OCR A2 History: Civil Rights America 19th/20th Century - 2016

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I know I'm thinking negatively haha but can we retake this exam next year??? Because A-Levels are changing and the current year 12 are not doing the same thing I was doing last year and not doing CR next year

Reply 121

stratagems

Original post by isobellingham97

Explaining why things happened due to external factors, so, with AA rights for example, MLK and the civil rights mvmt was greatly helped by wide media coverage which helped illustrate their grievances and police brutality which helped create public sympathy and more support. Another external factor is the more liberal justices in the 1960s which allowed more supportive legislation and sp ct decisions.

For earlier in the period, AA faced de facto discrimination and segregation due to Jim Crow laws, social Darwinism (ideas about racial hierarchy) etc.

That is synthesis. explanations of why things changed or didn't. External factors

A synoptic argument is one that spans across the entire period making sure you reiterate your argument frequently!

Thanks - really helpful to see them illustrated!

Reply 122

Hattie_Hats

How did you guys find it?

Reply 123

stratagems

The three that I expected to come up came up (AA, NA, women), but hated it. Mostly because I only revised NA last night and got up to the end of 1950 and of course after that is when NA's get a lot of their rights. -_-
Did study AA, but still couldn't remember any names of acts, what they did, or when or who was in govt at the time.
URGH.

Reply 124

Zee98

Original post by Hattie_Hats

How did you guys find it?

Hated it i did AA and NA

Reply 125

ribbon123

For the womans question i forgot to mention anything about the 1800s

Reply 126

Hattie_Hats

I did NA and women, I had an exam yesterday so I could only look back over NA and could just about remember enough for women because we only finished the course at half term

I thought it was okay but I'm not sure whether that's my actual performance or because I literally expected to sit there for 2 hours and not write anything

I think I waffled a lot and was all over the place but it's the first time I've ever actually managed to finish an essay on time which is the only real plus I guess

Reply 127

Hattie_Hats

Original post by ribbon123

For the womans question i forgot to mention anything about the 1800s

I only threw in a couple of tiny statistics, there isn't much to talk about don't worry

Reply 128

Hattie_Hats

Original post by ribbon123

For the womans question i forgot to mention anything about the 1800s

I only threw in a couple of tiny statistics, there isn't much to talk about don't worry

Reply 129

Hattie_Hats

Most of my friends did AA and they said it was really tough, I though that OCR was trying to catch people out because they asked how much it hindered it

Reply 130

Ola127

I really didn't like that exam, even past questions that I've done have never been like that!! The Black Panthers like what the actual hell, because they didn't do anything really except scare people and be incredibly militant!! The NA's was a bit better but still I think the factors that they gave were way too specific... Really need that A :/

Reply 131

RachelJohnson

Were the NA and AA questions turning point essays?? Cause most of my class wrote them as turning point questions but I wrote them to compare with other factors (ie the Supreme Court, presidents etc rather than specific turning points ((and which ones hindered most for AA and helped develop most for NA???)))

Reply 132

Hattie_Hats

Original post by Ola127

Same I would have preferred Red Power or something like that, I couldn't remember when AIM was formed but hey ho

I felt like my essays were kind of vague and wishy-washy
The questions didn't seem to have as clear a structure for as past papers so it was harder to know what you're doing or if it's right

Reply 133

Ola127

Original post by Hattie_Hats

Yeah exactly and like when I came out of the exam I remembered I forgot to mention the NCAI and ICC but just didn't think of it at the time :/ to be honest I think OCR were being out of order asking questions like that, if they said like you mentioned, red power or the actions of AA's in the 60s that would have been fine. I just don't know if my essay had enough direction

Reply 134

Ola127

Original post by RachelJohnson

No they were not turning point, you did it right by addressing the question factor by factor. You only use turning points when it's a turning point question.

Reply 135

RachelJohnson

Original post by Ola127

No they were not turning point, you did it right by addressing the question factor by factor. You only use turning points when it's a turning point question.

thank you! Someone opened the paper early in our exam and told the class really happily that both were turning points so it was an easy paper. When I opened it I was like....wheres the turning points at. You have put my mind at rest thank you! Still a crap paper but at least I was on the right wavelength haha

Reply 136

Ola127

Original post by RachelJohnson

Lol no worries, I hate it when people do that and then it makes you feel as if you've done something wrong! I've just been writing down what I remember writing, don't know if it will be of use to your or anyone else who is worrying about what they wrote. I know it's done now but I find it hard to switch off, so much studying for this exam and just some really rubbish questions!!

So this is for the AA:

This is what I remember writing, I've missed stuff out because can't remember all of it:

Black panthers - why they hindered - because militant group, made federal government slower in implementing legislation. However arguably their militancy and sense of black consciousness was due to WW2 - the big migration north made African Americans aware of how they had been socially deprived.

WW2 - talked about how they moved north, as addressed, with 500,000 AA's in 1940 moving out of the South. The race riots - highlighted increasing racial tensions (Detroit 1943 riot which parallels with Chicago in 1919)...

Supreme Court siding with the South, giving favourable verdicts depriving them of their right to vote - even when granted there were wider problems, eg- voting rights act gave AA's right to vote but by 1976 under 60% were actually eligible to vote. Hence a more radicalised movement, even with the vote, was created since there were wider social problems - gave radical groups ammunition.

Talked about de facto segregation - campaigns of activists such as MLK highlighted the AA plight but only worked in the South (march on Washington, Selma) - they had to rely on southern retaliation. In the north, campaigns failed to work - e.g MLK 1961-2 campaign in Albany and Chicago slum housing 1966 - groups became more radical (sncc and core) - groups such as the Black panthers only merged because of more hindering factors.

Despite de jure segregation being removed there were still many problems like defacto segregation and this gave the black panthers, though short-lived, to show how they had been socially deprived from the 1880s.I basically said all these factors culminated together to create more radical groups such as the Black Panthers - without the formal segregation in the south and World War Two which pushed the AA population to become more urbanised, there would have been less awareness of the black plight, politically, socially and economically.

Reply 137

Emmabarden56

Did anyone who did AA do any of these examples? I did it

POLITICAL
Black Panthers:- 10 point programme said they wanted their own jury which wasn't achieved showing they were ignored and thus subjectively civil rights weren't achieved for some but the majority didn't share this view so their significance as a hindering factor is undermined.

Fed Gov: imposed 14th and 15th amend during reconstructive but Johnson allowed 1/11 southern state governments to not pass the amendment and allowed the slaughter house in SC and black codes and grandfather clauses in state gov, so they were more hindering.

Public opinion: fed gov was uneffective because of the public hostility shown by lynching and social segregation which delayed the federal government in getting the vote and caused please v Ferguson which was a turning point.

SOCIAL
Black panthers : alienate people by violence such as shoot outs with police , wanted seperartion rather than intergration , critiqued by NAACP and King and Vice President Humprhry but effect on hindering in undermined by fed gov bringing about affirmative action showing they weren't that significant

ECONOMIc
10 point programme said end the robbery of the white capitalists which created hostility and seperartion in jobs which wasn't really achieved as affirmative action wasn't effective as Baake showing their aims weren't achieved but this didn't hinder civil rights to a huge extent

Federal government : took until 1942 for FEPC showing hinderance before then, and WW1 saw segregation in army in workforce and lower pay which they didn't address

Public opinion: after WW1 Chicago race riots and WW2 white people walked out jobs when black people were employed, also the hostility at little rock shows brown v board wasn't fully effective undermining significance of fed gov

Overall Black panthers least hinderance and public opinion most hinderance because fed gov had to reflect public opinion and fed gov wasn't effective unless public changed behaviours. Black panthers less effective as small proportion shared that view so fed gov didn't diminish civil rights just for a small group when majority didn't share that view.

Reply 138

Emmabarden56

For social there was also

Fed gov plessy v ferg hinderd and browder v Gayle undermined and brown v board by little rock and civ rights not fully effective as still 1/10 black people were employed and FDR didn't bring about anti lynchig laws

And for public opinion about lunching and hostility from Birmingham and little rock and someone thronging a rock at MLK SELMA