SPECIFICATION INFORMATION:

•   AQA

  These webpages have been written to address the America 1840–1895 specification and the recommended Scheme of Work.

•   Edexcel

  These webpages address the content of the American West c1835–c1895 specification, but you will want to study Law & Order and Cattle-ranching in greater detail, and you do not need to study the Civil War.

•   OCR

  These webpages address the content of the Making of America 1789-1900 specification EXCEPT: 'Period 1 America’s expansion 1789–1838' and 'Period 5 American Cultures, 1877-1900'.

  

Contents:

Expansion: opportunities and challenges

1.    The Wild West?

2.    The Geography of North America in 1840

3.    Manifest Destiny, Frontier & US Expansion

4.    The Indigenous Nations

5.    The Sioux - Govt & Warfare

6.    The Sioux - Values & Beliefs

7.    The Sioux - Lifestyle

8.    Why did white Americans Hate the Indigenous Peoples?

9.    Going West in the 1840s - Why?

10.    Going West in the 1840s - The Journey

11.    Going West in the 1840s - The 1849 Gold Rush

Consolidation

12.    The Mormons - The Mormons Move West

13.    The Mormons - At Salt Lake

14.    The Mormons - Interpretations

15.    Cattleman and Cowboys

16.    Homesteaders - Why they went West

17.    Homesteaders - Problems & 'Solutions'

18.    Homesteaders - Interpretations

19.    Law(lessness) and (lack of) Order

Conflict

20.    Conflict with the Indigenous Nations - Overview

21.    Conflict with the Indigenous Nations - Causes

22.    Conflict with the Indigenous Nations - Events

23.    The Wild West - Interpretations

24.    The Wild West Cascade

25.    Civil War - Causes

26.    Civil War - Course

27.    Civil War - Impact on Civilians

28.    Civil War - Results

29.    Civil War - Black Americans

30.    Civil War - Cascade

  

Click the yellow arrow for advice on:

• How to STUDY this topic:
  • 1.   Start by reading my  Basics sheet.  Get a grasp of the basic story.  Make a list of key dates - leave space to add other dates you may discover during your studies.  It might be an idea to do this before you study this unit in class.
  • 2.   Work through the study sections above.  You can do this over time as you study the topics in lessons.  Take advantage of some of the links to explore, more deeply, aspects of the topics which attract your interest.  Make notes, perhaps using the Cloze exercises and/or their pdf printouts to build a set of notes.  Use the Writing Development exercises to develop your writing skills whilst cementing your learning.
  • 3.   Study the historiographies, to learn how historians have interpreted: the Mormons, the Homesteaders and the 'Wild West' , and to consider what YOU think about the debates.
  • 4.   Plunder the Cascade webpages on the Wild West and the Civil War to help you write any essays you are given.

• How to REVISE this topic:
  • 1.   Pre-revision:
    Skim-read the study pages in this unit, to refresh your memory of what you have learned in the lessons.  Read, and make notes on, your notes.
  • 2.   Four weeks to go:
    Go through the topics on the Cascade webpages on the Wild West and the Civil War; use the yellow arrows to think FIRST how you would answer, before checking against my suggestions.
  • 4.   Three weeks to go:
    Choose the revision aid which suits you best from the ‘Revision factshees’, and learn it off by heart; get someone to test you on it.  Also, suss out the Smartass list of specialist terms with which to wow the examiner! 
  • 5.   Two weeks to go:
    Invite a friend to revise with you and do the Revision Activies together, using them as an opportunity to share all you know and rehearse your 'explain how' skills.
  • 6.   Last week:
    Go through the blue Exam-style Questions for your specification to rehearse how you will tackle the kind of questions you will meet in the exam.  Spend the last evening re-revising your chosen revision aid.