The history of the USA, 1820–1941 — AS & A Level History (9489) questions by topic
The history of the USA, 1820 to 1941 pairs source-comparison questions, for example on cartoons about immigration or the banking collapse after 1929, with essay questions such as why Northern support grew for Congressional Reconstruction or why Roosevelt established the Alphabet Agencies. Explain, how far, to what extent, compare and assess are the command words that recur, each rewarding a source's authorship being used to test reliability rather than assumed.
Marks run from 30 to 40 across the 59 genuine questions here, drawn from 2023 to 2025 papers. Draft full responses to both source and essay questions and submit them for instant marking, since the scheme consistently credits candidates who keep contextual knowledge tightly linked to the specific similarity or difference under discussion.
What examiners look for
- A recurring criticism is adding a paragraph of contextual knowledge or a discussion of reliability that did not actually serve the question, or asserting sources were similar or different without citing material from both.
- Examiners note that answering part (b) before part (a) sometimes led candidates to import a 'causes' focus into a question that should have addressed government management of the crisis.
- A common mistake was labelling a source's mention of preventing speculation as a support argument when the timing made it not directly relevant to the question asked.
- Strong answers drew both similarities and differences and supported every point with source content, and used contextual knowledge such as the Geary Act of 1892 to explain the wider debate.
- Reports praise candidates who used a single source on both sides of an argument, recognising hostile language alongside a more positive comment within the same text.
May–June 2025, Paper 11
Read Source B and Source C. Compare and contrast the views in these sources as evidence about the Supreme Court's decision-making in the Dred Scott case.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 12
Read Source B and Source C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about Wilmot's reasons for introducing the Proviso.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 13
Read Source C and Source D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about Douglas's support for the Kansas–Nebraska Act.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 21
Explain why by 1864 the Union had changed its strategy to a war of attrition.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why successive US governments took little action to limit private corporations.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why many banks failed after the Great Crash.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 22
Explain why the US Congress imposed military rule on the South in 1867. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why many Progressive laws were passed during Woodrow Wilson's presidency. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the conservative right viewed the New Deal as anti-capitalist. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 23
Explain why the Confederacy was able to resist the Union for four years.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell were able to become successful businessmen.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Roosevelt needed to encourage Southern Democrats to support the New Deal coalition.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 12
Read Source C and Source D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the Schechter 'Sick Chicken' case.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 13
Read Source B and Source D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about Secretary Mellon.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 21
Explain why the Dred Scott decision caused anger in Northern states.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why there was Northern support for Congressional Reconstruction after 1866.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why electric power was important to rapid industrialisation in this period.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 22
Explain why the issue of States’ Rights caused problems in the 1850s. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why military strategies changed during the Civil War. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Progressives campaigned for national prohibition in the early twentieth century. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 23
Explain why it took a decade for the independent Republic of Texas to join the Union.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the governments of both the North and the South attempted to limit civil liberties between 1861 and 1865.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Progressive presidents changed the laws governing business.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 11
Read Source B and Source D. To what extent do these two sources agree about the government's management of the stock market crisis of 1929?
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 12
Read Source C and Source D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about Huey Long.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 13
Read Source B and Source C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 21
Explain why the Civil War began in April 1861.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why there were different responses in the North to the Emancipation Proclamation.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why there was an economic panic in 1873.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 22
Explain why people believed in a ‘slave power’ conspiracy during the 1850s. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Reconstruction ended in 1877. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Progressive presidents reformed the Constitution in the years leading up to 1920. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 23
Explain why Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Radical Republicans opposed Johnson's Presidential Reconstruction policies.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the Granger Movement was formed.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 11
Read Sources C and D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about presidential power.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 12
Read Sources B and C. Compare and contrast the views in these two sources about the impact of the eight-hour day.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 13
Read Sources C and D. Compare and contrast the views given in these two sources of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 21
Explain why seven states had seceded from the Union by February 1861.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why leaders were accused of being anti-democratic during the Civil War.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why new industries grew rapidly during the 1920s.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 22
Explain why the Missouri Compromise was agreed in 1820. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why there were tensions in the relationship between the Union and Britain during the Civil War. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why 'Hoovervilles' were built in some American cities after 1929. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 23
Explain why the Democratic Party was divided during the 1860 presidential election campaign.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Grant changed the government’s approach to Reconstruction after his election in 1868.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the banking system collapsed after the Great Crash of 1929.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 11
Read Sources A and D. Compare and contrast the views in these two sources as evidence about President Wilson.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 12
Read Sources A and C. Compare and contrast the views in these two sources as evidence about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 13
Read Sources B and C. Compare and contrast these sources as evidence about the reasons for opposing female emancipation.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 21
Explain why the Whig Party declined rapidly in the 1850s. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the availability of resources was important to the outcome of the Civil War. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why many on the liberal left opposed the New Deal. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 22
Explain why implementing the Compromise of 1850 caused problems. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the 14th Amendment was passed. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Roosevelt established the Alphabet Agencies. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 23
Explain why Texas joining the Union was controversial.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why ex-slaves found it difficult to improve their lives during the Reconstruction period.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why there was a 'Roosevelt Recession' in 1937–38.
Answer this question and get it marked →