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THE SIMULATION LAB
Free printable · APUSH Topic 2.8

Period 2 Evidence Tournament Deck

Twenty evidence cards, a category board, and a teacher key. Groups argue which evidence best supports a comparison claim, bracket-style — and the winning card has to be defended, not just chosen.

Why this page exists: the Period 2 comparison lesson names an evidence tournament deck and category boards that never shipped as files.

Nothing to download, no email, no account. Print straight from this page. Built for the Evidence Tournament in Lesson 2.8 of APUSH Launch Control, and it works in any course that teaches the same ground.

How to print it

Each button opens your browser's normal print box with only that one piece selected — the website navigation, this text, and the teacher key never come out of the printer by accident. Choose your printer, press Print. Nothing downloads.

  1. The 20 cards — 4 pages, 6 per page. Cut on the dashed lines. One set per group of four, or one set for a whole-class bracket on the board.
  2. The category board — 1 page, prints sideways. Four categories plus the boxes where the winning card is defended.
  3. The teacher key — 1 page, for you only. The category each card serves best and the pairings worth arguing about.

20 cards · 4 pages at 6 per page · cut on the dashed lines

Period 2 Evidence Tournament DeckCut on the dashed lines. Two cards enter a round; one advances. thesimulationlabedu.com

The deck

Each card is a piece of Period 2 evidence. In each round, two cards are compared against a claim and the group must say which one does more work.

Period 2 Category BoardOne per group. Sort, bracket, defend. thesimulationlabedu.com

The category board

Four categories. The tournament runs inside a category so the comparison is fair — and the last box connects Period 2 back to Period 1.

Labor and slavery

Cards here.

Empire, trade, and policy

Cards here.

Indigenous relations and conflict

Cards here.

Society, ideas, and self-government

Cards here.

Our claim for this round
The winning card — and the card it beat
Why the winner does more work
A Period 1 development this evidence continues or breaks from
Teacher key — best category per card and the arguable pairings (click to open)
Teacher Key — Period 2 Evidence Tournament DeckDo not hand to students. thesimulationlabedu.com

Kept closed by default so it is not on the board behind you.

Free from The Simulation Lab · https://thesimulationlabedu.com/history/apush/tools/period-2-evidence-tournament-deck/

Run it in one class period

  1. Set up, 5 minutes. Pick a category and write the round's claim on the board.
  2. Round one, 12 minutes. Deal pairs within the category. Each pair is argued for two minutes; one card advances with a written reason.
  3. Round two and final, 12 minutes. Winners face each other. The written reason gets stricter each round.
  4. Connect back, 10 minutes. The winning card is linked to a Period 1 development it continues or breaks from.
  5. Exit, 5 minutes. One sentence: the winning evidence, the claim it supports, and the reason it beat the runner-up.

Why a bracket. Ranking evidence forces the comparison students otherwise avoid. "Both are important" is not available when only one card can advance, and the written reason is where the reasoning becomes visible.

These are teacher-authored evidence summaries, not primary sources. For documents students read closely, use the lesson kit's Evidence and Source Guide.

All free printable card sets · Back to the APUSH Skills Lab

Written and reviewed by Josh, classroom history teacher and Simulation Lab creator. Published and reviewed August 19, 2026. Print and copy freely for your own classroom. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board.