Exam Skills: America 1920-1973 (AQA GCSE History: The Period Study (Paper 1: Section A)): Exam Questions

Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about Prohibition? Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.

Interpretation A: Adapted from a book by Felix von Luckner, a German visitor to the United States, written in the late 1920s.

Luckner arrived in New York in October 1926 and stayed for just over a year. Having been a naval commander during the war, he wanted to create goodwill towards Germany. Luckner earned lots of money touring America as an entertaining and popular speaker. In this book he wrote about his impressions of American life from the towns he visited.

"Prohibition has been successful. The filthy saloons and bars in which the workers once drank away half their wages have disappeared. Instead, they can now buy their own cars and go away with their wives and children for the weekend or for a few days to the country or seaside. Crimes and misbehaviour that were caused by drunkenness have now declined."

Interpretation B: Adapted from a daily newspaper article written by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939.

Eleanor Roosevelt was from a wealthy family in New York. Working as a high-profile campaigner on civil rights and women’s rights, she met many different groups of people. Her husband, President Franklin D Roosevelt, ended Prohibition in 1933.

The interpretation cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions.

Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about Roosevelt? Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.

Interpretation A: Adapted from ‘The Roosevelt Myth’ by John T Flynn published in 1948.

Flynn was a financial journalist who supported Roosevelt’s campaign for President. He later criticised the New Deal and Roosevelt’s decision to take America into the Second World War.

This source has been removed due to third-party copyright restrictions.

Interpretation B: Adapted from a speech by President Reagan in 1982 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Roosevelt.

In the 1930s Reagan voted for Roosevelt, listened to all his fireside chats and from that time always spoke positively about him. Reagan was a Democrat until 1962 when he became a Republican.

"Roosevelt was a leader who cared about our great nation. He knew when it was time to transform government and avoid the mistakes of the past. I saw him at a campaign parade in 1936 and felt the wave of affection that swept through that crowd as he passed in an open car. He brought back the confidence that we had lost during the Depression. He reached out to men and women of different backgrounds and inspired them in difficult times, giving them new hope in war and peace."

Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about immigrants in America in the 1920s? Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.

Interpretation A: Adapted from the book ‘Heroes of the Fiery Cross’ by Alma White published in 1928.

White was a Protestant bishop and founder of the Pillar of Fire Church which supported the Ku Klux Klan.

"Thousands of immigrants have arrived in the past twenty years. This has made America the dumping ground for every sort of criminal and undesirable from other countries. They have no respect for our laws. They do not appreciate our great achievements created by the hard work and sacrifice of others. They are only waiting for the chance to replace the Stars and Stripes with the red flag of Communism."

Interpretation B: Adapted from a speech by Robert H Clancy in the late 1920s.

Clancy was a Republican politician from an industrial city in northern USA. He had a career as a lawyer, journalist and businessman and advised the US government on the economy.

"Immigrants are no threat to America but are good citizens. They are active in every profession and walk of life. They often do the hard work that many Americans dislike. They have come to this country to stay and to make a new life for themselves. Immigrants take pride in how quickly they have become part of American society and have adapted to our way of life."

Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about popular culture, including Rock and Roll, in post-war America? Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.

Interpretation A: Adapted from an article by Michael Ventura about 1950s America, written in 1999.

Ventura was a teenager during the 1950s. He went on to be a music journalist. From the 1970s to the 2010s he worked for magazines that specialised in promoting new styles of music.

Interpretation A not reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions

Interpretation B: Adapted from an interview given by Frank Sinatra in the late 1950s.

Sinatra was a world-famous, award-winning singer in the 1940s with thousands of young fans. This popularity became known as ‘Sinatramania’. However, by the early 1950s his style of music was less popular, and he lost his recording contract.

Interpretation B not reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions

Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation about the lives of African-Americans in the USA during the 1950s and 1960s? Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.

Interpretation A: Adapted from an interview in 2017 with Diane Nash, an African-American woman, for a television series entitled, ‘The Women Who Changed the World’. It was published in a widely read British newspaper.

Nash was a Civil Rights campaigner during the 1950s and 1960s. She was arrested in 1961 for her role in encouraging young people to take part in the Freedom Rides.

"I grew up in the northern city of Chicago. I used to go to new places, see new things and I had a good life. This changed when I moved to the Deep South to attend university in Tennessee during the late 1950s. I was shocked at the racial segregation that affected the lives of black Americans. As a black woman I felt very confined and was scared the whole time. Whenever I obeyed a segregation law I felt like I was agreeing that I was inferior."

Interpretation B: Adapted from an account of her life, written by Katherine Johnson, an African-American woman, published in 2019.

The book was called ‘Reaching for the Moon’ and was written for younger readers. She joined NASA, the government space agency in 1953, and worked there for over 30 years as a mathematician. She lived and worked in Virginia and made a vital contribution to NASA’s biggest projects, including the first moon-landing mission.

Interpretation B not reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions

Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have given different views about the feminist movement? Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.

Interpretation A: Adapted from a speech by Phyllis Schlafly at Wellesley College in 2003.

Schlafly was a conservative campaigner who opposed the feminist movement during the 1960s and 1970s. She was the leader of the STOP ERA campaign.

"The St. Louis Post-Dispatch a few weeks ago ran a whole page spread on a couple of aging members of the National Organization for Women. And they're still stewing because 30 years ago they were called stewardesses instead of flight attendants. Now, get a life.

You can't believe how many times I debate some of these feminists and they're still crying around about women not having the right to vote at some time in this country. Now, I don't even remember when women didn't have the right to vote."

Interpretation B: Adapted from an excerpt of a book by Betty Friedan called "Life So Far: A Memoir", published in 2006.

Friedan was a leading feminist who helped to set up the National Organization for Women in the 1960s.

"What would frustrate the hell out of my enemies was that... people wanted to hear what I had to say. I was asked to lecture, the media reported what I had to say, and I had plenty of places to say it. Plus I wrote. So I sort of figured out that my contribution was going to be offering some vision.

Whatever the differences within the leadership, the organizations I helped to found were having a profound impact on the structure of American society. It was no longer business as usual. The mobilization of so many women at the march in 1970, and the politicizing of so many women over the next two years by the NWPC was translating into the action I had called for in NOW's Statement of Purpose."

Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have given different views about McCarthyism? Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.

Interpretation A: Adapted from a speech by Joseph McCarthy in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1950.

McCarthy was a Republican senator from Wisconsin who became the most prominent figure in the Second Red Scare.

"In my opinion the State Department, which is one of the most important government departments, is thoroughly infested with communists.

I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy.

One thing to remember in discussing the communists in our government is that we are not dealing with spies who get 30 pieces of silver to steal the blueprints of new weapons. We are dealing with a far more sinister type of activity because it permits the enemy to guide and shape our policy."

Interpretation B: Adapted from a letter from President Eisenhower to his friend Harry Bullis, 18th May 1953.

Eisenhower was President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.

"With respect to McCarthy... This particular individual wants, above all else, publicity. Nothing would probably please him more than to get the publicity that would be generated by public repudiation by the President.

I do not mean that there is no possibility that I shall ever change my mind on this point... My friends on the Hill tell me that of course, among other things, he wants to increase his appeal as an after-dinner speaker and so raise the fees that he charges."