AQA_2024: AS History - America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877 Component 2J: The Origins of the American Civil War, c1845–1861 (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme)

AQA_2024: AS History - America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877 Component 2J: The Origins of the American Civil War, c1845–1861 (Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme) AS HISTORY America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877 Component 2J The origins of the American Civil War, c1845–1861 Monday 20 May 2024 Materials For this paper you must have:  an AQA 16-page answer book. Instructions Afternoon Time allowed: 1 hour 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 7041/2J.  Answer two questions. In Section A answer Question 01. In Section B answer either Question 02 or Question 03. Information  The marks for questions are shown in brackets.  The maximum mark for this paper is 50.  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: – 50 minutes on Section A – 40 minutes on Section B. For AS History: America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877, Component 2J: The Origins of the American Civil War, c1845–1861, focus on these key areas: 1. Slavery and its Expansion:  Slavery’s Role: Understand how slavery became entrenched in the South, with its economic and social importance, particularly in the cotton industry.  Westward Expansion: Focus on how the expansion of the U.S. into new territories raised the question of whether slavery would be allowed in these areas, causing political tension between the North and South.  Fugitive Slave Act: The 1850 Fugitive Slave Act angered Northern states, which saw it as an infringement on their sovereignty and a moral issue regarding human rights. 2. Compromise and Conflict:  Missouri Compromise (1820): The Missouri Compromise established a geographical line dividing free and slave territories, temporarily easing tensions.  Compromise of 1850: After the Mexican-American War, the Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state but also strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act. This led to conflict and dissatisfaction in both North and South.  Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): The act allowed settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide on slavery via popular sovereignty, leading to violence in Kansas (known as “Bleeding Kansas”) between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions. 3. Political Division:  The Rise of the Republican Party: The Republican Party was founded in the 1850s, with its platform focused on preventing the expansion of slavery into the West. This party appealed primarily to Northern states, which deepened sectional divides.  Dred Scott Decision (1857): The Supreme Court’s decision in the Dred Scott case declared that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in the territories. This ruling enraged the North and made compromise even harder. 4. Key Figures:  Abraham Lincoln: Study Lincoln’s role, including his stance against the expansion of slavery. His election in 1860 as the Republican candidate was seen by the South as a direct threat to slavery, leading to secession.  John Brown’s Raid (1859): John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry was an attempt to start an armed slave revolt, which was unsuccessful but further polarized the nation. 5. Secession and the Start of War:  Secession Crisis: After Lincoln’s election in 1860, Southern states began to secede from the Union, starting with South Carolina in December 1860, and forming the Confederate States of America.  Fort Sumter: The Confederacy’s attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861 was the direct spark for the Civil War, marking the beginning of open conflict. IB/M/Jun24/G4002/E4 7041/2J 2 Section A Answer Question 01. Source A From the political programme of the Free Soil Party, published in Buffalo, New York, 22 June 1848. The Free Soil Party was against the expansion of slavery. We have assembled in our Convention, forgetting all past political differences, to maintain the rights of free labor against the aggressions of the ‘Slave Power’. It is the duty of the Federal Government to avoid extending or permitting slavery into the territories which they supervise. The only means of preventing slavery expansion into the new territories of California and New Mexico is to prohibit its expansion by supporting the Wilmot Proviso. The ‘Slave Power’ has forced this issue; and to the demand of the slave owners for more slave states and more slave territory, our calm, but final answer is no more slave states, and no more slave territory. Let the soil of our extensive lands be kept free! 5 Source B From a speech to the Senate by South Carolina Senator, John Calhoun, 4 March 1850. Calhoun’s speech was part of the 1850 Compromise debate in response to Henry Clay’s bill. The North is making the most strenuous efforts to dominate the territories acquired from Mexico by excluding the South from them. The Union, since it declared its independence, has acquired millions of square miles of territory from which the North has excluded the South. If the North succeeds in monopolising the newly-acquired territories, about three-quarters of the Union will be theirs, leaving the South with one quarter. The North has the responsibility to maintain sectional peace and to do justice by conceding to the South an equal right in the acquired territories. At all events, the responsibility of saving the Union rests on the North, and not on the South. 5 0 1 With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, which of these two sources is more valuable in explaining the disputes over the territories acquired from the Mexican War? [25 marks] IB/M/Jun24/7041/2J 3 Section B Answer either Question 02 or Question 03. Either 0 2 ‘In c1845, the Union was stable.’ Explain why you agree or disagree with this view. [25 marks] or 0 3 ‘The main reason for increased support for the Republican Party, in the years 1857 to 1860, was the Dred Scott decision.’ Explain why you agree or disagree with this view. [25 marks] END OF QUESTIONS IB/M/Jun24/7041/2J 4