HISTORY - USA and Leisure

The following contains information directly from the WJEC/EDUQAS Specification. For each unit of study, there is a key question which students should be able to answer using the italicised indicative content below. Please note that on an exam, students will be asked only one question to do with each unit of study. This means on a USA paper, it is not possible to be asked a question about the impact of the Wall Street Crash, and another question about life during the Great Depression.

Development of the USA 1929-2000

Unit 1: How was the USA affected by the Great Depression between 1929 and 1945?  -The impact of the Wall St. Crash  -Republican attempts to deal with the crisis   -life during the Depression -Roosevelt and the New Deal

Unit 2: How had the economy of the USA changed by the 1960s?  -Industrial output  -post-war affluence -consumerism and suburbanization  -'poverty amidst plenty`

Unit 3: Why was it difficult for black Americans to gain equal rights between 1941 and 1970?    -The contribution of black Americans to the war effort  -the issue of education –Brown vs Topeka, Little Rock High  -Montgomery Bus Boycott; the roles of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X -Civil Rights legislation

Unit 4: What were the main political developments in the USA between 1960 and 2000?  -The domestic policies of Kennedy -Nixon and Watergate; the Reagan Years  -changes under Bush Senior and Clinton

Unit 5: How did American society change between 1950 and 2000?  -Changes in music, entertainment, media and literature  -changes in youth culture and student protest       -the changing role of women

Unit 6: Why did relations between the USA and the USSR deteriorate between 1945 and 1973?  -The Truman Doctrine and containment of Communism  -Berlin Crisis 1948-49  -Cuban Missile Crisis  -US involvement in Vietnam

Unit 7: What has been the USA`s role in the search for peace since 1970?  -Détente and attempts to limit arms  -changing relations with China  -changing US relations with the USSR  -the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War  -US involvement in Iran, Iraq and the Gulf War

 

Changes in Entertainment and Leisure

Unit 1: What have been the main developments in sport over time? -Sports for ordinary people in the medieval and early modern eras -tests of strength, agility and endurance -sports for upper classes: medieval jousts and tournaments, hunting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries  -reasons for the growth of spectator sport from the late nineteenth century -the growth of professionalism in sport in the twentieth century  -the influence of sponsorship and the media on sport since the 1950s  -opportunities for participation and recreation in the later twentieth century

Unit 2: How have holiday patterns and travel changed over time? -Feast days and holy days in the medieval and early modern eras   -the development of the Grand Tour in the eighteenth century  -the growth of the railways after the 1840s and their impact on seaside towns  -greater holiday time: Bank Holiday Act of 1871, holiday pay; new holiday opportunities in the mid twentieth century: holiday camps, national parks and day trips  -holiday patterns after 1970: package holidays, air travel, impact on British holiday resorts by the end of the twentieth century

Unit 3: How was society affected by developments in theatre, stage and screen over time?

-Viking and Saxon sagas -medieval mystery plays and mummers; the popularity of the Elizabethan theatre -the music halls and glee clubs of the Victorian age; the impact of cinema in the 1920s and 1930s -the development of television as entertainment from the 1950s -developments in entertainment technology in the later twentieth century

Unit 4: How have musical tastes and dance patterns changed over time? -Traditional and religious music of the medieval era -courtly entertainment in the medieval and Tudor periods  -the development of orchestral and classical music in the eighteenth century; the growth of choirs and brass bands in the nineteenth century -the impact of the radio as entertainment after the 1920s -trends in popular music in the twentieth century: jazz, rock and roll, pop music in the 1960s -changes in listening to music in the twentieth century: live performance, record players, transistor radios, digital music players

Unit 5: How have changing patterns in entertainment affected the lives of children over time? -The nature of children's games and toys in the medieval era  -the nature of children's games and toys in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries  -the development of games and toys in Victorian times  -the popularity of girls and boys comics in the early twentieth century -the growth of radio and television programmes aimed at children -the popularity of computer generated games in the late twentieth century -the decline of playing outdoors by the start of the twenty-first century

Unit 6: Why have blood sports and other forms of cruelty been seen as entertainment over time? -Medieval hunting as sport -punishments and public executions as forms of entertainment -bull-baiting and cockfighting as popular entertainment in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries -unregulated bareknuckle fighting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the introduction of rules and regulations into sport from the late nineteenth century  -the development of the debate over the legality of fox hunting from the 1960s -the role of animal rights and welfare groups in the 21st century