Key term
Edexcel GCSE History 1HI0
Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c1060–88British depth
Topic overviewAnglo-Saxon government, economy and societyThe last years of Edward the Confessor and the succession crisisThe rival claimants for the throneThe Norman invasion, 1060–66Establishing control, 1066–87Anglo-Saxon resistance, 1068–71The legacy of resistance to 1087Revolt of the Earls, 1075The feudal system and the ChurchNorman government, 1066–88The Norman aristocracy, 1066–88William I and the succession
British America, 1713–83: Empire and RevolutionPeriod study
Topic overviewDevelopments in colonial societySlavery in North AmericaProblems within the coloniesThe impact of cultural developmentsWar in the coloniesThe aftermath of the French and Indian warAmerican colonist relations with Britain: growing opposition, 1765-75The War of Independence 1775-83Consequences of the war in America
Conflict in the Middle East, 1945–95Period study
Crime and Punishment in Britain, c1000–presentPaper 1 option
Topic overviewFactors driving change in crime and punishment, c1000–presentNature and changing definitions of criminal activity, c1000–c1500The nature of law enforcement and punishment, c1000–c1500Case study: the Church, sanctuary and trial by ordealNature and changing definitions of criminal activity, c1500–c1700The nature of law enforcement and punishment, c1500–c1700Case studies: the Gunpowder Plot and Matthew HopkinsNature and changing definitions of criminal activity, c1700–c1900The nature of law enforcement and punishment, c1700–c1900Case studies: Pentonville prison and Robert PeelNature and changing definitions of criminal activity, c1900–presentThe nature of law enforcement and punishment, c1900–presentCase studies: conscientious objectors and Derek Bentley
Early Elizabethan England, 1558–88British depth
Topic overviewThe situation on Elizabeth’s accessionThe ‘settlement’ of religionChallenge to the religious settlementThe problem of Mary, Queen of ScotsPlots and revolts at homeRelations with Spain, 1569–88Outbreak of war with Spain, 1585–88The Armada, 1588Education and leisure, 1558–88The ‘problem’ of the poorExploration and voyages of discoveryAttempted colonisation of Virginia
Henry VIII and His Ministers, 1509–40British depth
Topic overviewHenry VIII, Renaissance PrinceThe rise of Wolsey and his policiesWolsey’s foreign policy, 1509–29Wolsey, Catherine, the succession and annulmentCromwell’s rise to power, 1529–34The king’s marriages, 1529–40Cromwell and government, 1534–40The fall of CromwellThe break with RomeOpposition to, and impact of, Reformation, 1534–40The dissolution of the monasteriesThe Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536
London and the Second World War, 1939–45Paper 1 option
Mao’s China, 1945–76Modern depth
Topic overviewThe Civil War, 1945–49Communist rule, 1945–59Consolidating the CCP’s hold on power, 1951–52The Hundred Flowers campaign, 1956–57Early changes in agriculture, 1949–57Industry and the Five-Year Plan, 1953–57The Great Leap ForwardEconomic reform, 1962–65Reasons for the Cultural RevolutionThe Red Guards and the Red TerrorThe effects of the Cultural RevolutionThe end of the Cultural Revolution, 1968–76Communist control, 1949–76Family life and the role of womenEducation and health, 1949–76Cultural change, 1949–76
Medicine in Britain, c1250–presentPaper 1 option
Topic overviewFactors driving change in medicine, c1250–presentIdeas about the cause of disease and illness, c1250–c1500Approaches to prevention and treatment, c1250–c1500Case study: the Black Death, 1348–49Ideas about the cause of disease and illness, c1500–c1700Approaches to prevention and treatment, c1500–c1700Case studies: William Harvey and the Great Plague of 1665Ideas about the cause of disease and illness, c1700–c1900Approaches to prevention and treatment, c1700–c1900Case studies: Jenner’s vaccination and the 1854 cholera outbreakIdeas about the cause of disease and illness, c1900–presentApproaches to prevention and treatment, c1900–presentCase studies: penicillin and the fight against lung cancer
Migrants in Britain, c800–presentPaper 1 option
Topic overviewFactors driving change in migration to Britain, c800–presentThe context for migration, c800–c1500The experience and impact of migrants, c800–c1500Case study: York under the VikingsThe context for migration, c1500–c1700The experience and impact of migrants, c1500–c1700Case studies: Flemish and Walloon migrants, and the HuguenotsThe context for migration, c1700–c1900The experience and impact of migrants, c1700–c1900Case studies: Liverpool, and Jewish migrants in the East EndThe context for migration, c1900–presentThe experience and impact of migrants, c1900–presentCase studies: Bristol, and Asian migrants in Leicester
Notting Hill, c1948–c1970Paper 1 option
Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41Modern depth
Topic overviewThe growth of opposition to the tsar in early 1917The February RevolutionThe Provisional GovernmentThe Bolshevik RevolutionEarly consolidation of power, 1917–18The Civil War, 1918–21Moves towards totalitarianism, 1917–24Economic and social change, 1918–24The struggle for power, 1924–28The use of terror in the 1930sPropaganda and censorship, 1924–41The Cult of StalinAgriculture and collectivisation, 1924–41Changes in industry, 1924–41Life in the Soviet UnionThe position of women and ethnic minorities
Spain and the ‘New World’, c1490–c1555Period study
Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941–91Period study
Topic overviewEarly tension between East and WestThe development of the Cold WarThe Cold War intensifiesIncreased tension between East and WestCold War crises, 1958–70Reaction to crisis, 1958–70Attempts to reduce superpower tensions in the 1970sThe end of détente and the ‘Second Cold War’The collapse of Soviet control of Eastern Europe, 1985-91
The American West, c1835–c1895Period study
Topic overviewIndigenous peoples of the Plains: their beliefs and ways of lifeMigration and early settlementConflict and tension, c1835–c1862The development of settlement in the WestRanching and the cattle industryChanges in the ways of life of Indigenous peoples of the PlainsChanges in farming, the cattle industry and settlementConflict and tension, c1876–c1895Indigenous peoples of the Plains: the destruction of their ways of life
The British Sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: Injuries, Treatment and the TrenchesPaper 1 option
Topic overviewThe British sector of the Western Front and the trench systemConditions requiring medical treatment on the Western FrontMedical treatment on the Western FrontExperiments in surgery and medicine on the Western FrontMedicine in the early twentieth centurySources for a Western Front enquiry
The Reigns of King Richard I and King John, 1189–1216British depth
Topic overviewThe feudal system, 1189–1216Kingship and succession, 1189–1216Royal government and financesEnglish society, 1189–1216The nature of crusadingRichard and the Third CrusadeAftermath of the crusadeRichard, John and the loss of NormandyThe dispute with the PapacyWorsening relations with the baronsMagna Carta and the First Barons’ WarEngland in 1216
The USA, 1954–75: Conflict at Home and AbroadModern depth
Topic overviewThe position of Black Americans in the early 1950sDevelopments in education, 1954–60The Montgomery Bus Boycott and its impact, 1955–60Opposition to the civil rights movementDevelopments, 1960–62Peaceful protests and their impact, 1963–65Malcolm X and Black Power, 1963–70The civil rights movement, 1965–75Reasons for US involvement in the conflict in Vietnam, 1954–63Escalation of the conflict under JohnsonThe nature of the conflict in Vietnam, 1964–68Changes under Nixon, 1969–73Opposition to the warSupport for the warThe peace process and end of the warReasons for the failure of the USA in Vietnam
Warfare and British Society, c1250–presentPaper 1 option
Topic overviewFactors driving change in warfare, c1250–presentThe nature of warfare, c1250–c1500The experience of war, c1250–c1500Case studies: the battles of Falkirk and AgincourtThe nature of warfare, c1500–c1700The experience of war, c1500–c1700Case study: the Battle of Naseby, 1645The nature of warfare, c1700–c1900The experience of war, c1700–c1900Case studies: the battles of Waterloo and BalaclavaThe nature of warfare, c1900–presentThe experience of war, c1900–presentCase studies: the Somme and the Iraq War
Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39Modern depth
Topic overviewThe origins of the Republic, 1918–19The early challenges to the Weimar Republic, 1919–23The ‘Golden Years’: recovery of the Republic, 1924–29Changes in society, 1924–29Early development of the Nazi Party, 1920–22The Munich Putsch and the Nazi Party, 1923–28The growth in support for the Nazis, 1929–32How Hitler became Chancellor, 1932–33The creation of a dictatorship, 1933–34The police state, 1933–39Controlling and influencing attitudesOpposition, resistance and conformityNazi policies towards womenNazi policies towards the youngEmployment and living standardsThe persecution of minorities
Whitechapel, c1870–c1900: Crime, Policing and the Inner CityPaper 1 option
The American West, c1835–c1895
- 9 subtopics
- 27 things to know
- Paper 2 booklet P
- Paper 2, one period study of five
What The American West, c1835–c1895 covers
The American West, c1835–c1895 is examined in Paper 2, Period study and British depth study. It covers Indigenous peoples of the Plains: their beliefs and ways of life, migration and early settlement, conflict and tension, c1835–c1862, the development of settlement in the West, ranching and the cattle industry, changes in the ways of life of Indigenous peoples of the Plains, changes in farming, the cattle industry and settlement, conflict and tension, c1876–c1895 and Indigenous peoples of the Plains: the destruction of their ways of life.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2 booklet P
Period study, 20% of the GCSE, one option of five.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 9 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Indigenous peoples of the Plains: their beliefs and ways of lifeBands and their councils, warrior societies, the uses of the buffalo, the tipi, women's work, the treatment of the old, attitudes to land, counting coup, how wealth and standing were measured, and beliefs about nature: Wakan Tanka, the sacred circle, vision quests, the Sun Dance, medicine men and respect for the buffalo.Open →
- Migration and early settlementThe Oregon Trail, the push from the east after 1837, Manifest Destiny, the forty-niners and California, the Donner Party, the Mormons from Nauvoo to Salt Lake under Brigham Young, sod houses, water and mining camps.Open →
- Conflict and tension, c1835–c1862The Permanent Indian Frontier and why it broke down, the Fort Laramie agreement of 1851 and its failure, the Indian Appropriations Act and reservations, and lawlessness in the mining camps: claim jumping, vigilance committees, miners' meetings and the federal government's few judges and marshals.Open →
- The development of settlement in the WestThe Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific meeting at Promontory Summit in 1869, the railroad workforce, railroads and settlers, the Homestead Act and its weaknesses, sodbuster ploughs, wind pumps, dry farming, barbed wire, the Timber Culture Act, and town marshals, sheriffs, posses and federal law.Open →
- Ranching and the cattle industryThe value of Texas longhorns, Goodnight and Loving, McCoy's Abilene, John Iliff on the northern Plains, railroads and the shifting cow towns, the cowboy on the long drive and on the ranch, round-ups, quarrels with homesteaders, Texas fever and barbed wire.Open →
- Changes in the ways of life of Indigenous peoples of the PlainsThe damage done by railroads, ranching, gold prospecting and disease, dependence on rations, reservations and the policy of concentration, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, the weakening of chiefs, Little Crow's War of 1862, Sand Creek in 1864 and Red Cloud's War of 1866–68.Open →
- Changes in farming, the cattle industry and settlementTurkey Red wheat, machinery and wind pumps, farming as a business, the winter of 1886–87 and the end of the open range, the cowboy's fate, the Exodusters, the Oklahoma Land Rush and the closed frontier.Open →
- Conflict and tension, c1876–c1895Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War, Wyatt Earp and the OK Corral, range wars and the Johnson County War of 1892, the return of war to the Black Hills, Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn in 1876 and its consequences, and the Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee in 1890.Open →
- Indigenous peoples of the Plains: the destruction of their ways of lifeThe slaughter of the buffalo and the part played by the railroads and the army, reservation agents and reservation life, the banning of the Sun Dance and other customs, the boarding schools, and the Dawes Act of 1887 and its effects.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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What was the Permanent Indian Frontier?
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How did barbed wire sharpen the conflict between ranchers and settlers?
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What was the Ghost Dance, and what did it lead to in 1890?
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What conditions in the eastern states pushed families to set out for the far west in the late 1830s and 1840s?
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Which two companies built the first line across the continent, and from where did each start?
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How did the coming of the railroads harm the Plains nations?
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Which wheat transformed Plains farming after the 1870s, and who introduced it?
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Why did white hunters slaughter buffalo in such numbers from the early 1870s?
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How were decisions taken in a Plains band?
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What set off the rush of the forty-niners to California in 1849?
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What broke the Permanent Indian Frontier down?
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Where and when did the Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines meet?
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Why was a Texas longhorn worth so much more in the north than at home after the Civil War?
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How did the growth of ranching damage Indigenous life?
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How did new machinery change the harvest on the Plains?
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What happened at the OK Corral in 1881?
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What had become of the buffalo by the mid-1880s?
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Name four different uses the Plains nations made of a single buffalo.
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What happened to the Donner Party over the winter of 1846–47?
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What did the government promise the Plains nations in return at Fort Laramie in 1851?
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How far had the railroad network grown by the 1890s?
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What did Joseph McCoy build at Abilene in 1867?
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Why did gold prospecting so often lead to fighting?
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How did mass-produced wind pumps change what land could be farmed?
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Why does the gunfight at the OK Corral raise doubts about law enforcement in the West?
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Why was reservation life so destructive?
Take The American West, c1835–c1895 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Homestead Act vs Timber Culture Act
Homestead Act: the 1862 offer of 160 acres for a $10 fee after five years' farming. Timber Culture Act: the 1873 offer of a further 160 acres if trees were planted on 40 of them.
Town marshal vs Sheriff
Town marshal: an officer appointed by a council to keep order inside one settlement only. Sheriff: an officer elected by a whole county, usually for two years, dealing with crime across it.
Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 vs Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868
Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851: the agreement that nations keep to marked territories and let wagon trains pass for yearly payments. Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868: the agreement giving the Sioux the Black Hills reservation and closing the Bozeman Trail forts.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What was a band, and how did people belong to one?
Model answer
A group of related families, rarely more than a few hundred people, who camped, hunted and moved together and shared everything they had.
- 2
How were decisions taken in a Plains band?
Model answer
A council of elders and chiefs discussed matters until they agreed, and a chief advised rather than gave orders.
- 3
What did a warrior society such as the Dog Soldiers do?
Model answer
Its members kept order in camp, organised the buffalo hunt and led raids against enemies.
- 4
Name four different uses the Plains nations made of a single buffalo.
Model answer
Meat for food, hides for tipi covers and clothing, bones and horns for tools, and sinew for thread and bowstrings.
- 5
Why was the tipi so well suited to life on the Plains?
Model answer
It could be taken down and carried in minutes, so a band could follow the buffalo herds wherever they moved.
- 6
What work fell to women in a Plains camp?
Model answer
They raised the children, butchered the meat, dressed the hides and put up the tipi, which belonged to them.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
The American West, c1835–c1895 revision questions
- What does The American West, c1835–c1895 cover in Edexcel GCSE History?
- 9 subtopics: indigenous peoples of the plains: their beliefs and ways of life, migration and early settlement, conflict and tension, c1835–c1862, the development of settlement in the west, ranching and the cattle industry, changes in the ways of life of indigenous peoples of the plains, changes in farming, the cattle industry and settlement, conflict and tension, c1876–c1895 and indigenous peoples of the plains: the destruction of their ways of life. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is The American West, c1835–c1895 organised?
- By the Edexcel 1HI0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in The American West, c1835–c1895, 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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