery (see here ):

“The Missouri Compromise was an act that banned slavery in states above a certain parallel. The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed for popular sovereignty in those new states west of the Mississippi.”

You earn a second point in the “Using Evidence” section of the rubric by substantiating your thesis or relevant argument with evidence. However, if you do not fully explain how the evidence supports your thesis, you will not receive credit for your answer. For instance, this student provides evidence, but does not explain how their evidence supports the argument that the Seven Years’ War was a turning point in American relations with Great Britain (see here ):

“The Seven Years’ War marks a turning point because the colonists refused to agree to British demands.”

The student needs to address more fully how and why colonists’ refusal marks a change from previous periods for this evidence to constitute any substantiation. For this point, the CollegeBoard wants you to engage with the evidence and not just list it out in a rote, memorized fashion. An additional example of unacceptable evidence to substantiate a thesis or relevant argument from a student who chose to answer the Mexican-American War LEQ is as follows (see here ):

“The Compromise of 1850 was drafted that made more of the newly acquired states free, and to appease the South it created the fugitive slave law, which returned ‘escaped’ slave to their owners, but this was abused since many slaves captured and returned were free.”

While this example features a more detailed example than the last one, the student still does not explain how their evidence supports the argument that the war was or was not a turning point in the slavery debate. To earn the second point in the “Using Evidence” portion of the grading rubric, you must use the evidence in service of your argument. In other words, you need to clearly explain how it fits into the larger argument of your thesis.

4. Synthesize Your Argument with Another Historical Development or Course Theme

In the previous sections, we have covered five of the six total points you can earn on the U.S. History LEQ . The final point you can earn is the “Synthesis” point. To earn this final point, the CollegeBoard wants you to extend your argument by explaining a connection between the argument and a development in a different historical period, geographic area, or historical theme (see here ). To get the point, you need to not just mention, but to explain why there is a connection between your argument and an outside theme or development. If you do so, you will earn the final point for the LEQ.

One student, for instance, tied together the results of the French and Indian War with those of the later French Revolution (see here ):

“The French and Indian War’s results were similar to what took place in the French Revolution later on, in that debt from the war helped cause colonial independence from Great Britain, while the debt from involvement in the American Revolution helped inspire the French Revolution.”

They used a completely different period and context to build on their existing argument for why the French and Indian War was a turning point for Americans. As a result, this excerpt earned a point for “Synthesis.”

Similarly, another student compared changing attitudes towards slavery during the Mexican-American War to President Johnson’s later War on Poverty and its effects on the Civil Rights Movement (see here ):

“The increased tensions over the debate over slavery that resulted from the Mexican-American War continued to show themselves in racial tensions in the Civil War and beyond. These tensions boiled up again in the 1960’s as Southerners fought the expansion of rights to African Americans. While the Mexican-American War amounted to a great turning point in the debate over slavery, Johnson’s War on Poverty amounted to a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.”

Note, however, that you do not need to compare your argument to another historical development to earn the “Synthesis” point. You can also receive the point by addressing how your question might be interpreted from an alternative historical theme. For instance, one student spent their entire essay analyzing the Seven Years’ War from the perspective of political policy and attitude, but compared how an economic perspective might shed light on the question (see here ):

“While the Seven Years’ War changed political policies and attitudes, it also affected economic and commercial ties, as British taxation began to enforce mercantilist policies.”

Likewise, in a political essay about the Mexican-American War, another student discusses other social factors that also played a role in the differences the war created (see here ):

In an otherwise political essay: “The Mexican War created political imbalance because the balance between slave and free states from the Missouri Compromise ended. This loss of power in Congress resulted in an increase in the slave owners’ oppression of their slaves. They were afraid of also losing control of the social class structure seen in the South and the risk of losing their social and economic status. So the political crisis caused by the Mexican War also had a social element as well.”

The key is that all of these successful “Synthesis” points draw upon something external to their central argument or period of inquiry to extend their argument and demonstrate how it fits into the bigger scheme of history.

On the other hand, if you do not explain the connection between two contexts as they relate to the question, you will not receive a point. For instance, this student makes comparisons to the Seven Years’ War but does not explain how each of these conflicts served to foster revolutions in the external contexts (see here ):

“The anger caused by Britain’s strong handed actions left the land of the colonies fertile for the seeds of Revolution to grow in the same way they were in France, Haiti, and other soon to revolt countries of the time.”

To earn the “Synthesis” point, the student would need to expand more on how these other conflicts unfolded and how those processes correspond with the process of history in prompt’s period of interest more generally.

Similarly, another student compares the Mexican-American War to the Spanish-American War regarding land acquisition and imperialism, but does not address the central issue of the exam prompt—slavery (see here ):

“This era is very similar to that of the very late 1800’s in which the U.S. instigated a war with Spain to attain land, as done in Mexico during this period.”

It is not enough to simply state a similarity between the periods. The comparison must be relevant to the overall thesis of your essay and the LEQ itself.

Regarding thematic comparisons, the CollegeBoard emphasizes that students might similarly fail to adequately connect the alternate theme to the primary one used in their argument (see here ). However, one of the main problems for students attempting thematic comparisons is that they fail to address the thesis from an alternative theme at all. For instance, this student spent the majority of the essay discussing political reasons that the French and Indian War was a turning point and said (see here ):

“The war caused changes to political beliefs for both colonists and British officials.”

While this statement may be true, it does not represent an alternative theme from the dominant theme they used throughout their essay. Therefore, the student could not receive points for bringing up the “political” historical theme. They would need to bring up related Economic or Social thematic issues for instance.

Moving Forward

Now that you have seen examples of 2015 students who have succeeded on the AP® U.S. History LEQ and those who have not, it’s time for you try your hand at practice LEQs.

Try and write an answer to both of the questions described in this post with a 35-minute timer. Then, check and see how well you did at earning each one of the six points described in this post.

If you practice enough, writing LEQs will become automatic, and however tired you are by the time you reach the LEQ section of the exam, you will at least have confidence that you can succeed.

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