AQA A Level History Depth Study: America: A Nation Divided, c1845-1877 June 2025 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 disputes over westward expansion, in the years 1845 to 1848.

'In the years 1856 to 1860, the Lincoln-Douglas debates increased sectional tension between the Northern and Southern states more than any other factor.’

Assess the validity of this view.

How significant was the military leadership of Grant in bringing about Union victory in the Civil War?

‘The Republican Party was responsible for the failure of Radical Reconstruction in the years 1868 to 1877.’

Assess the validity of this view.