AQA A Level History Depth Study: America: A Nation Divided, c1845-1877 June 2017 question paper 7042/2J

With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying President Johnson and Reconstruction.

How significant were the differences between the Northern and Southern states c1845?

How important were the Lincoln-Douglas debates in the increased sectional tensions of the years 1858 to 1860?

‘The Battle of Gettysburg was decisive for the outcome of the American Civil War.’

Assess the validity of this view.