AQA A-level History · 1K

The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975

50 exam-style questions with answers for 1K The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975 in AQA A-level History (spec 7042). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 1K, Part one
Why did Radical Reconstruction fail? [2 marks]
Answer:
Southern resistance, including the Ku Klux Klan, intimidated Black voters (1); Northern interest faded and troops left in the Compromise of 1877 (1).
Question 2 · Spec 1K, Part one
Why was Andrew Johnson impeached in 1868? [1 mark]
Answer:
He clashed with Congress over Reconstruction and dismissed Secretary of War Stanton; he was acquitted by one vote.
Question 3 · Spec 1K, Part one
Define the term ‘Gilded Age’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The late 19th century, which looked prosperous but hid corruption, inequality and poverty.
Question 4 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was the spoils system? [1 mark]
Answer:
Giving government jobs to party supporters as rewards.
Question 5 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was the Pendleton Act (1883)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It introduced merit-based civil service exams after President Garfield’s assassination.
Question 6 · Spec 1K, Part one
What were Jim Crow laws? [1 mark]
Answer:
Southern laws enforcing racial segregation.
Question 7 · Spec 1K, Part one
What did Plessy v Ferguson (1896) decide? [1 mark]
Answer:
That segregation was legal if facilities were ‘separate but equal’.
Question 8 · Spec 1K, Part one
Who was John D. Rockefeller? [1 mark]
Answer:
The founder of Standard Oil, which controlled about 90% of US oil refining.
Question 9 · Spec 1K, Part one
Who was Andrew Carnegie? [1 mark]
Answer:
A steel magnate whose company dominated US steel production.
Question 10 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A law banning monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade, at first weakly enforced.
Question 11 · Spec 1K, Part one
When was Alaska bought? [1 mark]
Answer:
1867, from Russia.
Question 12 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was the Monroe Doctrine? [1 mark]
Answer:
The 1823 policy that European powers should not interfere in the Americas.
Question 13 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was the Populist (People’s) Party? [1 mark]
Answer:
A farmers’ party of the 1890s that demanded silver coinage, railroad regulation and an income tax.
Question 14 · Spec 1K, Part one
Who was William Jennings Bryan? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Democratic and Populist presidential candidate in 1896, famous for the ‘Cross of Gold’ speech.
Question 15 · Spec 1K, Part one
State two Progressive reforms under Theodore Roosevelt. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: trust-busting, eg Northern Securities (1); the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) (1); the Meat Inspection Act (1); conservation of national parks (1).
Question 16 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was Wilson’s New Freedom? [1 mark]
Answer:
His programme to restore competition through lower tariffs, banking reform (the Federal Reserve) and anti-trust law.
Question 17 · Spec 1K, Part one
State two amendments of the Progressive Era. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: 16th (income tax) (1); 17th (direct election of senators) (1); 18th (Prohibition) (1); 19th (women’s votes) (1).
Question 18 · Spec 1K, Part one
What did the USA gain from the Spanish-American War (1898)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam, and influence over Cuba.
Question 19 · Spec 1K, Part one
Why was the Panama Canal significant? [1 mark]
Answer:
It linked the Atlantic and Pacific when it opened in 1914, boosting US trade and naval power.
Question 20 · Spec 1K, Part one
State two reasons why the USA entered the First World War in 1917. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: unrestricted submarine warfare (1); the Zimmermann Telegram (1); loans and trade with the Allies (1).
Question 21 · Spec 1K, Part one
Why did the Senate reject the Treaty of Versailles? [1 mark]
Answer:
Senators feared the League of Nations would drag the USA into foreign wars.
Question 22 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was the Homestead Act (1862)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It gave settlers 160 acres if they farmed it for five years.
Question 23 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was the Interstate Commerce Act (1887)? [1 mark]
Answer:
The first federal law to regulate railroads.
Question 24 · Spec 1K, Part one
What was the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A law banning Chinese labourers from immigrating to the USA.
Question 25 · Spec 1K, Part one
State two consequences of mass immigration around 1900. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: rapid growth of cities (1); tenements and slums (1); political machines, eg Tammany Hall (1); nativist hostility (1).
Question 26 · Spec 1K, Part one
Who was Booker T. Washington? [1 mark]
Answer:
An African American leader who urged economic self-improvement and accommodation with segregation.
Question 27 · Spec 1K, Part one
Who was W.E.B. Du Bois? [1 mark]
Answer:
An African American leader who demanded full civil rights and co-founded the NAACP in 1909.
Question 28 · Spec 1K, Part two
Describe Republican policies in the 1920s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Laissez-faire and low taxes (1); high tariffs, eg Fordney-McCumber (1922) (1).
Question 29 · Spec 1K, Part two
State two structural weaknesses of the 1920s economy. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: overproduction (1); unequal distribution of wealth (1); weak banks (1); speculation (1); farm depression (1).
Question 30 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the Wall Street Crash? [1 mark]
Answer:
The collapse of share prices in October 1929.
Question 31 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the First New Deal? [1 mark]
Answer:
Roosevelt’s 1933 measures for relief and recovery, including the AAA and NIRA.
Question 32 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the court-packing plan (1937)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Roosevelt’s failed attempt to add judges to the Supreme Court after it struck down New Deal laws.
Question 33 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the Harlem Renaissance? [1 mark]
Answer:
A flowering of African American art, music and literature in 1920s New York.
Question 34 · Spec 1K, Part two
State two signs of isolationism in the 1930s. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the Neutrality Acts (1935–1937) (1); the Johnson Act (1); refusal to join the League (1).
Question 35 · Spec 1K, Part two
How did Pearl Harbor change US policy? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Japanese attack in December 1941 brought the USA into the Second World War.
Question 36 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the GI Bill (1944)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It gave veterans grants for education, housing and business loans.
Question 37 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the Fair Deal? [1 mark]
Answer:
Truman’s post-war programme for welfare and civil rights, much of which Congress blocked.
Question 38 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the Interstate Highway Act (1956)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Eisenhower’s programme to build a national motorway network.
Question 39 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the New Frontier? [1 mark]
Answer:
Kennedy’s programme for space, civil rights and anti-poverty reform.
Question 40 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the Great Society? [1 mark]
Answer:
Johnson’s programme including Medicare, Medicaid, civil rights laws and the War on Poverty.
Question 41 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was McCarthyism? [1 mark]
Answer:
Senator McCarthy’s campaign of accusations of communism, 1950–1954.
Question 42 · Spec 1K, Part two
What did Brown v Board of Education (1954) decide? [1 mark]
Answer:
That segregated schools were unconstitutional.
Question 43 · Spec 1K, Part two
What did the Voting Rights Act (1965) do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It banned literacy tests and protected Black voting rights in the South.
Question 44 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the Truman Doctrine (1947)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A promise to support free peoples against communism, beginning containment.
Question 45 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was Nixon’s visit to China (1972)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A step towards normal relations with Communist China.
Question 46 · Spec 1K, Part two
When did the USA withdraw from Vietnam? [1 mark]
Answer:
Combat troops left in 1973; Saigon fell in 1975.
Question 47 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was Watergate? [1 mark]
Answer:
A scandal over a break-in at Democratic headquarters and a cover-up that forced Nixon to resign in 1974.
Question 48 · Spec 1K, Part two
What was the Marshall Plan? [1 mark]
Answer:
US economic aid to rebuild Europe from 1948.
Question 49 · Spec 1K, Part two
What were the Kent State shootings (1970)? [1 mark]
Answer:
National Guardsmen killed four students protesting against the war.
Question 50 · Spec 1K, Part two
What did Roe v Wade (1973) decide? [1 mark]
Answer:
That women had a constitutional right to abortion.

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The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975

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