5 Steps to a 5TM AP European History

AP European History Practice Test 1, Section II, Part A (^) ‹ 227
Question: Compare and contrast the ideologies presented below concerning the proper form and role of gov-
ernment in society.
AP European History Practice Test 1
Section II, Part A
(Document-Based Question)
Directions: The document-based section consists of one question to be answered in 60 minutes. The follow-
ing question is based on documents 1–7 provided below. (The documents have been edited for the purpose
of this exercise.) The historical thinking skills that this question is designed to test include contextualization,
synthesis, historical argumentation, and the use of historical evidence. Your response should be based on your
knowledge of the topic and your analysis of the documents.
Write a well-integrated essay that does the following:
• States an appropriate thesis that addresses all parts of the question
• Supports that thesis with evidence from at least six of the seven documents and your knowledge of European
history beyond these documents
• Analyzes most of the documents in terms of their purpose, point of view, argument, limitations, format,
intended audience, and/or social context
• Places your argument in the context of appropriate broader regional, national, or global developments
Document 1
Source: Samuel Smiles, Self-Help, 1859
“Even the best institutions can give man no active aid. Perhaps the utmost they can do is to leave him free to
develop himself and improve his individual condition. But in all times men have been prone to believe that
their happiness and well-being were to be secured by means of institutions rather than by their own conduct.
Hence the value of legislation as an agent in human advancement has always been greatly over-estimated.”
Document 2
Source: Joseph de Maistre, Essay on the Generative Principle of Political Constitutions, 1809
“One of the greatest errors of a century which professed them all was to believe that a political constitution
could be created and written a priori, whereas reason and experience unite in proving that a constitution is
a divine work and that precisely the most fundamental and essentially constitutional of a nation’s laws could
not possibly be written.”
Document 3
Source: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859
“... [T]he sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the
liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be
rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”
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