Exam Questions Categorized by Topic
Paper 3 The Americas
35% of Marking
The candidates must select 3 questions from a list of 25. These 25 questions will be selected from 22 topics. The following questions are past Paper 3 questions that have been grouped into the new topic areas. (This does not reflect an official grouping done by IB, but a somewhat artificial attempt to make the earlier questions now fit the present IB categories.)
The Colonial Period
1. Compare and contrast the colonial agricultural system in either Canada and Brazil or Brazil and the American South.
2. Compare and contrast British and Spanish colonial administrations in America in the 18th century.
4. What were the similarities and differences in the colonial policies of Britain and Spain in the New World in the 18th century?
5. How well did Britain and Spain govern their American colonies?
6. Define mercantilism and explain how TWO of the colonial powers applied it in the Americas in the 18th century.
7. Compare and contrast the role of agriculture in the colonial economies of TWO countries of the region.
8. Compare and contrast the role of religion in the settlement of TWO areas of the region.
9. Compare the reasons of TWO of the major imperial powers for undertaking colonization in the 18th century.
10. Compare and contrast the various types of labor in any two area of the region in the second half of the eighteenth century.
11. Compare and contrast the social and economic groupings of one Latin American and one North American colony in the eighteenth century.
12. Assess the impact of the Christian Churches on the native populations in the Americas during the colonial period.
13. Examine the role of religion in two colonies of the region.
Wars of Independence
- Discuss the causes, aims and achievements of the Independence Revolutions in either British or Spanish America.
2. Compare the causes of Independence Revolutions in British and Spanish America.
3. The American Revolution and the Latin American revolts of the early 19th century have been called wars of "colonial liberation" rather than truly "revolutionary" uprisings. Do you agree?
4. Most Latin American Independence movements are described as political rather than social revolutions. Why and how did social conservatism manifest itself among the creoles during the independence period in any TWO of the following countries: Haiti, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil?
5. Examine the view that the role of the matzo during and after the Wars for Independence brought about significant changes in cultural, social and political order in Latin America.
6. Compare, and explain the outcomes of, two revolutions in Latin America, one successful and one unsuccessful.
7. How did the policies and actions of countries outside the region influence the Wars of Emancipation in Latin America?
8. Assess the importance of Simon Bolivar in the struggles for independence in Latin America and explain why he died a disappointed man.
9. Assess the nature and importance of the role of the Creoles in the Latin American Wars of Emancipation.
10. Why did Quebec not join the other thirteen colonies in their rebellion against Britain in 1776?
11. What was the role of class conflict in the Latin American Wars of Independence?
12. What were the roles of different social classes in the Latin American Wars of Independence?
13. "Wars of independence in the Americas were essentially conservative and not truly revolutionary at all." In reference to the aims of revolutionary leaders, to what extent do you agree with this assessment? Use at least two examples.
14. "The American Revolution and the Latin American Wars of Independence have absolutely nothing in common." Discuss.
15. Why did revolution occur in the United States in 1776 and not until after 1800 in Latin America?
16. Why were the causes of the wars of independence in Latin America more social than political?
17. By what groups and for what reasons was independence opposed in the United States in 1776 and in one Latin American country in 1810 and after?
19. 'Most revolutions in the Americas merely replaced the colonial rulers with a home-grown political elite.' How valid is this claim that Wars of Independence in the Americas during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century did not mark a radical change from the past?
20. Analyze the economic causes of (a) the War of Independence in the United States and (b) one War of Independence in Latin America.
Evolution of New Governments and Confederation
1. Account for the origin and development of political parties in the 19th century in any two Latin American countries.
2. Discuss the origin and development of political parties in the U.S. and ONE other country of the Americas in the 19th century.
3. The drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution has sometimes been viewed as the logical fulfillment of the American Revolution and sometimes as the start of a counter-revolution. To what extent and in what ways is either of these views valid?
4. Explain the contrasts in the success of representative forms of government adopted in the United States and in Latin American countries after independence.
5. Identify the political and economic compromises, which were reached by the makers of the United States Constitution and explain the reasons why these were included in the document.
6. How revolutionary was the US Constitution?
7. Which features of the US Constitution were new?
8. Identify three problems of the Confederation period in the USA. How was each resolved in the Constitution?
9. Why was Brazil's transition to independence basically peaceful?
Africans in the Americas
1. Discuss the role of slavery in the economic and social life of the South up to 1861.
2. Compare the system of Slavery in North America with any system of Slavery in the Caribbean.
3. Why and how was slavery abolished in the Caribbean? Refer your answer to at least two distinct territories.
4. Why did controversy over Slavery in the United States during the 1850s focus on the territories where there were few slaves, rather than on the southern slave states?
5. Why was it possible for the North and South in the United States to reach a compromise on the issue of slavery expansion in 1820 and 1850 but not in 1860?
6. Using specific examples from at least two different countries assess the effectiveness of slavery in economic terms.
7. "Slavery was essentially a benign system." Using examples from at least two countries in the region, evaluate this historical viewpoint.
8. 'Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean was profoundly different from slavery in the United States.' How far do you agree with this assertion?
11. 'In the nineteenth century blacks were allowed greater economic and social mobility in Latin America than in the United States.' How do you account for this difference?
12. Analyze the reasons why slavery in the Americas was supported by different social and economic groups
The United States Civil War
1. How successful was the Republican Party's programme of Reconstruction after the Civil War?
2. What issues were settled by the American Civil War?
3. Discuss the view that the South never had a chance to win the Civil War.
4. Write a critical assessment of the Republican Party's programme of Reconstruction after the Civil War.
5. Why did the Northern States take so long to defeat the Confederacy in the American Civil War?
6. Assess the importance of slavery as a cause of the American Civil War.
7. Assess the successes and failures of Reconstruction in granting civil and political equality for former slaves in the southern states of the United States
United States in the late Nineteenth Century and the Early Twentieth Century
1. Asses the impact of war as an agent of social and political change in any one country of the Americas in the 20th century.
2. Why have socialist movements in the United States since the late 19th century achieved relatively little power and influence?
3. Why were Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois the pivotal figures in the early 20th century debate about how best to advance the interests of blacks in the United States?
4. Discuss the national origins, internal settlement and contributions of immigrants to the U.S. in the last hundred years.
5. Explain what is meant by the "melting pot theory" and evaluate the degree of success achieved in its implementation since 1890.
6. What were the major goals of the Progressives in the United States and to what extent were they achieved by 1920?
7. Compare and contrast the achievement of women's suffrage in Canada and the United States during the first half of the twentieth century.
8. Analyze the economic causes of the 1920's boom in the United States