The History of the USA, 1820-1941 AS Level History Notes
Contents Overview
This resource is designed to assist in studying the History of the USA from 1820-1941 for the Cambridge International AS Level History course (syllabus 9489).
The book includes features such as learning objectives, before you start activities, timelines, activities (individual and group), reflection boxes, key figure boxes, key concept boxes, think like a historian boxes, sample answers with annotations, exam-style questions, learning summaries, and further reading sections (suggesting additional resources).
The AS Level History syllabus (9489) is thoroughly covered, and it is also suitable for similar AS and A Level courses, featuring clear, accessible language.
How to Use This Resource
Each chapter starts with learning objectives that outline what you should understand after completing the chapter, ensuring a focused approach to learning.
Before you start activities activate prior knowledge needed for each chapter, creating a foundation for new information.
Timelines provide a visual guide to key events, aiding in understanding chronological context.
Chapters include individual and group activities to develop skills and apply understanding, promoting active learning.
Reflection boxes offer chances to think about skill development and independent learning, fostering metacognitive abilities.
Key Figure boxes highlight important historical figures, providing insights into their roles and contributions.
Key Concepts boxes help develop a conceptual understanding of history and connections between topics, enhancing analytical skills.
Think Like a Historian boxes prompt evaluation and analysis skills, encouraging critical thinking.
Sample answers with annotations show what makes a response successful and how it could be improved, offering guidance on assessment expectations.
Exam-style questions offer opportunities to relate learning to formal assessment, preparing students for examinations.
Learning summaries review main points to aid revision, reinforcing key concepts.
Further Reading sections suggest additional resources for more exploration, encouraging deeper study.
Introduction to the Coursebook
This coursebook is part of a revised series for the Cambridge International AS Level History syllabus (9489), designed for first examination in 2021, ensuring alignment with the latest curriculum standards.
The books are also useful for students following other AS and A Level courses covering similar topics, offering versatility in educational settings.
The coursebook is written in clear and accessible language, enabling students to gain the knowledge, understanding and skills to succeed in their AS Level course, promoting effective learning and comprehension.
Syllabus Information
For the AS Level, students take two separate papers at the end of a one-year course, focusing on specific historical topics and skills.
For the full A Level, there are two possible routes: either take the two AS papers at the end of the first year and a further two A Level papers at the end of the following year, or take all four papers at the end of a two-year course, providing flexibility in study approach.
For the full A Level, all four papers must be taken, ensuring comprehensive assessment of historical knowledge and analytical skills.
Topic Areas for the American Option
The origins of the Civil War, 1820–61: Examines the long-term, medium-term, and short-term causes of the conflict, including the issue of slavery and sectional tensions.
Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–77: Covers the military, political, and social aspects of the war, as well as the subsequent efforts to rebuild the nation.
The Gilded Age and Progressive Era, 1870s to 1920: Focuses on the period of rapid industrialization, urbanization, and social reform, including the rise of big business and the Progressive movement.
The Great Crash, the Great Depression and the New Deal policies, 1920–41: Analyzes the economic crisis of the 1930s and the government's response under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Paper 1: Source-Based Paper
Lasts for one hour and 15 minutes, requiring concise and effective analysis under time constraints.
Based on one of the four topics listed above (schools will be notified in advance which topic it will be), ensuring focused preparation.
Contains at least three sources, providing a range of perspectives and evidence for analysis.
Students must answer two questions based on the sources, testing comprehension and evaluative skills.
Questions are based on one of the four key questions set out in the syllabus, aligning assessment with learning objectives.
Focus is on source comprehension and evaluation skills, also requiring contextual knowledge, emphasizing the importance of both source work and background understanding.
Paper 2: Essay Paper
Lasts for one hour and 45 minutes, allowing for detailed and comprehensive essay writing.
Contains three questions, and students must answer two of them, providing choice and allowing students to focus on their strengths.
Each question has two parts: part (a) requires a causal explanation; and part (b) requires analysis, assessing different levels of understanding.
Questions are based on one of the four key questions set out in the syllabus, ensuring alignment with the curriculum.
Focus is on assessing knowledge, understanding, and analytical skills, testing a range of academic abilities.
Chapter 1: The Origins of the Civil War, 1820–61
Learning Objectives:
Understand the US Civil War's geographical and chronological contexts, setting the stage for deeper analysis.
Find out about the short-, medium-, and long-term causes of the US Civil War, exploring the multifaceted origins of the conflict.
Investigate the effectiveness of attempts to address slavery before the Civil War, evaluating the various strategies and their outcomes.
Understand the rise in sectional tension and the breakdown of consensus in the 1850s, examining the factors that led to political polarization.
Key Events Timeline:
This section only presents a section of the timeline presented in the text\
Sep 1873 The Panic of 1873: A financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in both Europe and North America.
May 1893 The Panic of 1893: A serious economic depression in the United States that was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky bank financing.
Jun 1906 The Pure Food and Drug Act: A United States federal law that provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated food products and poisonous patent medicines.
Introduction:
The original USA was composed of 13 states along the eastern coast, differing significantly in climate and land, leading to diverse economic systems.
The South developed large-scale farms (plantations) dependent on enslaved Africans for cash crops like tobacco and cotton, shaping their socio-economic structure.
The North had smaller-scale farms using paid workers for crops for local markets, fostering a different labor system and economic model.
This economic and social division led to distinct political sections needing to maintain balance to avoid domination, highlighting the challenge of maintaining national unity.
1. How was the issue of slavery addressed between 1820 and 1850?
The North-South issue was complex and intertwined with federal vs. states' rights and judicial vs. political structures, making it difficult to resolve.
Federal government existed with the president, Congress (House of Representatives and Senate), and the Supreme Court, each playing a role in addressing the issue.
The Senate defended states' rights, particularly regarding slavery, reflecting regional interests.
The separation of powers and checks and balances were intended to prevent tyranny but could make decision-making difficult, adding complexity to the issue.
The Supreme Court interpreted the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, shaping the legal landscape of slavery.
Southern politicians referred to slavery as ‘Our peculiar institution,’ unique to the South, signifying its cultural and economic importance.
By 1860, there were approximately 4.4 million black people in the USA, with 3.9 million enslaved, underscoring the scale of slavery.
Slavery increased in the Lower South due to cotton production, with an internal slave trade replacing the external one, highlighting economic incentives.
The market price of a slave doubled from $200 to $400 between the 1820s and the 1850s, reflecting the growing demand for labor.
Slavery became symbolic of North-South differences; attempts to end or expand it affected the sectional balance, leading to political tensions.
Defenders and opponents cited geographical, economic, social, cultural, moral, and racial arguments, demonstrating the depth of disagreement.
Tariffs, a national bank, public investment, and federal power over states also caused division, but slavery emerged as the principal issue, overshadowing other concerns.
Abolitionists in the North sought to end slavery, while Southern leaders aimed to expand it to protect their position, creating ideological conflict.
Sectional Interests and the Defense of Slavery:
Slavery supporters could maintain things as they were by using the constitutional rights of slave-owners, preserving their economic and social status.
Expansion to the south-west would allow for the formation of more slave states, increasing their political power.
Secession was frequently threatened by slave-owners, demonstrating their willingness to dissolve the Union to protect slavery.
Sectional Interests and Emancipation:
Opponents of slavery believed they could get rid of it by the following means: Peaceful emancipation; Military emancipation; Violent emancipation, each representing different approaches and levels of intervention.
Expansion in the early 19th century helped to maintain the balance of free and unfree states, preserving political equilibrium.
Compromises were harder to agree on as the USA expanded westwards because of the question of whether the new states would be free or not.
Impact of Territorial Expansion:
Manifest Destiny (the right to overspread and possess the continent ) influenced territorial expansion, especially the annexation of Texas, with British intervention as a factor, shaping US foreign policy and territorial ambitions.
The Wilmot Proviso aimed to prohibit slavery in lands acquired from Mexico but was rejected, highlighting sectional divisions, demonstrating the political challenges of addressing slavery.
US Territorial Expansion Methods:
Negotiating for them (diplomacy): Peaceful acquisition of land.
Buying them: Purchasing territories from other countries.
Fighting for them: Annexing territories through warfare.
Impact of Population Growth and Movement:
The US population grew rapidly, driven by immigration from western Europe due to economic, social, and political factors, transforming the demographic landscape.
Nativism emerged, favoring native-born Americans over immigrants, leading to social tensions and discriminatory practices.
People in the South were also keen to move westwards, but for different reasons (economic).
The Wealth of the USA:
US wealth increased significantly between 1790 and 1860, based on cotton production and its export, highlighting the economic importance of slavery.
Historians debate the comparison of economic success between Southern and Northern states, challenging traditional narratives.
Attempts at Compromise:
There were seven attempts to resolve the issue of slavery between 1820 and 1860, underscoring persistent efforts to find common ground.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820:
Parties worked together, but repercussions were felt for decades; it formed the context of the war with Mexico in 1846-48, demonstrating the long-term impacts of decisions.
Missouri's application for statehood was complicated by the Tallmadge Amendment, blocking slavery expansion there, igniting debates over slavery.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 served as a precedent for governing territories, establishing principles for territorial governance.
Senator from Illinois, Jesse B. Thomas compensated the anti-slavery group for their acceptance of Missouri being a slave state, all new states created from Louisiana Purchase lands north of 36˚ 30′ would be free states, illustrating the contentious nature of compromise.
Abolitionists and slavery supporters had differing interpretations of the US Constitution's stance on slavery, underscoring the fundamental disagreements.
A compromise admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state and prohibited slavery in US lands gained via the Louisiana Purchase above the 36˚ 30′ line of latitude, temporarily resolving the issue.
The Party System:
Whigs and Democrats were national parties with different visions for the USA, shaping political discourse.
They were able to do so, because, in the 1830s and 1840s, slavery was seen as a sectional matter, not an issue for national political differences, setting the stage for future conflict.
Other parties, like the Liberty Party, Native American Party, and Free Soil Party, had short-lived existence, reflecting changing political landscape.
The Compromise of 1850:
The Wilmot Proviso failed, raising concerns about the balance between sections, creating political instability.
It involved new states/territories (California, New Mexico, Utah) and boundary changes for Texas, in addition to changes concerning slavery, addressing multiple issues.
It called into question the great fundamental principle that every people ought to possess the right of forming and regulating their own internal concerns and domestic institutions in their own way’. the national capital, Washington DC, and the other the treatment of fugitive slaves, challenging established norms.
Stephen Douglas listed key points, including the admission of California as a free state, territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico, adjustment of the Texas boundary, abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and the Fugitive Slave Bill, outlining the main points of the compromise.
Completing the deal had taken Congressional leaders many months to negotiate, highlighting the intensity of discussions.
The compromise was an example of Congress working to resolve national tensions relating to slavery, emphasizing governmental efforts.
The Compromise was supported by both Whig and Democrat parties in their party conventions of 1852.It ultimately unraveled, with changes to the legal status of runaway slaves becoming a new point of dispute, leading to additional tensions.
2. How and why did sectional divisions widen between 1850 and 1856?
The Compromise of 1850 broke down within five years due to changes in American attitudes toward slavery, highlighting the failure of compromise.
The new Fugitive Slave Act was a contentious issue, reinforced by Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, inflaming public opinion.
Application of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act:
Throughout the 1850s, the new Fugitive Slave Act provoked many local disturbances, all in the North, demonstrating resistance.
Strict Act clauses included stipulations on arresting fugitives, limits on legal representation, and fines for officials failing to arrest known fugitives, highlighting severity.
The application of the Fugitive Slave Act applied to both Northern and Southern states, abolitionists and their supporters had to decide whether to support the law (and indirectly support slavery), or to resist the new law, either secretly or publicly, creating moral dilemmas.
Underground Railroad:
An informal series of networks of those willing to help fugitive slaves evade capture and make their way to freedom, demonstrating resistance to slavery.
Harriet Tubman was known as the Moses of her people due to helping slaves obtain freedom.
Implementation Resistance:
The escape of William Parker, 1851
The Jerry Rescue, 1851
The Anthony Burns Case, 1854
The result of events saw US marines, court cases that only found one person guilty and the need to call on troops to maintain law and order, causing feelings to only slowly cool, perhaps because it took the force of federal government to return a slave to his owner, showing the government's influence.
The issue of Kansas and its impact:
In the early 1850s, the unorganised lands in the Midwest called Nebraska became the focus of attention. This meant that the crucial balance of free and unfree states to maintain the balance between the North and the South, could become questioned as politicians calculated how the changing population numbers would affect the balance of power in Washington, thus creating tension as a result.
The Kansas–Nebraska Act, 1854
Proposed by Stephen Douglas to divide the area, cutting roughly a quarter from Nebraska’s south to form the separate territory of Kansas, redrawing state lines.
Douglas understood that he would need the support of Southern politicians to push through any legislation, creating opportunities for others.
This was again the principle of popular sovereignty was on which had stood for four years earlier, creating consistent opinions.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act resulted in Bleeding Kansas (violence between pro- and anti-slavery forces), leading to bloodshed and conflict.
The Caning of Senator Sumner, 1856:
Charles Sumner was beaten senseless with a stick in an incident which became known as the Caning of Sumner by Preston Brooks, creating violence between sides.
The incident caused anti-slavery supporters to turn to the Republican Party, transforming party affiliations.
Changes in the party-political system:
The Whig Party declined, and the Republican Party emerged as a consequence of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, showcasing the results of the law.
Southern Whigs joined the American Party, while Northern Whigs joined the Republican Party, shifting party alignments.
Significance of states’ rights:
Advocates of states’ rights wanted to give individual states the right to opt out of federal, country-wide laws; It was the assertion that states which had given up their sovereignty in 1787 could take it back whenever they chose to, thus allowing each state to have individual choice.
An important feature of the article is that the article makes no mention of the South—even though the concept of states’ rights was almost entirely used by Southerners opposed to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, thus creating different interpretations of the same event.
An article in the Washington Sentinel of 19 February 1856 felt it necessary to outline the concept of states’ rights in relation to the Democratic party:
Unquestionably, the Constitution had nothing to say about the question of secession.
This made the issue even harder to resolve, causing further complications.
3. Why did the Republicans win the 1860 presidential election?
The new Republican party did well in the 1856 presidential election, but, the Democrat James Buchanon won, creating competition between parties.
In his inaugural address of March 1857, he asserted that the territorial issue had been settled by means of popular sovereignty, indicating an issue that was settled.
The emerging notion of ‘slave power’, including Dred Scott 1857
Just two days after Buchanan’s inauguration, the US Supreme Court issued its ruling on a case brought by a freed slave, Dred Scott, starting a large case.
The Dred Scott v. Sanford case took years to come to a conclusion and brought into play concepts of freedom, citizenship, ownership, states’ rights and ethnicity, bringing issues to light.
*The Supreme Court's answer was:
An African American could not be an American citizen, thus creating a large separation between white and black people.
Dred Scott had no right to bring his case to court for not being a citizen of America.
Slave-owners could take their slaves anywhere governed by US federal law, giving slaveowners further incentives.
Congress had no authority to restrict the rights given to people by the constitution, disallowing interference with state territories.
The Lincoln–Douglas Debates, 1858
The Dred Scott judgements deepened anxieties across the USA regarding the issue of slavery, leading to increased worry.
His opponent in the campaign was Stephen Douglas, up for re-election, creating opposition.
The contest between them in front of large crowds in Illinois was to become the focus of the national debate over the future of slavery in the USA and the very future of the USA itself, bringing slavery to light.
Each debate lasted for several hours and the most popular debate attracted about 15 000 people, displaying different beliefs.
Republicans were responding more united to the Dred Scott judgements, but the Democrats were divided, with some (mainly Southern) members supporting the ruling; This left Stephen Douglas in a difficult position during the 1858 debates, thus creating challenges.
Douglas’s challenge (Freeport Doctrine) took the form of what became known as the Freeport Doctrine.
Democrats were divided over slavery and the Republican Party benefited from this split, influencing opinions.
This made Lincoln, previously little known, a national figure, thus allowing for success in the future.
The growing strength of abolitionism, including John Brown:
Willingness for armed violence on both sides was apparent, generating safety concerns.
Brown planned to take control of an armoury, lead a slave revolt, arm the slaves and overthrow slave power, planning armed violence.
John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry showed the lack of support for slavery in the South and showed Brown to be a romantic idealist, in the North Brown became a martyred hero, creating sides.
Abolitionism was a growing force but also revealed strong divisions within the country among politicians such as Lincoln, Douglas, Steward and others, indicating growing concerns.
Increasing confrontation within and between the North and the South:
By the late 1850s, both sides of the slavery debate had their own conspiracy theories, contributing to tension.
There were those, a vocal and growing minority and known as the Fire-eaters were ready to break away from the USA. However, most Southerners still had faith, at the time there were also Northern actions to be considered for that matter, illustrating sides of the same issue.
As the balance of economic wealth and political power did shift towards the North, the North could gradually introduce measures to contain and eventually remove slavery, leading to action and change.
The election campaign of 1860 and the divisions of the Democratic Party:
In early 1860, the process of choosing presidential candidates began; This year's Republican candidate was William H. Seaward who had a lot of popularity due to his history, leading to success.
The favorite in a crowded field of candidates was widely assumed to be William H. Seward, creating assumptions.
Also, in late 1860 the pro-slavery candidates were so anxious to stop the event of a Republican victory, three such-Republican candidates agreed to combine their popular vote, illustrating effort.
The greatest feature of the campaign of 1860 has been the introduction of a vast Republican group, semimilitary in character, political in purpose and daily increasing in strength and influence to an extent unparalleled in the political history of our county, indicating growth.
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention was held in Chicago and was only that party’s second such gathering. The favorite in a crowded field of candidates was William H. Seward which some found trouble in supporting due to his known radical behavior. Due to this Lincoln was chosen, instead, to run for president as a way to bring in a wider range of voters, illustrating diversity.
Representation at the convention was dominated by Northerners, with several Southern slave states sending no representatives, and was thus more unified, this differed greatly from the approach the Democrats had took toward their own national conflagration, thus setting the parties apart.
They saw the conflict in peaceful, political terms as an argument between the Democratic and Republican parties, further differntiating the parties.
1860 Presidential Campaign
Lincoln did not actively campaign, breaking tradition. There was a fusion ticket to stop Lincoln. New political movement (Wide-Awake) emerged.
When the election came, it had been shown that the success of Lincoln and his name had ultimately allowed him to procure many votes needed to win the national office, further influencing the voters.
4. Why did the Civil War begin in April 1861?
Two schools of historical thought about the causes of the American Civil War:
The war came about from economic and social reasons: slave labour versus free labour industry versus agriculture urban versus rural North versus South.
Political processes and leaders. For bringing about an avoidable war, the language of politics. In the 1850s, a last compromise, proposed by Senator John Crittenden, was quickly dismissed.
Reactions to the 1860 presidential election results:
Secession required immediate responses from sitting president, James Buchanan, Congress, and President-elect Lincoln, most commonly this was the mention of the States Rights, causing immediate concerns.
South Carolina declared decision to leave the USA because states north of a geographical line had united in the election of a man with purposes hostile to slavery, there was no willingness to wait and see, initiating action.
South Carolina was joined by six other slave states in early 1861, forming the Confederate States of America (CSA), creating a group.
The Crittenden Compromise, 1860–61:
An attempt to defuse the secession time-bomb with amendments. One would restore the Missouri Compromise dividing line extending to the Pacific Ocean.
Another would protect slavery in existing slave states. These proposed constitutional changes were rejected by Republicans in Congress.
The Corwin Amendment and the Peace Conference, 1861:
Proposed to ensure that institutions established in individual states (such as slavery) were protected from abolition by Congress, but the amendment was not ratified by the individual states.
Many believed that if the confederacy of seven states were brought together that this would then create an all new CSA government.
These efforts did not end the process of secession. Therefore both CSA leaders and Northern leaders had prepared for if that date would come.
Fort Sumter and its impacts:
It can be said to be that after many, many attempts and years of peace being the driving force within the current federal government tension had ultimately boiled over. For many it seemed the time had ultimately come when the North and South would have to separate but ultimately no one had prepared themselves for how long or how bloody it would be.
With Fort Sumter surrendered, Lecher (Governor of Virginia) told Lincolns Secretary of War: “Your object is to subjugate the Southern States and a requisition on me for such an object - an object, in my judgement, not within the scope of the Constitution or the [Militia] Act of 1795 - will not be complied with.”- With that Virginia now allied herself with the CSA, much of the Civil War on the eastern seaboard was fought over control of Virginia and other states in the upper South also broke away from the USA.
A state assembly quickly voted to leave the Union and Virginia became the eighth member of the CSA.
With that Virginia now allied herself with the CSA, much of the Civil War on the eastern seaboard was fought over control of Virginia and other states in the upper South also broke away from the USA.
The Aims of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis:
The outbreak of Civil war in the spring of 1861 saw both leaders with very opposite aims.
Lincon wanted to defeat the what had been labelled a rebellion, to win a “Civil war” - Meanwhile, Jefferson Davis wanted to turn what he had labelled a rebellion into a ‘War of Southern Independence’.
In Lincoln’s inaugural speech to the American people, he was careful to define the central issue of the conflict as secession rather than slavery.
As an overview of their aims, one had been set on protecting and maintaining his ideals of what he had percieved to bring order, while another man had wanted to break free from the shackles of someone else's