AS History₇₀₄₁

This option provides for the study of a period of major change in American history, which saw the disintegration of the country into Civil War, demanding a subsequent reconstruction. It explores concepts such as political authority, abolitionism and social justice. It also encourages students to consider what creates social tension and harmony, the idea of nationhood and the issues surrounding political compromise.

The origins of the American Civil War, c1845–1861

North and South in c1845

• The American Republic: the federal government and its relationships with the states; the role of the president; the US constitution and the Supreme Court
• The Northern states: social, economic and political characteristics
• The Southern states: social, economic and political characteristics
• The legacy of the past: the Missouri Compromise; the Nullification Crisis; southern fears of modernisation; the moving frontier

Attempts to maintain the Union, c1845–1854

• Westward expansion and its impact on North and South: the ideas of Manifest Destiny; controversy over the new territories acquired by victory over Mexico
• Attempts at political compromise: the Wilmot Proviso; the role of personalities such as Zachary Taylor, Stephen Douglas and Henry Clay; the Compromise of 1850; Texas and California; the Fugitive Slave Law
• The growth of abolitionist sentiment in the North: political leaders such as William Seward; activists such as John Brown; popular literature and the press; the cultural and economic influence of European immigrants arriving in the northern states
• Reactions against abolitionism in the South; political leaders such as Jefferson Davis; popular literature and the press

The outbreak of Civil War, 1854–1861

• ‘Bleeding Kansas’: the de-stabilisation of the balance between North and South
• The emergence of the Republican Party: the political impact of the controversy over the Kansas-Nebraska Act; the spread of Republican parties across northern states; the elections of 1856; key personalities including Lincoln, Seward and Chase
• Hardening of positions: the Dred Scott decision; the Lincoln-Douglas debates; Harper’s Ferry; local conflicts; the split in the Democratic Party
• The drive for secession of the South: the presidential election of 1860; southern political leaders and proclamation of the Confederacy; outbreak of hostilities