Years 12 and 13 AS/A2 History Curriculum Plan

Mr Cowlishaw, Head of History has his own Blog, click here to view

At Advanced Level we study AQA History. At AS this is:

• HIS1G - Britain 1815-65.
• HIS2P -The Campaign for African-American Civil Rights in the USA, 1950-1968.

At A2:

• HIS3G Britain 1865-1914
• HIS4X Historical Enquiry - U.S. Foreign Policy 1890-1991

The full specification can be found here.

As always the Internet should be treated with care and reliance on Wikipedia may well be foolhardy, though often is reliable. The following sites though are certainly useful and reliable.

HIS1G Britain 1815-65 (50% of AS mark)

This is a key period in British history when Britain emerged as the leading industrial and trading power in the world. There is study of the post-war unrest from 1815 and the pressures for radical social and political change, including challenges to British rule in Ireland. Key individuals such as Castlereagh, Canning and Peel are studied together with foreign policy.

An excellent starting point for much of the British history course can be found at the Victorian Web. In addition History on the Web contains a wealth of articles and the online version of New Perspective. The Study Centre of this site is password protected but this can be obtained from IDC.

HIS2P The Campaign for African-American Civil Rights in the USA, 1950-68 (50% of AS mark)

Issues surrounding the fight for African-American civil rights are studied. Consideration is given to the problems African-Americans faced and the solutions they developed for themselves. Key organisations include the NAACP and the Ku Klux Klan and key individuals include Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

You could try this useful introduction to a range of topics or this site which contains information on Martin Luther King, Jim Crow laws and general civil rights issues. It is worth knowing that most presidents have their own libraries which are on the Internet. These include Kennedy and Johnson.

Both the AS units are sat in June of Year 12

HIS3G British State and People 1865-1915 (60% of A2 mark)

Key individuals studied include Gladstone, Disraeli and Salisbury and key ideas include socialism, nationalism and liberalism. The unit promotes an understanding of change and continuity.

Once more the Victorian Web is invaluable as well as History on the Web. Also Spartacus is well worth a try both for this and HIS1G. Also follow Mr. C's Sixth Form History blog.

Unit 3 is sat in June of Year 13

HIS4X Historical Enquiry - U.S. Foreign Policy 1890-1991 (40% of A2 mark)

Students write on a topic placed within the context of 100 years. The length of the answer is about 3,500 words. The period ranges from the end of the Frontier in 1890 to the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union in 1991. Consideration is given to US policy regarding the Spanish-American war, both World wars and the Cold war.

Useful information and lots of documents on the Spanish-American war can be found here. This site contains documents, speeches and biographical detail of Theodore Roosevelt. A site based on the PBS television series covering US Presidents and US foreign policy can be found here. There are hundreds of websites on the Cold War. This one lists a lot of other sites and has a quiz. Lots of sources can be found at the US National Security Archive which contains the International Cold War History Project. This site for the CNN TV series has interesting photographs and bits of information including some animated summaries.

Unit 4 - the Historical Enquiry has to be submitted by May of Year 13