Assignment #02

ACIE American History - Cambridge International Examinations

Mr. Anthony Perno and Mr. Victor Wisniski – American Senior High School – 2009/2010 School Year

Syllabus Excerpt: I Westward Expansion and the Taming of the West, c.1840-96

. . . Mexican War and its consequences. Californian statehood. The 1850 compromise, the Kansas-Nebraska question. The Dred Scott Decision . . .

· Reading Assignment: America, Past and Present, Chapter #14, The Sectional Crisis, pages 387-411

· Assignment: Using the above reading assignment, the student will prepare to answer the following essay questions. (One question will be chosen randomly the day of the exam.) The essay should encompass all pertinent syllabus topics.

· Essay Questions:

1. ‘There was never any real prospect that the 1850 Compromise would satisfactorily resolve the sectional tensions which arose out of the Mexican War.’ Assess the historical validity of this statement.

2. ‘When Douglas put forward the principle of popular sovereignty he made a disastrous error.’ Assess the historical validity of this statement.

3. ‘The Dred Scott decision made little practical difference to sectional divisions over the slavery issue.’ Assess the historical validity of this statement.