AS-LEVEL
HISTORY
Unit HIS1M
Report on the Examination
Specification 2040
June 2016
Version: 1.0
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REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – AS HISTORY – HIS1M – JUNE 2016
Unit HIS1M
Unit 1M: USA, 1890–1945
General Comments
The quality of the response to this paper was generally very sound. The best answers were wellmanaged, providing carefully balanced assessments, backed by solid specific evidence. At a lower
level, a substantial minority of less successful scripts were undermined by inadequate knowledge
and poor skills of written communication.
Question 1
01
Answers to this question, on the building of the Panama Canal, varied widely. Many were
crisp and efficient, setting out three or more reasons to explain why the Canal was built,
backed by confident knowledge of the personality and aims of Theodore Roosevelt. Other
less successful answers were almost entirely descriptive, or were very generalised.
02
Many answers to this question, on the importance of imperialism for US foreign policy, were
generally sound in general terms but tended to be dominated by material on the 1890s, with
insufficient attention to the end date of 1917. A minority of high-quality answers deployed
confident arguments and evidence about Woodrow Wilson and the complex mixture of antiimperialist and interventionist motives that shaped his foreign policies from 1912.
Question 2
03
There were many convincing answers to this question, on the reasons why American farmers
suffered hardships in the 1920s, explaining issues such as climatic change, urbanisation and
the impact of the end of the boom years of the First World War.
04
Most students responding to this question, on the contribution of US presidents to the
economic boom of the 1920s, were able to deploy their knowledge effectively. Many highquality answers were particularly good in explaining the influence of Andrew Mellon. One
notable shortcoming, however, was a widespread tendency to include irrelevant material
from before 1920, especially on the economic effects of mass immigration, which virtually
ended in 1914.
Question 3
05
There was a generally convincing response
Herbert Hoover lost support. Some excellent
judgements about the wider context of Hoover’s
produced description rather than explanation;
successes of Franklin Roosevelt.
to this question, on the reasons why
answers were able to add penetrating
political position. Less successful answers
or wrote in too much detail about the
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REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION – AS HISTORY – HIS1M – JUNE 2016
06
There was a confident response to this question on Roosevelt and economic recovery by
1941. Most students were equipped with extensive knowledge and a determination to put
forward balanced assessments. Weaker answers were too descriptive, especially about
policies in 1933 and 1934.
Mark Ranges and Award of Grades
Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results Statistics
page of the AQA Website.
Converting Marks into UMS marks
Convert raw marks into Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) marks by using the link below.
UMS conversion calculator
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