Cambridge A Level World History (9489): American option: The USA, 1945-93 – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions. They use Paper 4’s essay format and 30-mark tariff, but the paper’s exact selection and wording are not replicated – Cambridge holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available through your school or Cambridge’s own resources.

Related: American option revision notes and study guide.

Cambridge 9489 Paper 4’s American option asks for two 30-mark essays on the USA, 1945-93, in 1 hour 45 minutes. The twelve questions below match the option’s twelve key questions one for one, so you can practise every area; each is followed by indicative content of the kind found in Cambridge mark schemes.

How Paper 4 essays are marked

Each essay is marked out of 15 for AO1 (knowledge) and 15 for AO2 (analysis and judgement), on five levels (published 9489 Paper 4 mark schemes).

Level	AO2 (15)	AO1 (15)
5 (13-15)	Valid, wide-ranging criteria; consistently analytical; balanced, sustained argument; clear sustained judgement	Carefully selected, fully focused, wide-ranging, precise
4 (10-12)	Valid criteria; analytical but uneven; attempts balance; supported judgement	Appropriate, mostly focused, range uneven in depth
3 (7-9)	Attempted criteria; some analysis, some description; lacks balance	Mostly relevant, descriptive in places, narrow
2 (4-6)	Implicit criteria; descriptive; assertion rather than judgement	Narrative, not linked to argument
1 (1-3)	Addresses the topic, not the question	Limited, vague or inaccurate

Topic 4: Truman, Eisenhower and post-war USA, 1945-61

1. “McCarthyism was the most serious internal problem Truman faced.” Assess this view. [30] (4.1)

Indicative content. For: the loyalty programme and HUAC created a climate of fear; McCarthy’s Wheeling speech (1950) attacked the administration; the “who lost China” charge and Korea damaged Truman. Against: reconversion problems – inflation after price controls ended, the 1946 strike wave, Taft-Hartley (1947); the defeat of national health insurance and much of the Fair Deal by a conservative coalition in Congress; Southern Democrat opposition over civil rights, shown by the Dixiecrat revolt of 1948. Criterion: “serious” in terms of threat to Truman’s programme or to American liberties. Many answers judge that congressional conservatism blocked more of Truman’s agenda than McCarthy did.

2. Evaluate the effectiveness of Eisenhower’s response to the civil rights movement. [30] (4.2)

Indicative content. Effective: appointed Earl Warren, whose court delivered Brown (1954); sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock (1957); signed the first Civil Rights Acts since Reconstruction (1957, 1960); completed desegregation of the armed forces. Limited: avoided endorsing Brown publicly; acted at Little Rock to uphold federal authority rather than civil rights as such; the 1957 Act was weakened by Southern senators; did little during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Judgement: effective in upholding the law, reluctant as a moral leader; the movement itself (NAACP, King, SNCC) drove change.

3. “The 1950s were an age of prosperity for all Americans.” Assess this view. [30] (4.3)

Indicative content. For: GDP growth, the GI Bill, defence spending and the highway programme; mass ownership of cars, televisions and suburban homes; expanding credit; youth spending power. Against: rural poverty in the South and Southwest; inner-city decline as the middle class moved to the suburbs; lower pay for women and minorities; non-unionised and unskilled workers left behind. Criterion: averages versus distribution.

4. Assess the extent to which Eisenhower’s foreign policy differed from Truman’s. [30] (4.4)

Indicative content. Continuity: containment remained the aim; commitment to NATO and Berlin; anti-communism in Asia (support for South Vietnam after 1954). Change: the New Look and reliance on nuclear deterrence to cut costs; brinkmanship; covert action through the CIA (Iran 1953, Guatemala 1954); peaceful co-existence after Stalin’s death – Geneva (1955), Khrushchev’s visit (1959) – ended by the U2 affair (1960); restraint over Hungary (1956) and opposition to Britain and France over Suez (1956). Judgement: a change in methods more than in aims.

Topic 5: A time of challenges, 1961-74

5. “Johnson’s domestic achievements were greater than Kennedy’s.” Assess this view. [30] (5.1)

Indicative content. Kennedy: New Frontier proposals often stalled in Congress (Medicare, federal aid to education); some gains (minimum wage, Area Redevelopment Act, Equal Pay Act 1963); late commitment to a civil rights bill. Johnson: used Kennedy’s death and his own congressional skill to pass the Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965), Medicare and Medicaid, ESEA and the Economic Opportunity Act. Counter-arguments: Johnson built on Kennedy’s agenda; Vietnam undermined the Great Society; urban riots and backlash. Judgement usually favours Johnson on legislation, with a criterion about lasting impact.

6. Evaluate the reasons for the escalation of US involvement in Vietnam, 1961-68. [30] (5.2)

Indicative content. Fear of communism and the domino theory; credibility after the Bay of Pigs and Berlin; weakness and then collapse of Diem (1963); the Gulf of Tonkin incident and Resolution (1964); military advice favouring escalation; Johnson’s fear of appearing weak and losing domestic support. Judgement: link Cold War ideology (long-term) with specific triggers (short-term).

7. “Federal action was more important than civil rights campaigners in winning progress for African Americans in the 1960s.” Assess this view. [30] (5.3)

Indicative content. Federal: Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965), Fair Housing Act (1968), Loving v. Virginia (1967), federal marshals for the Freedom Riders. Campaigners: Birmingham (1963) and the March on Washington created the pressure for the 1964 Act; Freedom Summer and Selma created it for the 1965 Act. Opposition from Wallace, Connor, Southern Congressmen and the Klan shaped what was achievable. Criterion: which side initiated change; many answers argue that campaigners forced federal action.

8. Assess the reasons why there were challenges to authority in the USA, 1961-74. [30] (5.4)

Indicative content. Frustration with the pace of civil rights (Black Power, Black Panthers); women’s dissatisfaction (Friedan, NOW, the women’s liberation movement); identity politics (Stonewall, the American Indian Movement); the Vietnam War (anti-war protest, the 1968 Chicago convention, Kent State); urban poverty (Watts, 1968 riots). Judgement: Vietnam acted as a catalyst, but each movement had its own long-term grievances.

Topic 6: The USA, 1974-93

9. “Economic problems were the greatest challenge facing the USA in the late 1970s.” Assess this view. [30] (6.1)

Indicative content. Economy: stagflation, energy crises (1973 and 1979), unemployment; Ford’s “Whip Inflation Now”; Carter’s energy policy and the Energy Security Act. Other challenges: post-Watergate loss of trust and the Nixon pardon; social division over busing, abortion and gay rights; the rise of the New Right; failures abroad, especially Iran. Judgement: economic problems fed the loss of trust that Reagan exploited in 1980.

10. Evaluate the impact of Reaganomics on the American people. [30] (6.2)

Indicative content. Economic Recovery Tax Act (1981), deregulation, the PATCO dismissals (1981) and weakened unions; inflation fell and growth resumed after the 1981-82 recession; deficits and federal debt rose sharply with defence spending; cuts to some welfare programmes; widening inequality; criticism over AIDS and civil rights enforcement. Criterion: different groups – wealthier taxpayers, industrial workers, the poor.

11. “Carter’s foreign policy was a failure.” Assess this view. [30] (6.3)

Indicative content. Successes: Camp David Accords (1978) and the Egypt-Israel treaty (1979); human rights placed on the agenda in Latin America (pressure on Chile, Argentina and Brazil). Failures: the Iran hostage crisis and the failed rescue (1980); inability to shape events in Nicaragua; collapse of détente after Afghanistan. Judgement: successes in diplomacy, failure in crisis management – and the hostage crisis decisively shaped perceptions.

12. Assess the reasons why relations between the USA and the USSR changed in the years 1972-89. [30] (6.4)

Indicative content. Détente’s motives (Vietnam, cost, nuclear parity) and achievements (SALT I, Helsinki); its failure (Afghanistan, SALT II unratified, ideology, new leaders); Reagan’s rearmament, SDI and the Reagan Doctrine in Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Angola; Gorbachev’s new thinking and the summits from Geneva (1985) to Washington (1987). Judgement: weigh Reagan’s pressure against Gorbachev’s choices.

Frequently asked questions

How long should each essay be? With 1 hour 45 minutes for two essays, plan for about 5 minutes and write for about 45 minutes per essay.

Should I use historians’ views? Paper 4 does not test AO4, so historians are optional; an argued judgement backed by precise evidence matters more.

What is a “criterion” in practice? A stated basis for judgement – for example, the president’s own aims, the number of people affected, or the lasting impact – that you apply in every paragraph.