There was much hatred and fear in the USA in the period 1850 to 1877.

Mark scheme

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

1. [1] A period of violence during the settling of the Kansas territory.
2. [1] In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska.
3. [1] Immigrants ('border ruffians') from Missouri flocked into Kansas to support pro-slavery factions in elections.
4. [1] Immigrants from the North flocked into Kansas to support ‘Free-Soilers' in elections.
5. [1] Fighting broke out between pro-slavery settlers and anti-slavery settlers.
6. [1] John Brown and his followers murdered pro-slavers and attempted to start a slave rebellion.
7. [1] By 1855 two rival governments were set up in Kansas.
8. [1] In 1856 President Pierce sent US troops to Topeka.
9. [1] Pitch battles were fought in 1856 between the two sides.
10. [1] The new territorial governor, John W Geary, brought some peace to the situation after 1856.
11. [1] Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1861.
12. [6] The Ku Klux Klan was founded to restore white supremacy in the South, which had been weakened by emancipation, the Civil War defeat, and Reconstruction. Its aim was to use intimidation and murder to remove black Americans from politics and stop support for Republicans. It sought to destroy Republican administrations, restore white American rights, control the black labour force, and re-establish racial subordination in Southern life.
13. [1] It was formed to oppose Reconstruction.
14. [1] It was formed to restore white supremacy.
15. [1] It was formed to restore law and order.
16. [1] It was formed to intimidate black Americans to stop them from voting.
17. [1] It was formed to stop black Americans becoming politically active.
18. [1] It aimed at overthrowing Republican state governments in the South.
19. [1] It tried to stop people voting Republican.
20. [1] It was formed to support the Democratic party.
21. [1] It was formed to reverse the changes that Reconstruction was introducing.
22. [1] It was formed to restore the control of white Americans and destroy the advances made by black Americans in the South.
23. [10] Lincoln was to blame because his clear opposition to slavery, such as opposing new slave states, made the South regard him as an abolitionist and fear him. Slavery was crucial to the Southern economy and way of life, leading to resentment of Northern interference. This is evidenced by Lincoln not winning any Southern states in the presidential elections, after which Southern states began to secede. OR Lincoln was not to blame; he tried his best not to upset the South. He promised to enforce fugitive slave laws and, upon becoming president, pledged not to interfere with slavery in states where it already existed. In fact, under his presidency, slavery in the South would likely have remained secure, suggesting his policies were not the direct cause of Southern fear.
24. [1] He opposed new slave states.
25. [1] He thought that slavery was wrong.
26. [1] He had ended slavery in Columbia in 1862.
27. [1] He opposed the Dred Scott judgement.
28. [1] He made his opposition to slavery clear in the debates with Douglas.
29. [1] His determination to save the Union meant that he was willing to fight the South in a bloody civil war.
30. [1] Before the Civil War, he was not an abolitionist.
31. [1] He opposed the federal government abolishing slavery in states where it already existed.
32. [1] He issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
33. [1] The Union army liberated slaves as it advanced.
34. [1] The importance of slavery to white Americans in the South meant that any hint that he disliked slavery would put the South against him.