America: A Nation Divided

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.

With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War.

‘In the years 1850 to 1854, the growth of abolitionist sentiment in the Northern States was the main cause of division between North and South.’

Assess the validity of this view.

To what extent was Republican victory in the 1860 election the result of the weaknesses of the Democratic Party?

‘There was no significant improvement to the lives of African-Americans in the years 1867 to 1877.’

Assess the validity of this view.

With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying the disputes over Kansas in the mid-1850s.

‘In c1845, the issue of States’ Rights was the most important reason why divisions between North and South widened.’

Assess the validity of this view.

‘In the years 1863 to 1865, there was little progress toward national reconciliation because of the indecisive leadership of President Lincoln.’

Assess the validity of this view.

To what extent did violence and the threat of violence enable Southern segregationists to regain their political dominance over the South by 1877?

With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying the increasing tensions over the expansion of slavery, in the years 1857 to 1860.

‘For the South, westward expansion was more of a threat than an opportunity before 1850.’

Assess the validity of this view.

‘In the Civil War the North and South suffered equally.’

Assess the validity of this view.

To what extent was President Andrew Johnson to blame for his conflict with Congress?

With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying disagreements over the Constitution.

‘The 1850 Compromise was badly flawed.’

Assess the validity of this view with reference to the years 1848 to 1854.

‘Poor leadership was the Confederacy’s greatest weakness in the Civil War.’

Assess the validity of this view.

To what extent was the Fourteenth Amendment due to Thaddeus Stevens?

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

‘The main issue dividing North and South, c1845, was disagreement about the balance of power between the Federal Government and the States.’

Assess the validity of this view.

To what extent did William Seward promote abolitionism in the years 1850 to 1860?

‘The leadership of Lincoln was the Union’s greatest advantage in the Civil War.’

Assess the validity of this view.

With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying reasons for the defeat of the Confederacy.

‘Westward expansion before 1854 was totally disastrous for the relations between slave and non-slave states.’

Assess the validity of this view.

How important was the political impact of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in the rise of the Republican Party in the years 1854 to 1860?

How far had Radical Republicans achieved their aims by 1877?

With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying the outbreak of the Civil War.

How accurately did popular literature and the press in the South represent Southern attitudes to abolitionism, in the years 1850 to 1854?

‘Lincoln’s planning for the future of the Union after the Civil War was too favourable towards the South.’

Assess the validity of this view.

‘The ‘Redeemers’ were motivated by the desire to remove corruption from politics in the South, in the years 1868 to 1877.’

Assess the validity of this view.

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.