The Usa, 1955-92: Conformity and Challenge | Edexcel A-Level History (9HI0)

The Usa, 1955-92: Conformity and Challenge

159 questions
16 subtopics
Paper 2: the depth study, one option of sixteen
Paper 2

A Paper 2 depth study of the United States from the Montgomery boycott to the eve of the Clinton presidency, covering suburban affluence and the culture that questioned it, the civil rights movement and Black Power, the Great Society and the counter-culture, the crisis of leadership after Watergate, and the conservative turn under Reagan..

It covers urbanisation and affluence, cultural conformity and challenge, the civil rights movement, kennedy’s New Frontier, civil rights: Malcolm X and Black Power, protest and personal freedom, johnson’s Great Society, 1964–68, reactions to the counter-culture, 1968–72, the crisis of political leadership, the impact of economic change on society, changing popular culture, progress in individual and civil rights, new directions in economic policy, the Religious Right and its critics, cultural challenge and social change in the USA, 1955-92.

Sample questions from The Usa, 1955-92: Conformity and Challenge

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Urbanisation and affluence

What was the Interstate Highway Act?

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Eisenhower's 1956 programme to build 41,000 miles of highway, the largest public works project in American history, which enabled suburban commuting.
The civil rights movement

What were White Citizens' Councils?

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Southern groups that resisted desegregation through economic and political pressure.
Civil rights: Malcolm X and Black Power

What were King's later campaigns?

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Selma in 1965 for voting rights, and northern campaigns such as Chicago on housing and poverty.
Johnson’s Great Society, 1964–68

How successful was the War on Poverty?

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The poverty rate fell from about 19 to 12 per cent between 1964 and 1969, though critics argued growth rather than programmes was responsible.
The crisis of political leadership

What was the Iranian hostage crisis?

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The seizure of US embassy staff in Iran from 1979 to 1981, which damaged Carter's presidency.
Changing popular culture

What was the Battle of the Sexes of 1973?

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The televised tennis match in which Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in straight sets at the Houston Astrodome, a symbol of the women's movement's claims in sport.
New directions in economic policy

What were the main elements of Reagan's economic policy?

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Large income tax cuts, deregulation, restraint of domestic spending, a defence build-up, and tight money to break inflation.
Cultural challenge

How did the personal computer change culture?

Show the answer
From the early 1980s it moved computing into homes and schools, created new industries and games, and began the shift towards digital media.

The 16 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Urbanisation and affluence	Recall questions on white flight and redlining, the Interstate Highway Act, the Sun Belt, the urban crisis and the riots, and the Kerner Commission.	10
Cultural conformity and challenge	Recall questions on suburban conformity and its critics, television's idealised family, advertising, the Beats, The Feminine Mystique, and the contraceptive pill.	10
The civil rights movement	Recall questions on why Montgomery succeeded, the choice of Birmingham, the Letter from Birmingham Jail, the Acts of 1964 and 1965, and Freedom Summer.	10
Kennedy’s New Frontier	Recall questions on what the New Frontier promised, what actually passed, why Congress blocked him, the Peace Corps and the space programme, and his reputation against his record.	10
Civil rights: Malcolm X and Black Power	Recall questions on Malcolm X and how his views changed, King's turn to northern poverty, the Panthers, COINTELPRO, and how Black Power is assessed.	10
Protest and personal freedom	Recall questions on SDS and the Free Speech Movement, the effect of the draft, the counter-culture and Woodstock, the environmental movement, and Stonewall.	10
Johnson’s Great Society, 1964–68	Recall questions on the War on Poverty, Medicare and Medicaid, federal aid to schools, immigration reform, why it lost momentum, and guns and butter.	10
Reactions to the counter-culture, 1968–72	Recall questions on the silent majority, the Chicago convention, the Southern Strategy, Kent State, the hard hat riot, and the landslide of 1972.	10
The crisis of political leadership	Recall questions on how Watergate unfolded, the smoking gun tape, the Saturday Night Massacre, the legislation that followed, and the failures of Ford and Carter.	10
The impact of economic change on society	Recall questions on stagflation and the oil crises, the effect on family incomes, homelessness, deindustrialisation and the Rust Belt, and foreign competition.	10
Changing popular culture	Recall questions on the business of sport and Title IX, the fragmentation of music and the rise of hip hop, television's new realism, and the Me Decade.	10
Progress in individual and civil rights	Recall questions on Roe v. Wade and its political effect, workers' and gay rights, Red Power, Chavez and the farm workers, and the position of black Americans by 1980.	10
New directions in economic policy	Recall questions on the elements of Reaganomics, the effect on workers and families, the deficits, the savings and loan crisis, and Bush's broken tax pledge.	10
The Religious Right and its critics	Recall questions on the Moral Majority, why it grew when it did, televangelism, the campaigns on abortion and education, and how successful it had been by 1992.	10
Cultural challenge	Recall questions on 1980s youth culture and MTV, the personal computer, cable television, the AIDS crisis and its political effect, and the war on drugs.	9
Social change in the USA, 1955-92	Recall questions on the changing position of ethnic minorities, black political success, women and the glass ceiling, the Los Angeles riots, and how divided America was.	10

The Usa, 1955-92: Conformity and Challenge is 159 of the 6,832 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £9

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.