Unit 9 LEQs (Long Essay Questions)
LEQ 1
Prompt:
Assess the extent to which the Reagan Revolution (1981-1989) reshaped U.S. domestic policy and political identity.
Reasoning Skill:
Continuity & Change
Guiding Ideas for Response:
LEQ 2
Prompt:
To what extent did the events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent War on Terror alter the balance between civil liberties and national security in the U.S.?
Reasoning Skill:
Causation & Comparison
Guiding Ideas for Response:
LEQ 3
Prompt:
Analyze how globalization and trade agreements since the 1990s have affected the U.S. economy and national debates about government’s role. Have these effects been more beneficial or harmful for average Americans?
Reasoning Skill:
Comparison & Causation
Guiding Ideas for Response:
LEQ 1
Prompt:
Assess the extent to which the Reagan Revolution (1981-1989) reshaped U.S. domestic policy and political identity.
Reasoning Skill:
Continuity & Change
Guiding Ideas for Response:
- Reagan’s rhetoric about government size, individualism, and federal vs. state power
- Changes in fiscal policy: tax cuts, deregulation, spending priorities
- Social changes: shifts in welfare policy, culture, national identity
- Continuities: which political institutions, social values, or policy areas changed little
- Ronald Reagan, Address Before a Joint Session of Congress on the Program for Economic Recovery (February 18, 1981)
“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.… From time to time we’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?”
URL: History.State.gov – Excerpts From Speech by Ronald Reagan at the 64th Annual Worcester County Lincoln Day Dinner (Feb 15, 1980) shows similar rhetoric of government as problem. (Office of the Historian) - Ronald Reagan, “Statement on the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement” (October 4, 1987)
“This historic agreement will strengthen both our economies and over time create thousands of jobs in both countries. It will serve as an important model for other nations seeking to improve their trading relationships. In many respects it will also serve as a model for the Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations.”
URL: Reagan Library – “Statement on the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement”. (Reagan Library) - Ronald Reagan, “Radio Address to the Nation on the Canadian Elections and Free Trade” (November 26, 1988)
“Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies; they are our allies. We should beware of the demagogs who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends — weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world — all while cynically waving the American flag. The expansion of the international economy is not a foreign invasion; it is an American triumph, one we worked hard to achieve, and something central to our vision of a peaceful and prosperous world of freedom.”
URL: Reagan Library – “Radio Address … Free Trade” (Reagan Library)
LEQ 2
Prompt:
To what extent did the events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent War on Terror alter the balance between civil liberties and national security in the U.S.?
Reasoning Skill:
Causation & Comparison
Guiding Ideas for Response:
- The immediate effects of 9/11 on public opinion, policy, government powers
- Legislation and executive actions (Surveillance, Patriot Act, homeland security)
- How civil liberties (free speech, privacy, due process) were affected
- Compare with earlier periods of national crisis (e.g. Cold War, WWI, etc.)
- President George W. Bush, Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks (September 11, 2001)
“Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. … The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.”
URL: DocSteach – 911: President George W. Bush and Address to the Nation (DocsTeach) - Selected Speeches of President George W. Bush – excerpts about domestic responsibilities after 9/11
“Government has great responsibilities for public safety and public health, for civil rights and common schools. Yet compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government.”
URL: George W. Bush White House Archives – Selected Speeches (George W. Bush Archives) - The 9/11 Commission Report – excerpts on intelligence failures and recommendations
“The Commission recognized that many people had died because of gaps in policy and information, including failures of imagination. … It concluded that a critical weakness of U.S. intelligence was its inability to connect the dots— to bring together pieces of intelligence held in different agencies.”
URL: GPO (U.S. Government Publishing Office) – The 9/11 Commission Report (GovInfo)
LEQ 3
Prompt:
Analyze how globalization and trade agreements since the 1990s have affected the U.S. economy and national debates about government’s role. Have these effects been more beneficial or harmful for average Americans?
Reasoning Skill:
Comparison & Causation
Guiding Ideas for Response:
- Impact of trade agreements (NAFTA, free trade) on jobs, manufacturing, consumer prices
- Rhetorical framing by leaders: trade as opportunity vs. trade as threat
- Regional and demographic winners and losers (rural/urban, working class vs. corporate/business sectors)
- Compare with earlier eras of economic change (industrialization, etc.)
- Bill Clinton, Remarks on the Signing of NAFTA (1993)
“I believe we have made the right decision for America’s future — a decision that will create good American jobs, open up new markets, and strengthen our ties with our neighbors.”
URL: Clinton Presidential Library – NAFTA POTUS Speeches/Remarks binder (Clinton Digital Library) - Ronald Reagan, Statement on the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (1987) (same as LEQ 1 source B)
“This historic agreement will strengthen both our economies and over time create thousands of jobs in both countries. … It will remove all Canadian tariffs, secure improved access to Canada’s market … and improve our security through additional access to Canadian energy supplies.”
URL: Reagan Library – Statement on the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (Reagan Library) - Ronald Reagan, “Radio Address to the Nation on the Canadian Elections and Free Trade” (1988) (same as LEQ 1 source C)
“Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies; they are our allies. We should beware of the demagogs who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends … The expansion of the international economy is not a foreign invasion; it is an American triumph …”
URL: Reagan Library – Radio Address … Free Trade (Reagan Library)