AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY Component 1K The making of a
Superpower: USA, 1865–1975 MAY Question Paper and Mark Scheme
A-level
HISTORY
Component 1K The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975
Thursday 23 May 2024 Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have:
an AQA 16-page answer book.
Instructions
Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is
7042/1K.
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/E5 7042/1K
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Extract A
William McKinley took full advantage of the opportunities provided by the war of 1898 to
popularise the expansionist doctrines of duty, dollars and destiny. He fashioned an
overseas empire, rooted US influence more deeply in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and
pushed for greater world involvement. But the United States did not become a major
player in world affairs immediately. The brief flurry of enthusiasm for empire barely 5
outlasted the war against Spain. The need to consolidate territory already acquired
consumed great energy and resources. While busily solidifying its position in traditional
areas of influence in the Caribbean and the Pacific, the United States did not acquire new
colonies or involve itself in the frantic scrambling for alliances that characterised
European foreign policies before World War 1. Between 1901 and 1913 the 10
United States did, however, take a much more active role in the world. Brimming with
optimism and exuberance, Americans firmly believed that their ideals and institutions
would be the way of the future.
Adapted from GC Herring, From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations
Since 1776, 2016
Extract B
The consequences of the commercial transformation of America from 1890 to 1920 were,
of course, chiefly economic, but they also began to affect international relations. The
growth of American industrial power and overseas trade was accompanied by a more
assertive diplomacy. Claims to a special moral position which made American foreign
policy superior to the Old World’s were intermingled with racial arguments, and with the 5
urging of industrial and agricultural pressure groups for secure overseas markets. The
traditional, if always exaggerated, alarm about threats to the Monroe Doctrine was
accompanied by calls for the United States to fulfil its ‘Manifest Destiny’ across the
Pacific. Entangling alliances still had to be avoided but from 1900 the United States was
being urged by many groups at home into a much more activist diplomacy despite the 10
fact that in 1892 the ‘New York Herald’ had proposed the abolition of the department
responsible for foreign policy since it had ‘so little business to conduct overseas’.
Adapted from P Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, 1987
IB/M/Jun24/7042/1K
Superpower: USA, 1865–1975 MAY Question Paper and Mark Scheme
A-level
HISTORY
Component 1K The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975
Thursday 23 May 2024 Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have:
an AQA 16-page answer book.
Instructions
Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is
7042/1K.
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/E5 7042/1K
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Extract A
William McKinley took full advantage of the opportunities provided by the war of 1898 to
popularise the expansionist doctrines of duty, dollars and destiny. He fashioned an
overseas empire, rooted US influence more deeply in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and
pushed for greater world involvement. But the United States did not become a major
player in world affairs immediately. The brief flurry of enthusiasm for empire barely 5
outlasted the war against Spain. The need to consolidate territory already acquired
consumed great energy and resources. While busily solidifying its position in traditional
areas of influence in the Caribbean and the Pacific, the United States did not acquire new
colonies or involve itself in the frantic scrambling for alliances that characterised
European foreign policies before World War 1. Between 1901 and 1913 the 10
United States did, however, take a much more active role in the world. Brimming with
optimism and exuberance, Americans firmly believed that their ideals and institutions
would be the way of the future.
Adapted from GC Herring, From Colony to Superpower: US Foreign Relations
Since 1776, 2016
Extract B
The consequences of the commercial transformation of America from 1890 to 1920 were,
of course, chiefly economic, but they also began to affect international relations. The
growth of American industrial power and overseas trade was accompanied by a more
assertive diplomacy. Claims to a special moral position which made American foreign
policy superior to the Old World’s were intermingled with racial arguments, and with the 5
urging of industrial and agricultural pressure groups for secure overseas markets. The
traditional, if always exaggerated, alarm about threats to the Monroe Doctrine was
accompanied by calls for the United States to fulfil its ‘Manifest Destiny’ across the
Pacific. Entangling alliances still had to be avoided but from 1900 the United States was
being urged by many groups at home into a much more activist diplomacy despite the 10
fact that in 1892 the ‘New York Herald’ had proposed the abolition of the department
responsible for foreign policy since it had ‘so little business to conduct overseas’.
Adapted from P Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, 1987
IB/M/Jun24/7042/1K
