AQA_2024: A-level History - Component 2J America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877 (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme)

AQA_2024: A-level History - Component 2J America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877 (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme) A-level HISTORY Component 2J America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877 Friday 7 June 2024 Materials For this paper you must have:  an AQA 16-page answer book. Instructions Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes  Use black ink or black ball-point pen.  Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7042/2J.  Answer three questions. In Section A answer Question 01. In Section B answer two questions. Information  The marks for questions are shown in brackets.  The maximum mark for this paper is 80.  You will be marked on your ability to: – use good English – organise information clearly – use specialist vocabulary where appropriate. Advice  You are advised to spend about: – 1 hour on Question 01 from Section A – 45 minutes on each of the two questions answered from Section B. IB/M/Jun24/7042/2J 3 Key areas: 1. Westward Expansion and Its Impact (c1845–1860):  Manifest Destiny: The belief that the U.S. was destined to expand across the continent. This fueled the annexation of Texas (1845), the Mexican-American War (1846–1848), and the acquisition of lands like California and New Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848).  Territorial Disputes: Issues over the extension of slavery into new territories and states led to increasing sectional tensions between the North and South. 2. Slavery and Sectional Conflict (c1845–1860):  Fugitive Slave Act (1850): A key element of the Compromise of 1850, which required Northerners to return runaway slaves, further intensifying tensions.  Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): Allowed for popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery in new territories, leading to violence in Kansas (Bleeding Kansas).  Dred Scott Decision (1857): The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans could not be citizens and that Congress had no power to restrict slavery in the territories, which angered abolitionists. 3. The Civil War (1861–1865):  Secession: Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Southern states began seceding from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis.  Major Battles: Key events include the Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and the Battle of Antietam (1862), along with Union victories that ultimately crippled the Confederate war effort.  Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Lincoln’s decision to free slaves in Confederate-held territory, which shifted the war’s focus to ending slavery. 4. Reconstruction and Its Challenges (1865–1877):  End of Slavery: The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery, followed by the 14th Amendment (1868), granting citizenship and equal protection to African Americans, and the 15th Amendment (1870), which granted voting rights to black men.  Reconstruction Policies: Under Presidents Lincoln and Johnson, and later the Radical Republicans, the South was politically and economically restructured. However, black codes, Ku Klux Klan violence, and resistance from Southern whites hampered progress.  End of Reconstruction: The Compromise of 1877, which ended the disputed 1876 election, led to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, marking the end of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow laws. 5. Social and Economic Changes:  Abolition of Slavery: The end of slavery significantly altered Southern society, but African Americans faced severe discrimination and limited opportunities in the post-war period.  Industrialization and the Economy: The war and Reconstruction saw the North's economy grow through industrialization, while the South's economy struggled to rebuild after the devastation of the war. These areas focus on the causes and events leading to the Civil War, the war itself, and the challenges of rebuilding the nation during Reconstruction. IB/M/Jun24/G4006/E6 7042/2J Turn over ► IB/M/Jun24/7042/2J 4 IB/M/Jun24/7042/2J Section A Answer Question 01. Source A From a letter sent to Abraham Lincoln by Horace Greeley, 19 August 1862. Greeley was a Radical Republican and editor of the New York Daily Tribune, an abolitionist newspaper. I don’t need to remind you that a great proportion of Republicans, who rejoiced at your election, and who desire a decisive ending of the rebellion now devastating our country, are disappointed and deeply pained by the policy you seem to be pursuing with regard to the slaves still kept in the rebel states. Many Republicans think you are disastrously neglecting your official duty with regard to the provisions for emancipation in the new Confiscation Act. Those provisions were designed to fight slavery. They prescribe that men who are loyal to the Union, and willing to shed their blood for the Union, should no longer be held in bondage to rebellious traitors, who for twenty years have been plotting against, and for sixteen months have been fighting, our country. Why these Confederate traitors should be treated with tenderness by you, to the prejudice of the dearest rights of loyal men, we cannot understand. 5 10 Source B From a speech to the House of Representatives delivered by Clement Vallandigham of Ohio, 14 January 1863. Vallandigham was a member of the Peace Democrats. From the beginning of this Civil War, I have addressed multiple violations of the laws and the Constitution by President Lincoln and those under his leadership. Lincoln and his administration have committed many wrongs, such as repeated arbitrary arrests and the suspension of individual rights. They also have prohibited free speech, and committed many other wrongs against public liberties and private rights. All this has made this country one of the worst dictatorships on Earth. I will continue to denounce Lincoln and his administration. Twenty months have gone by, but the rebellion is still not crushed. The Confederate military is as strong as ever and continues to be successful against the Union army. The Union is not restored. The Constitution has not been maintained. With over 300 000 either dead or crippled from war, the Confederate flag is still near the Potomac river, and the Confederate government in Richmond is stronger than ever. 5 10 3 Source C From a statement made by General Grant, 8 March 1864. This statement was reported to his personal aide, Horace Porter, who published it in his memoirs of 1897. In my first interview with President Lincoln, he told me that he didn’t pretend to know anything about the handling of troops, and it was with reluctance that he ever interfered in the movements of army commanders. He knew swiftness was absolutely necessary and that as long as armies were waiting to advance on the enemy, the government was spending millions daily. There was a limit to the strains of war. Sooner or later, a time would be reached when the spirits and resources of the people would become exhausted if the war was not won quickly. Lincoln decided to use his executive orders for the purpose of hurrying the movements of commanding generals. He believed I knew the need to act swiftly and wasn’t going to interfere with my operations. He did not want to know my plans. He said that it was better that he didn’t know them, for everybody he met tried to find out from him something about my plans to end the war. 5 10 0 1 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. [30 marks] Turn over for Section B IB/M/Jun24/7042/2J Turn over ► 6 IB/M/Jun24/7042/2J Section B Answer two questions. 0 2 ‘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. [25 marks] 0 3 To what extent was Republican victory in the 1860