Edexcel A-Level History 9HI0
The Crusades, c1095–1204Paper 1
England, 1509–1603: Authority, Nation and ReligionPaper 1
Britain, 1625–1701: Conflict, Revolution and SettlementPaper 1
Britain, c1785–c1870: Democracy, Protest and ReformPaper 1
Russia, 1917–91: From Lenin to YeltsinPaper 1
In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96Paper 1
Germany and West Germany, 1918–89Paper 1
Britain Transformed, 1918–97Paper 1
Anglo-Saxon England and the Anglo-Norman Kingdom, c1053–1106Paper 2
England and the Angevin Empire in the Reign of Henry II, 1154–89Paper 2
Luther and the German Reformation, c1515–55Paper 2
The Dutch Revolt, c1563–1609Paper 2
France in Revolution, 1774–99Paper 2
Russia in Revolution, 1894–1924Paper 2
The Unification of Italy, c1830–70Paper 2
The Unification of Germany, c1840–71Paper 2
Mao’s China, 1949–76Paper 2
The German Democratic Republic, 1949–90Paper 2
India, c1914–48: The Road to IndependencePaper 2
South Africa, 1948–94: From Apartheid State to ‘Rainbow Nation’Paper 2
The Rise and Fall of Fascism in Italy, c1911–46Paper 2
Spain, 1930–78: Republicanism, Francoism and the Re-Establishment of DemocracyPaper 2
The USA, c1920–55: Boom, Bust and RecoveryPaper 2
The USA, 1955–92: Conformity and ChallengePaper 2
Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII, 1399–1509Paper 3
Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors, 1485–1603Paper 3
The Golden Age of Spain, 1474–1598Paper 3
The Witch Craze in Britain, Europe and North America, c1580–c1750Paper 3
Industrialisation and Social Change in Britain, 1759–1928: Forging a New SocietyPaper 3
Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain, c1780–1939Paper 3
Britain: Losing and Gaining an Empire, 1763–1914Paper 3
The British Experience of Warfare, c1790–1918Paper 3
Protest, Agitation and Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c1780–1928Paper 3
Ireland and the Union, c1774–1923Paper 3
The Changing Nature of Warfare, 1859–1991: Perception and RealityPaper 3
Germany, 1871–1990: United, Divided and ReunitedPaper 3
The Making of Modern Russia, 1855–1991Paper 3
The Making of Modern China, 1860–1997Paper 3
Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, 1850–2009Paper 3
Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882–2004Paper 3
In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96
- 16 subtopics
- 48 things to know
- Paper 1
- Paper 1 breadth option, chosen from eight
What In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96 covers
A Paper 1 breadth study of the United States from the First World War to the mid-1990s, covering the changing presidency and political landscape, the civil rights and minority rights campaigns, the position of women, immigration, popular culture and living standards. The historical interpretations section asks how far Reagan's presidency changed America.
Where it is assessed
Paper 1
Breadth study with interpretations, one option of eight.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 16 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- A changing presidencyRecall questions on Republican dominance in the 1920s, Roosevelt's transformation of the office, the fireside chats, the imperial presidency, and Watergate.Open →
- Influences on the political landscapeRecall questions on the two Red Scares, McCarthyism and its fall, how New Deal ideas changed assumptions, and the breakdown of the Democratic coalition.Open →
- The impact of war on domestic politicsRecall questions on the rejection of the League, interwar isolationism, the effect of Pearl Harbor, Korea, and the credibility gap over Vietnam.Open →
- Black American civil rights, c1917–55Recall questions on southern conditions and the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, the New Deal's uneven effects, the Double V campaign, and Brown v. Board.Open →
- Black American civil rights, c1955–80Recall questions on the Montgomery boycott, the sit-ins and Freedom Rides, Birmingham and the March on Washington, and the turn to Black Power.Open →
- The search for minority rights, 1960–80Recall questions on the American Indian Movement and the end of termination, Chavez and the grape boycott, Stonewall, and the conservative backlash.Open →
- The changing position of women, 1917–80Recall questions on the Nineteenth Amendment and the flapper, work in the Depression and the war, The Feminine Mystique, Title IX, and why the ERA failed.Open →
- The impact of immigration, 1917-80Recall questions on the 1924 quotas, Sacco and Vanzetti, the Bracero programme, the 1965 Act and how it changed the country, and Cold War refugees.Open →
- Popular culture and the news mediaRecall questions on cinema and the Hays Code, radio and jazz, the arrival of television, rock and roll, and the influence of broadcast news.Open →
- Economic influences on American lifeRecall questions on the causes of the 1920s boom and who missed it, the Crash and the Depression, post-war affluence, and the stagflation of the 1970s.Open →
- Changing living standardsRecall questions on the 1920s consumer boom, Depression poverty, wartime savings, the GI Bill and suburbia, the other America, and 1970s stagnation.Open →
- Leisure and travelRecall questions on shorter hours and paid holidays, the automobile, spectator sport and Jackie Robinson, cinema and television, and air travel.Open →
- Reagan’s economic policiesRecall questions on supply-side tax cuts, the Volcker interest rate shock, deregulation and the savings and loan crisis, deficits, PATCO, and the Rust Belt.Open →
- The extent to which big government was reducedRecall questions on New Federalism, which programmes were cut, why entitlements grew anyway, and how far federal spending actually fell.Open →
- The nature and extent of social changeRecall questions on race and the Los Angeles riots, women's advance, the culture wars, changing family structure, and welfare reform in 1996.Open →
- The revitalisation of the presidency and US politicsRecall questions on the state of the office in 1980, Reagan's restoration of confidence, Iran-Contra, the 1994 midterms, and enduring distrust of government.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
How successful was deregulation as a reduction of government?
How far had the presidency and US politics been revitalised by 1996?
Who became president in 1933 and launched the New Deal?
What is 'rugged individualism'?
What was the Great Migration?
How did the Second World War change women's roles?
What media shaped culture 1917–50?
What described the post-war economy?
What leisure trend grew across the century?
Why did Republicanism collapse after 1929?
What were the Red Scares?
Which two wars damaged confidence in US leadership?
Why did the USA reject the League of Nations?
What triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955?
What was Black Power?
Which other minorities campaigned for rights, 1960–80?
What 1969 event launched the gay rights movement?
What movement sought women's equality from the 1960s?
How did immigration shape American cities before 1941?
How did the Second World War change immigration policy?
What was the Hays Code?
What economic challenges hit the 1970s?
What happened to living standards in the 1920s?
How far did living standards fall in the Depression?
What consumer good transformed leisure and travel?
What is supply-side economics?
What was the PATCO strike, and why was it significant?
What was the New Federalism?
What anti-poverty programme did Johnson launch?
How had American society changed by 1996 in terms of race?
What was the state of the presidency in 1980?
What were the fireside chats?
What conservative reaction emerged c1960–80?
What did isolationism mean in practice between the wars?
What segregation system operated in the South?
Name two major civil rights laws of the 1960s.
What were Native American grievances by the 1960s?
Who was the flapper, and how representative was she?
What was the Bracero programme?
How did television affect politics?
What boosted the economy in the 1940s?
What was the consumer society of the 1950s?
Why did leisure time increase across the century?
What were the effects of deregulation?
Why did federal spending nonetheless rise under Reagan?
What were the culture wars?
What was the Iran-Contra affair?
Take In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
'Return to normalcy' vs Red Scares
'Return to normalcy': Harding's 1920 promise to return to pre-war stability and isolationism. Red Scares: Waves of anti-communist fear; after 1917–20 and the McCarthyism of the late 1940s–50s.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Who became president in 1933 and launched the New Deal?
Model answer
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 2
Why did the Republicans dominate the presidency in the 1920s?
Model answer
Harding, Coolidge and Hoover offered a return to limited government, low taxes and business freedom after the strain of war and Wilsonian reform, and prosperity seemed to vindicate them.
- 3
What was Coolidge's approach to the presidency?
Model answer
Minimal. He believed the business of America was business, cut taxes, avoided regulation and took an inactive view of the office.
- 4
Why did Republicanism collapse after 1929?
Model answer
Hoover's reluctance to use federal power against the Depression made the party appear indifferent to suffering, and the Democrats held the presidency for the next twenty years.
- 5
How did Franklin Roosevelt change the presidency?
Model answer
He made the federal government responsible for economic security, used radio to speak directly to voters, and vastly expanded the executive branch and the president's legislative role.
- 6
What were the fireside chats?
Model answer
Roosevelt's radio addresses explaining policy in plain language, which created a direct relationship between president and public that no predecessor had had.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96 revision questions
- What does In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96 cover in Edexcel A-Level History?
- 16 subtopics: a changing presidency, influences on the political landscape, the impact of war on domestic politics, black american civil rights, c1917–55, black american civil rights, c1955–80, the search for minority rights, 1960–80, the changing position of women, 1917–80, the impact of immigration, 1917-80, popular culture and the news media, economic influences on american life, changing living standards, leisure and travel, reagan’s economic policies, the extent to which big government was reduced, the nature and extent of social change and the revitalisation of the presidency and us politics. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96 organised?
- By the Edexcel 9HI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in In Search of the American Dream: The USA, c1917–96, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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