Tension increased between North and South before the American Civil War.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2021). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] It was a court case involving a slave called Dred Scott.
2. [1] The Court decided that the Constitution of the United States was not meant to include American citizenship for black people.
3. [1] Scott sued in court for his freedom, claiming that because he had been taken into free US territory, he had automatically been freed and was legally no longer a slave.
4. [1] Abolitionists thought they had a strong case to put to the Supreme Court.
5. [1] The Supreme Court decided that residency in a free state did not free a slave from slavery in his home state.
6. [1] The Supreme Court declared that the Missouri Compromise was against the Constitution. The Court ruled that by forbidding slavery, it deprived a slave owner of his property.
7. [1] The opposition was divided.
8. [1] Lincoln won the support of the North.
9. [1] Lincoln defeated Douglas in the key states of Illinois and Indiana.
10. [1] The North did not want to see an extension of slavery.
11. [1] Lincoln's views on the economy were popular in the North.
12. [1] People had lost faith in the Democrats because of corruption.
13. [1] More people voted for Lincoln.
14. [4-5] Lincoln won the 1860 election because he won the support of the North. He won 54% of the Northern vote and carried all the free states except New Jersey. This gave him the majority of votes in the electoral college. Republicans voted for Lincoln in the Northern states because they did not want slavery to expand.
15. [1] There were disagreements about slavery.
16. [1] The election of Lincoln provoked the South.
17. [1] The South threatened to leave the Union.
18. [1] The North did not understand the South's need for slavery.
19. [1] Northern manufacturers wanted import tariffs to protect their industries.
20. [1] Southern plantation owners wanted free trade.
21. [1] Lincoln saw secession as illegal.
22. [1] Slavery caused the Civil War as it caused the disagreements between North and South.
23. [7-9] Slavery was an important cause of the Civil War. The South argued that it needed to keep slavery so that it could run its plantations with a profit. The South felt the North did not understand this and that slavery would be abolished because of the political strength of the North. The election of Abraham Lincoln as President provoked the South. Lincoln was known for his anti-slavery views and the South feared he would act.
24. [7-9] Another reason for the Civil War was that states in the South seceded and set up the Confederacy. This threatened the Union. Lincoln saw the Union as unbreakable and secession as illegal. He was afraid it would break the United States apart. After the attack on Fort Sumter, he decided to put down the 'rebellion' in the South and issued a call to arms.