2023
AP
®
United States
History
Sample Student Responses
and Scoring Commentary
Set 2
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Inside:
Long Essay Question 4
Scoring Guidelines
Student Samples
Scoring Commentary
AP® United States History 2023 Scoring Guidelines
© 2023 College Board
Question 4: Long Essay Question, Civil Rights Activism 6 points
General Scoring Notes
• Except where otherwise noted, each point of these rubrics is earned independently; for example, a student could earn a point for evidence
without earning a point for thesis/claim.
• Accuracy: The components of these rubrics require that students demonstrate historically defensible content knowledge. Given the timed nature
of the exam, essays may contain errors that do not detract from their overall quality, as long as the historical content used to advance the
argument is accurate.
• Clarity: Exam essays should be considered first drafts and thus may contain grammatical errors. Those errors will not be counted against a student
unless they obscure the successful demonstration of the content knowledge, skills, and practices described below.
Evaluate the extent to which the growth of civil rights activism contributed to changes in government action between 1940 and 1980.
AP® United States History 2023 Scoring Guidelines
© 2023 College Board
Reporting
Category
Scoring Criteria
Row A
Thesis/Claim
(0-1 points)
0 points
Does not meet the criteria for one point.
1 point
Responds to the prompt with a historically defensible thesis/claim that establishes a line of
reasoning.
Decision Rules and Scoring Notes
Responses that do not earn this point:
• Are not historically defensible.
• Only restate or rephrase the prompt.
• Do not respond to the prompt.
• Do not establish a line of reasoning.
• Are overgeneralized.
Responses that earn this point:
Provide a historically defensible thesis or claim about how the growth of civil rights activism
contributed to changes in government action between 1940 and 1980. The thesis must
suggest at least one main line of argument development or establish the analytic categories of
the argument.
Examples that do not earn this point:
Provide a historically defensible claim, but do not establish a line
of reasoning
• “Civil rights activists became more influential during the period
1940 to 1980.”
Do not focus on the topic of the prompt
• “The African American civil rights movement inspired other
groups to demand rights, including Asian Americans, Latino
Americans and LGBTQ+ Americans.”
Provide a restatement of the prompt
• “Civil rights activism contributed to changes in government
action between 1940 and 1980.”
Examples that earn this point:
Establish a line of reasoning that evaluates the topic of the prompt with analytic categories
• “While civil rights activists were able to convince legislators to enforce voting rights, the
more important success of activists was securing favorable rulings by the Supreme Court.”
Establish a line of reasoning with analytic categories
• “Both the legislative and judicial branches of the federal government responded to the
pressure by civil rights activists in the mid-twentieth century by changing laws.”
Establish a line of reasoning
• “Civil rights activism forced the government to protect civil rights between 1940 and
1980.” (Minimally acceptable thesis/claim)
Additional Notes:
• The thesis or claim must consist of one or more sentences located in one place, either in the introduction or the conclusion (which may not be limited to the first
or last paragraphs).
• The thesis or claim must identify a relevant development(s) in the period, although it is not required to encompass the entire period.
AP® United States History 2023 Scoring Guidelines
© 2023 College Board
Reporting
Category
Scoring Criteria
Row B
Contextualization
(0-1 points)
0 points
Does not meet the criteria for one point.
1 point
Describes a broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
Decision Rules and Scoring Notes
Responses that do not earn this point:
• Provide an overgeneralized statement about the time period
referenced in the prompt.
• Provide context that is not relevant to the prompt.
• Provide a passing phrase or reference.
Responses that earn this point:
Accurately describe a context relevant to how the growth of civil rights activism contributed
to changes in government action between 1940 and 1980.
Examples that do not earn this point:
Do not provide context relevant to the topic of the prompt
• “Prior to 1940, U.S. Foreign policy was shaped by debates
about the merits of isolationism.”
Provide an overgeneralized statement about the time period
referenced in the prompt
• “As a result of new economic opportunities, the lives of many
African American people were rapidly changing.”
Examples of relevant context that earn this point include the following, if appropriate
elaboration is provided:
• Civil War
• Reconstruction
• Reconstruction Amendments
• Black codes
• Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Plessy v. Ferguson
• Jim Crow laws
• National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• National Association of Colored Women’s
Clubs (NACWC)
• W. E. B. Du Bois
• Challenges to conformity
• Progressive Era
• Immigration restrictions
• Internment of Japanese Americans
• Antiwar activism
Example of acceptable contextualization:
• “During Reconstruction, the federal government had short-term successes in defending
African Americans’ civil rights, but ultimately Reconstruction failed.”
• “As a result of the continuation of segregation, by the early 1900s many organizations like
the NACWC began to organize to create social and political pressure for governmental
reforms.”
• “During World War II, Americans of many backgrounds joined the military and started
working in factories to help America win. After the war, their participation led to big
changes.” (Minimally acceptable context)
Additional Notes:
• The response must relate the topic of the prompt to broader historical events, developments, or processes that occur before, during, or continue after the
time frame of the question.
• To earn this point, the context provided must be more than a phrase or reference.
AP® United States History 2023 Scoring Guidelines
© 2023 College Board
Reporting
Category
Scoring Criteria
Row C
Evidence
(0-2 points)
0 points
Does not meet the criteria for one
point.
1 point
Provides specific examples of evidence relevant to the topic
of the prompt.
2 points
Supports an argument in response to the prompt using
specific and relevant examples of evidence.
Decision Rules and Scoring Notes
Responses that do not earn points:
• Identify a single piece of evidence.
• Provide evidence that is not
relevant to the topic of the prompt.
• Provide evidence that is outside the
time period or region specified in
the prompt.
• Repeat information that is specified
in the prompt.
Responses that earn 1 point:
Identify at least two specific historical examples relevant to
how the growth of civil rights activism contributed to changes
in government action between 1940 and 1980.
Responses that earn 2 points:
Use at least two specific historical examples to support
an argument regarding how the growth of civil rights
activism contributed to changes in government action
between 1940 and 1980.
Examples of evidence that are specific and relevant include
the following (two examples required):
Examples that successfully support an argument with
evidence:
• “Advocacy and protests by civil rights activists
pressured the federal government to become more
involved in protecting the civil rights of African
Americans by passing new laws like the Civil Rights
Act of 1964.” (Uses evidence to support an
argument about the effect of civil rights activism on
government policy)
• “Civil rights groups often use test cases like in
Brown v. Board of Education to challenge
segregation, and by the 1950s and 1960s the
Supreme Court increasingly ruled in their favor.”
(Uses evidence to support an argument about how
civil rights activism through court challenges
resulted in governmental change)
• “Women’s Rights Groups like NOW pushed for the
Equal Rights Amendment, though it was not ratified
by enough states to be enacted.” (Uses evidence to
support an argument about how civil rights activism
through a proposed constitutional amendment was
blocked by government action at the state level)
• Brown v. Board of
Education
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Direct action
• Dixiecrats
• Montgomery bus
boycott
• Malcolm X
• Asian American Political
Alliance
• Sit-ins
• Freedom riders
• Occupation of Alcatraz
• Dolores Huerta
• Equal Rights
Amendment
• César Chávez/United
Farm Workers (UFW)
• Lyndon B. Johnson
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• National Organization for
Women (NOW)
• March on Washington
• Southern Christian
Leadership Coalition (SCLC)
• Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Stonewall uprising
• New Conservatism/states’
rights
• Barry Goldwater
• Desegregation of the U.S.
military
• American Indian
Movement (AIM)
• Korematsu v. United States
Examples that do not earn points:
Provide evidence that is outside the
time period
• “African American cultural influence
increased during the Harlem
Renaissance.”
Example of a statement that earns one point for evidence:
• “Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights groups engaged in
direct action to combat racial discrimination.”
Additional Notes:
• Typically, statements credited as evidence will be more specific than statements credited as contextualization.
• If a response has a multipart argument, then it can meet the threshold of two pieces of evidence by giving one example for one part of the argument and
another example for a different part of the argument, but the total number of examples must still be at least two.
(For example, supporting a two-part argument about the debate between nonviolent and aggressive approaches to civil rights activism with evidence about
how the federal government responded to the approaches differently.)
AP® United States History 2023 Scoring Guidelines
© 2023 College Board
Reporting
Category
Scoring Criteria
Row D
Analysis and
Reasoning
(0-2 points)
0 points
Does not meet the criteria
for one point.
1 point
Uses historical reasoning (e.g., comparison, causation,
continuity, and change) to frame or structure an
argument that addresses the prompt.
2 points
Demonstrates a complex understanding of the historical development
that is the focus of the prompt, using evidence to corroborate, qualify, or
modify an argument that addresses the question.
Decision Rules and Scoring Notes
Responses that do not
earn points:
• May include evidence
but offer no reasoning
to connect the
evidence to an
argument.
• May assert the use of
historical reasoning but
does not use it to
frame or structure an
argument.
Responses that earn 1 point:
Must demonstrate the use of historical reasoning to
explain how the growth of civil rights activism
contributed to changes in government action between
1940 and 1980, although the reasoning may be uneven,
limited, or imbalanced.
Responses that earn 2 points:
May demonstrate a complex understanding in a variety of ways, such as:
• Explaining the nuance of an issue by analyzing multiple variables.
• Explaining both similarity and difference, or explaining both continuity
and change, or explaining multiple causes, or explaining both causes
and effects.
• Explaining relevant and insightful connections within and across
periods.
• Confirming the validity of an argument by corroborating multiple
perspectives across themes.
• Qualifying or modifying an argument by considering diverse or
alternative views or evidence.
Examples that do not earn
points:
Provide evidence but offer
no reasoning to connect
the evidence to an
argument
• “Activists protested
segregation.”
Using a historical reasoning process to frame or
structure an argument could include:
• Comparing different tactics that civil rights groups
utilized in order to push for changes in government
action.
• Explaining how politics changed as a result of civil
rights reforms.
Example of acceptable use of historical reasoning:
• “While many of the successes of the civil rights
movement were at the federal level, many states
resisted enforcing these changes by arguing that
they violated states’ rights.” (Indicates differences in
government actions as a result of civil rights
activism)
Demonstrating complex understanding might include any of the
following, if appropriate elaboration is provided:
• The response argues that political activism led the federal government
to pass laws protecting African American voting rights. It then
corroborates that argument with evidence about cultural shifts in
United States society, especially among younger Americans, in
support of government activism to address social issues.
• The response argues that civil rights activism in the 1950s and 1960s
contributed to a broad political consensus around liberalism. It then
qualifies that argument with evidence of how the increased role of
government action associated with liberalism contributed to the rise
of a new conservative movement by 1980 that emphasized small
government and deregulation.
• The response argues that nonviolent civil rights activists like the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference had the most successful
approach to obtaining government action. It then qualifies the
argument with evidence of how some nonviolent organizations like
SNCC changed their position over time because they believed change
was not happening fast enough.
Additional Notes:
This demonstration of complex understanding must be part of the argument, not merely a phrase or reference.
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AP
®
United States History 2023 Scoring Commentary
© 2023 College Board.
Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.
Long Essay Question 4
Note: Student samples are quoted verbatim and may contain spelling and grammatical errors.
Overview
• Students were asked to evaluate the extent to which the growth of civil rights activism
contributed to changes in government action between 1940 and 1980.
• Students were expected to display an understanding of civil rights activism. Many responses
focused on the African American freedom struggle, but others incorporated an understanding
of women’s, Latino, Native American, Asian American, and LBTQ+ movements as well.
• Students were expected to identify patterns or connections among a variety of events in the
realm of civil rights. This was done by either focusing on patterns or connections within one
movement or by drawing connections among multiple movements during the time period.
Students drew on similar tactics used by different movements or by highlighting the shifts in
strategy within a movement after a period of governmental or societal resistance.
• Students had to accurately integrate broad historical movements or events to respond to the
question. Many students achieved this by drawing connections with a variety of topics,
primarily in Unit 8. Students often referred to the challenges to freedom and the establishment
of segregation following the abolishment of slavery, the increase in nativism and racism
following the First World War, or the different levels of impact of New Deal programs on
demographic groups if they were focusing on the context before the time period. Students often
referred to the impact of the Second World War at home and abroad on different demographics,
the role of the Red Scare and increasing tensions with the Soviet Union, the rise of youth
activism and challenges to conformity, the increasing presence of the federal government, or
the shift in political party dominance if they were focusing on the context within the time
period. Students drew on the impacts of the rise of conservatism, the AIDS crisis, the end of the
Cold War, and modern examples of women’s and minority issues for context after the time
period.
• For this question, students were expected to describe and explain the effects that growing civil
rights activism had on governmental actions. To earn points, students had to demonstrate an
understanding of what the executive, legislative, and judicial functions of government were and
how they were utilized in the time period. After identifying relevant government functions,
students had to provide specific examples of what those functions were to earn points for
Analysis and Reasoning. This had to be above the level of generic descriptions of enforcing,
passing, or ruling on civil rights laws. This required specificity, such as identifying presidential
orders, specific legislation, or Supreme Court cases relevant to civil rights. Students had to
corroborate, modify, or qualify an argument in order to demonstrate a complex understanding.
Students often did this by analyzing multiple variables in the forms of different rights (public
action, voting, and economic/educational opportunity). Students made connections within and
across time periods but more often drew on youth culture and the idea of a society in transition
to earn the point. Students could corroborate by analyzing state and federal governments and
their responses to civil rights activism.
AP
®
United States History 2023 Scoring Commentary
© 2023 College Board.
Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.
Long Essay Question 4 (continued)
Sample: 4A
Thesis/Claim: 1
Contextualization: 1
Evidence: 2
Analysis and Reasoning: 2
Total Score: 6
A. Thesis/Claim (0–1 points): 1
The response earned 1 point for thesis because it presented a historically defensible claim that “the
Women’s Liberation Movement and the African American Civil Rights Movement directly
influencing and changing government action to enact legislation to grant equal rights to those
minorities.”
B. Contextualization (0–1 points): 1
The response earned 1 point for contextualization by describing the involvement of women and
African Americans in helping the country during the First and Second World Wars.
C. Evidence (0–2 points): 2
The response earned 2 points for evidence. The response earned the first point for providing several
specific, relevant examples, including Roe v. Wade, Title IX, Brown v. Board of Education, and the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The response earned the second point for using several of these examples to support a larger
historical argument. For example, in the discussion of the Women’s Liberation Movement, the
response uses Roe v. Wade and Title IX to show a change in government action through the
legalization of abortion and ensuring equal education for women by outlawing discrimination. The
connection is then made to efforts by the African American civil rights movement to end school
segregation through Brown v. Board and the ultimate passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The
evidence is used to establish that the “government enacted legislation that would address the
grievances of the movement.”
AP
®
United States History 2023 Scoring Commentary
© 2023 College Board.
Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.
Long Essay Question 4 (continued)
D. Analysis and Reasoning (0–2 points): 2
The response earned 1 point for using historical reasoning by demonstrating the historical reasoning
skill of causation by effectively connecting the increase of activism among African Americans to
developments in women’s activism as well as the government’s actions to end segregation.
Causation is discussed multiples time in the response. For example, the response explains how
growing activism led to “changes in government action by influencing the Suprem Court to make
such a landmark decision.”
The response earned 1 point for demonstrating a complex understanding by qualifying the argument
about civil rights activism causing a change in government action by providing an extensive
discussion of conservative pushback by the Moral Majority and the defeat of the Equal Rights
Amendment.
Sample: 4B
Thesis/Claim: 0
Contextualization: 1
Evidence: 2
Analysis and Reasoning: 1
Total Score: 4
A. Thesis/Claim (0–1 points): 0
The response did not earn a point for thesis. The response does respond to the prompt in the first
paragraph with the historically defensible claim that “the civil rights movement had contributed very
strongly” to government action. However, the response does not establish a line of reasoning
regarding government action.
B. Contextualization (0–1 points): 1
The response earned 1 point for contextualization by describing context prior to the time period of
the prompt. The response discusses the role of Frederick Douglass’s advocacy for civil rights as a
broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
C. Evidence (0–2 points): 2
The response earned 2 points for using evidence. The response earned the first point because it
provides several specific, relevant examples (Rosa Parks, sit-ins, the “Little Rock 9”).
The response earned the second point because it uses evidence of multiple examples of protests
against segregation to support an argument that knowledge of these events contributed to
government action in the form of the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
AP
®
United States History 2023 Scoring Commentary
© 2023 College Board.
Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.
Long Essay Question 4 (continued)
D. Analysis and Reasoning (0–2 points): 1
The response earned 1 point for using historical reasoning. It uses historical reasoning (causation) to
structure arguments about Rosa Parks, the sit-ins movement, and the Little Rock 9. In particular, the
response argues that actions taken in Little Rock led the government to decide “to intervene in
support of the civil rights movement which layed the foundation of further changes to come.”
The response did not earn the point for demonstrating a complex understanding because it did not
effectively use evidence to modify, corroborate, or qualify an argument.
Sample: 4C
Thesis/Claim: 0
Contextualization: 1
Evidence: 1
Analysis and Reasoning: 0
Total Score: 2
A. Thesis/Claim (0–1 points): 0
The response did not earn a point for thesis because it did not establish a clear line of reasoning
relevant to the prompt. There is an attempt in the conclusion when the response states that the Civil
Rights movement was motivated “even more” and that “eventually Jim Crow laws were abolished,”
but there is no connection made between the growth of the movement and the later government
action.
B. Contextualization (0–1 points): 1
The response earned 1 point for contextualization by providing context that occurred before the time
period of the prompt. The response mentions “they were inslaved” and discusses Jim Crow laws as
a broader historical context relevant to the prompt.
C. Evidence (0–2 points): 1
The response earned 1 point for providing at least two specific historical examples relevant to the
prompt. It discusses Rosa Parks and the activism of Martin Luther King, Jr. at length. The response
also mentions the “I have a Dream” speech. Other passing references are made to Malcolm X and the
Black Panther Party.
The response did not earn the second evidence point for supporting an argument in response to the
prompt. The response attempts to use Rosa Parks and the bus boycott to argue that this event led to
the end of all Jim Crow segregation. It uses Martin Luther King, Jr. to support an argument that he
motivated people, but this is not an argument relevant to the topic of the prompt, which is about
government action.
AP
®
United States History 2023 Scoring Commentary
© 2023 College Board.
Visit College Board on the web: collegeboard.org.
Long Essay Question 4 (continued)
D. Analysis and Reasoning (0–2 points): 0
The response did not earn a point for using historical reasoning. There are attempts throughout to
show causation, but they lack specificity, contain errors, or do not connect to government action. For
example, the discussion of protests and riots causing government violence is general and does not
indicate that this is a change in government action.
The response did not earn the point for demonstrating a complex understanding. There is no attempt
made to use evidence to modify, corroborate, or qualify an argument.
