History of the Americas: 2010

1. Independence movements
This section focuses on the various forces that contributed to the rise of the independence movements, the
similar and different paths that the movements followed and the immediate effects of independence in the
region. It explores the political, intellectual and military contributions of their leaders and the sometimes
contradictory views that shaped the emergence of the new nations.
• Independence movements in the Americas: political, economic, social, intellectual and religious
causes; the role of foreign intervention; conflicts and issues leading to war
• Political and intellectual contributions of leaders to the process of independence: Washington, Bolivar
(suitable choices could be Adams, Jefferson, San Martín, O’Higgins)
• United States Declaration of Independence; processes leading to the declaration; influence of ideas;
nature of the declaration; military campaigns and their impact on the outcome (suitable examples
could be Saratoga and Yorktown)
• Independence movements in Latin America: characteristics of the independence processes; reasons for
the similarities and/or differences in two countries in the region; military campaigns and their impact
on the outcome (suitable examples could be Chacabuco, Maipú, Ayacucho, Boyacá and Carabobo)
• United States’ position towards Latin American independence; events and reasons for the emergence
of the Monroe Doctrine
• Impact of independence on the economies and societies of the Americas: economic and social issues;
new perspectives on economic development; impact on different social groups: Native Americans,
African Americans, Creoles

2. Nation-building and challenges
This section focuses on the new challenges and problems that came with independence. It explores the ways
in which, and the reasons why, the countries of the region attempted to build their nations. Independent
and new nations emerged; the colonial empires, with few exceptions, were gone; new world links were
forged yet the colonial legacy remained. Two of the problems that confronted the new nations were how
to challenge it or how to build on it. The task of building new nations opened the doors to novel ways of
political, social and economic thinking and to the redefining of concepts such as nation and state.
• United States: Articles of Confederation; the Constitution of 1787: philosophical underpinnings; major
compromises and changes in the US political system
• Latin America: challenges to the establishment of political systems; conditions for the rise of and
impact of the caudillo rule in two countries (suitable examples could be Rosas, Gomez, Artigas)
• War of 1812: causes and impact on British North America and the United States
• Mexican–American War 1846-8: causes and effects on the region
• Canada: causes and effects of 1837 rebellions; the Durham Report and its implications; challenges to
the Confederation; the British North America Act of 1867: compromises, unresolved issues, regionalism,
effects
• Changes in the conditions of social groups such as Native Americans, mestizos, immigrants in the new
nations

3. United States Civil War: causes, course and effects 1840-77
This section focuses on the United States Civil War between the North and the South (1861-5), which is
often perceived as the great watershed in the history of the United States. It transformed the country
forever: slavery disappeared following Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the Northern success
marked a victory for the proponents of strong central power over the supporters of states’ rights. It marked the beginnings of further westward expansion and transformed United States’ society by accelerating
industrialization and modernization in the North and largely destroying the plantation system in the South.
The war left the country with a new set of problems: how would the South rebuild its society and economy
and what would be the place in that society of 4 million freed African Americans? These changes were
fundamental, leading some historians to see the war (and its results) as a “second American Revolution”.
• Cotton economy and slavery; conditions of enslavement; adaptation and resistance such as the
Underground Railroad
• Origins of the Civil War: political issues, states’ rights, modernization, sectionalism, the nullification
crisis, economic differences between North and South
• Abolitionist debate: ideologies and arguments for and against slavery and their impact
• Reasons for, and effects of, westward expansion and the sectional debates; the crisis of the 1850s;
the Kansas–Nebraska problem; the Ostend Manifesto; the Lincoln–Douglas debates; the impact
of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation; Jefferson Davis and the
Confederacy
• Union versus Confederate: strengths and weaknesses; economic resources; significance of leaders
during the US Civil War (suitable examples could be Grant and Lee, Sherman and Thomas Jonathan
“Stonewall” Jackson)
• Major battles of the Civil War and their impact on the conflict: Antietam and Gettysburg; the role of
foreign powers
• Reconstruction: economic, social and political successes and failures; economic expansion
• African Americans in the Civil War and in the New South: legal issues; the Black Codes; Jim Crow Laws

4. The development of modern nations 1865-1929
This section, covering the period between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, saw forces
that transformed the countries of the region. These forces are generally seen as part of “modernization”, a
process that involved the progressive transformation of the economic, political and social structures of the
countries of the region.
With respect to the first four bullets, a case study approach should be adopted, using two countries from
the region as examples. The chosen countries should be identified in the introduction to the examination
answers.
• Causes and consequences of railroad construction; industrial growth and economic modernization;
the development of international and inter-American trade; neocolonialism and dependency
• Causes and consequences of immigration; emigration and internal migration, including the impact
upon, and experience of, indigenous peoples
• Development and impact of ideological currents including Progressivism, Manifest Destiny, liberalism,
nationalism, positivism, Social Darwinism, “indigenismo” and nativism
• Social and cultural changes: the arts; the role of women
• Influence of leaders in the transition to the modern era: political and economic aims; assessment of
the successes and failures of Theodore Roosevelt, Wilfrid Laurier and a Latin American leader of the
student’s choice
• Social, economic and legal conditions of African Americans between 1865 and 1929; the Great
Migration and the Harlem Renaissance; the search for civil rights and the ideas, aims and tactics of
Booker T Washington, WEB Dubois and Marcus Garvey

5. Emergence of the Americas in global affairs 1880-1929
This section focuses on modernization in the region, and its impact on foreign policy. It explores the
involvement of the nations in the First World War. Modernization shaped the new nations and its effects
created the basis for a major shift in the foreign policies of the region. By the end of the century, for example,
the United States played a more active role in world affairs, and in the affairs of Latin America in particular,
thus transforming inter-American relations. When the First World War broke out in Europe, several American
countries were involved in the conflict. When the war ended, its impact was felt in the economic, social and
foreign policies of the participating countries.
• United States’ expansionist foreign policies: political, economic, social and ideological reasons
• Spanish–American War: causes and effects (1898)
• United States’ foreign policies: the Big Stick; Dollar Diplomacy; Moral Diplomacy; applications and
impact on the region
• United States and the First World War: from neutrality to involvement; reasons for US entry into the
First World War; Wilson’s peace ideals and the struggle for ratification of the Versailles Treaty in the
United States; significance of the war for the United States’ hemispheric status
• Involvement and participation of either Canada or one Latin American country in the First World War:
reasons for and/or against participation; nature of participation
• Impact of the First World War on two countries of the Americas: economic, political, social, and foreign
policies

7. The Great Depression and the Americas 1929-39
This section focuses on the nature of the Depression as well as the different solutions adopted by
governments in the region and the impact on these societies. The Great Depression produced the most
serious economic collapse in the history of the Americas. It affected every country in the region and brought
about the need to rethink economic and political systems. The alternatives that were offered and the
adaptations that took place marked a watershed in political and economic development in many countries
in the region.
With respect to the last two bullets, a case study approach should be adopted, using one country from
the region as an example. The chosen country should be identified in the introduction to the examination
answers.
• The Great Depression: political and economic causes in the Americas
• Nature and efficacy of solutions in the United States: Hoover; Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal;
critics of the New Deal
• Canada: Mackenzie King and RB Bennett
• Latin America’s responses to the Depression: either G Vargas or the Concordancia in Argentina; Import
Substitution Industrialization (ISI) or any relevant case study of a Latin American country
• Impact of the Great Depression on society: African Americans, women, minorities
• The Great Depression and the arts: photography, the movie industry, the radio, literary currents

8. The Second World War and the Americas 1933-45
As the world order deteriorated in the late 1930s, resulting in the outbreak of war in Europe, the countries
of the region reacted in different ways to the challenges presented. This section focuses on the changing
policies of the countries in the region as a result of growing political and diplomatic tensions preceding and
during the Second World War. It also examines the impact of the war upon the Americas.
• Hemispheric reactions to the events in Europe: inter-American diplomacy; cooperation and neutrality;
Franklin D Roosevelt’s Good Neighbour policy, its application and effects
• The diplomatic and/or military role of two countries in the Second World War
• Social impact of the Second World War on: African Americans, Native Americans, women and
minorities; conscription
• Treatment of Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians
• Reaction to the Holocaust in the Americas
• Impact of technological developments and the beginning of the atomic age
• Economic and diplomatic effects of the Second World War in one country of the Americas

9. Political developments in the Americas after the Second World
War 1945-79
This section focuses on domestic concerns and political developments after 1945. The majority of states
in the Americas experienced social, economic and political changes and challenges. Political responses to
these forces varied from country to country: from the continuation of democracy to multi-class “populist”
alliances to outright conflict, revolution and the establishment of authoritarian regimes in the 1960s and
1970s. Areas of study include: conditions for the rise to power of new leaders; economic and social policies;
treatment of minorities.
Note: Vargas and Cárdenas came to power before 1945 but their rule and influence in their respective
states continued after 1945.
• United States: domestic policies of Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy
• Johnson and “the Great Society”; Nixon’s domestic reforms
• Canada: domestic policies from Diefenbaker to Clark and Trudeau (both were prime ministers in 1979)
• Causes and effects of the Silent (or Quiet) Revolution
• Populist leaders in Latin America: rise to power; characteristics of populist regimes; social, economic
and political policies; the treatment of opposition; successes and failures (suitable examples could be
Perón, Vargas or any relevant Latin American leader)
• The Cuban Revolution: political, social, economic causes; impact on the region
• Rule of Fidel Castro: political, economic, social and cultural policies; treatment of minorities; successes
and failures
• Military regimes in Latin America: rationale for intervention; challenges; policies; successes and
failures

10. The Cold War and the Americas 1945-1981
This section focuses on the development and impact of the Cold War on the region. Most of the second
half of the 20th century was dominated by the global conflict of the Cold War. Within the Americas, some
countries were closely allied to the United States and some took sides reluctantly. Many remained neutral
or sought to avoid involvement in Cold War struggles. A few, influenced by the Cuban Revolution, instituted
socialist governments. No nation, however, escaped the pressures of the Cold War, which had a significant
impact on the domestic and foreign policies of the countries of the region.
• Truman: containment and its implications for the Americas; the rise of McCarthyism and its effects on
domestic and foreign policies of the United States; the Cold War and its impact on society and culture
• Korean War and the United States and the Americas: reasons for participation; military developments;
diplomatic and political outcomes
• Eisenhower and Dulles: New Look and its application; characteristics and reasons for the policy;
repercussions for the region
• United States’ involvement in Vietnam: the reasons for, and nature of, the involvement at different
stages; domestic effects and the end of the war
• United States’ foreign policies from Kennedy to Carter: the characteristics of, and reasons for, policies;
implications for the region: Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress; Nixon’s covert operations and Chile;
Carter’s quest for human rights and the Panama Canal Treaty
• Cold War in either Canada or one Latin American country: reasons for foreign and domestic policies
and their implementation

11. Civil rights and social movements in the Americas
This section focuses on the origins, nature, challenges and achievements of civil rights movements after 1945.
Movements represented the attempts to achieve equality for groups that were not recognized or accepted
as full members of society. The groups challenged established authority and entrenched attitudes.
• Native Americans and civil rights: Latin America, the United States and Canada
• African Americans and the Civil Rights Movement: origins, tactics and organizations; the US Supreme
court and legal challenges to segregation in education; ending of the segregation in the South
(1955-65)
• Role of Dr Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights Movement; the rise of radical African American activism
(1965-8): Black Panthers; Black Muslims; Black Power and Malcolm X
• Role of governments in civil rights movements in the Americas
• Youth culture and protests of the 1960s and 1970s: characteristics and manifestation of a
counterculture
• Feminist movements in the Americas

12. Into the 21st century—from the 1980s to 2000
This section focuses on changing trends in foreign and domestic policies in the Americas during the
transition to the 21st century. The latter decades of the 20th century also witnessed significant political,
social, cultural, economic and technological changes in the region.
With respect to the last four bullets points, a case study approach should be adopted, using one country of
the region. The chosen country should be identified in the introduction to the examination answers.
• The United States, from bipolar to unilateral power: domestic and foreign policies of presidents such
as Reagan, Bush, Clinton; challenges; effects on the United States; impact upon the hemisphere
• Restoration of democracy in Latin America: political, social and economic challenges (suitable
examples could be Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay)
• Globalization and its effects: social, political and economic
• Revolution in technology: social, political and economic impact such as the role of the media and the
Internet
• Popular culture: new manifestations and trends in literature, films, music and entertainment
• New concerns: threats to the environment; health

History of the Americas

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

History of the Americas Section - what will be on the test

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

HOTA Assignments 4/14-5/12

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Tuesday, March 29 Test Topics

Monday, March 15, 2010

Assignments 3/11-5/7

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