Ap Us History Essays

"Wanted:" complex US manhunt for bin Laden wasn't the first

"Wanted Dead or Alive: Manhunts From Geronimo to bin Laden"

By Benjamin Runkle

When U.S. Navy SEALs ended a seemingly endless manhunt by killing Osama bin Laden in his hide-out in a suburb north of Pakistan's capital this spring, the world learned that the code name given to the al-Qaida leader was Geronimo.

Although the designation upset some Native Americans, it had some compelling logic. U.S. forces 125 years ago launched a manhunt for Geronimo, the tribal warrior whose savage attacks on settlers in the Southwest made him the target of Army troops who pursued him on both sides of the border with Mexico.

The hunts for Geronimo and bin Laden were centered in borderlands that included rugged, mountainous terrain. The Apache leader, for whom the government posted a $25,000 reward, surrendered in 1886 after evading troops for more than a year. The quest for bin Laden, who had a $25 million bounty on his head, went on for 13 years.

Benjamin Runkle details the hunts for Geronimo, bin Laden and other targeted individuals in Asia, Africa and the Americas. They include Filipino rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo, Mexican bandit Pancho Villa, Panamanian strongman and drug dealer Manuel Noriega and deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"Wanted Dead or Alive" may be most appealing to those with an interest in military history, but should also find favor with a broader readership drawn to lesser known episodes in the nation's past.

There have been nearly a dozen deployments of U.S. military forces whose missions were to kill or capture one specific person. Runkle predicts that the most recent manhunt will not be the last.

"A Short Autobiography"

By F. Scott Fitzgerald and James L. W. West III

An often light but still poignant side of F. Scott Fitzgerald is evident in this compilation of 19 of his previously published items and articles, written mostly for popular magazines during 1920-1940.

Edited by Fitzgerald scholar James L.W. West III, the collection is billed as an autobiography because the American novelist and short-story writer keeps the focus on himself, and his celebrated life and times.

The personal essays are frequently funny and fast-paced, particularly during the 1920s when he enjoyed huge literary success and, with his wife, Zelda, came to embody the Jazz Age.

But beset by personal problems and a marital breakup as the 1930s ground into the Great Depression, a somber side of Fitzgerald shows through in the later pieces. In a 1936 article for Esquire magazine, "Afternoon of an Author," Fitzgerald writes of his "growing seclusion … and the increasing necessity of picking over a well-picked past.

Articles 20VN | AP US History DBQ - Tips for the Document Based ...

The AP US history document based question can be very difficult...or very easy. Let's see what you can do to make your DBQ experience a breeze.

DBQ Format:
AP US history DBQ's all have the same format. You are given 15 minutes to read through the documents and begin to formulate your argument. After this period is over you have 45 minutes to write your essay. Most of the documents will probably be text, perhaps from speeches or letters. Other documents may be maps, pictures, political cartoons and so forth.

Planning Your Essay
Try to plan as much of your essay as possible during the 15 minute reading period. Read through each of the documents at least once, making notes on the margin or underlining key information as you go. After this stage, determine at least three ways to group the documents together, based on the conclusions that can be drawn from each. These groupings will become your paragraphs.

For each paragraph, write a topic sentence and list the documents that you intend to use as evidence. You should also list anything you remember from your AP US history class that is relevant to the topic at hand. Tie all of your paragraphs together with a thesis and write that down as well.

Good AP US History DBQ Habits
Above all else, your answer to the document based question should not just be a 'laundry list' of documents organized by theme. Make an argument and then put the document that supports your idea in parenthesis at the end of that sentence. Documents should be used as sources, not specifically mentioned in your essay. In addition, remember not to oversimplify the issue. Acknowledge opposing viewpoints, present counter-evidence, tie in your thesis with the events in a similar event in US history and so on. Make a controversial thesis and support it but also note its weaknesses.

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