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MAPS OF HISTORY · IB HISTORY · PAPER 3 · THE AMERICAS

IB HISTORY · PAPER 3 · HIGHER LEVEL

Paper 3: The Americas

Paper 3 is the Higher Level paper on one region of the world, studied in depth. This page gathers what our atlases hold for the Americas: the sections our IB notes are tagged for, the chapters behind each, evidence to use and model essay plans, followed by the other atlases set in the region. In all, seven atlases cover the region.

Which sections does your class study? Your teacher can tell you. The numbers here follow the provisional outline of the new course, which identifies sections by number until the final guide is published. We will add their titles then.

Map from Protest and Change: Second-Wave Feminism and Tunisia, 1945–2015
PROTEST AND CHANGE: SECOND-WAVE FEMINISM AND TUNISIA, 1945–2015 · CHAPTER 9
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Section 11.4

One chapter in The Industrial Revolution carries IB notes for this section.

Section 11.11

Five chapters in Protest and Change carry IB notes for this section.

Practice questions and essay plans

Paper 3 asks for depth, so these questions come from chapters tagged for the sections above. Each comes with the outline of a model plan; the full plans are in the chapters’ IB notes in the atlas.

PAPER 2 · THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION · CHAPTER 9

How far did industrialization change the lives of workers in the United States between 1865 and 1914? Evaluate its impact.

THESIS

Industrialization gave American workers higher wages than those in Europe and access to new mass-produced goods. At the same time, many faced dangerous work, insecurity and the violent suppression of unions. Its costs fell especially heavily on immigrants, Chinese workers and Black southerners. The growth of industrial wealth went together with industrial conflict.

THE THREE POINTS

  1. Wages and employment opportunities attracted millions of workers.

  2. Industrial work exposed people to danger, while unions faced force.

  3. A worker’s race and origin affected access to industrial gains.

The evidence for each point, the counter-argument and the judgement are in the IB notes of chapter 9 in the atlas. Read the chapter first: America Industrialises.

PAPER 2 · PROTEST AND CHANGE · CHAPTER 1

To what extent was the emergence of second-wave feminism in the United States caused by changes in women’s economic position after 1945?

THESIS

Economic change was the deepest cause of second-wave feminism. As more married women entered paid work, unequal pay became a grievance they encountered in daily life. Economic change made the movement possible; writers and officials named and measured the grievance, while ideas and institutions helped turn it into a movement.

THE THREE POINTS

  1. Women’s growing participation in paid work exposed them to unequal rewards.

  2. Women’s unequal legal standing gave reformers a political target.

  3. Ideas and institutions helped give private discontent an organized form.

The evidence for each point, the counter-argument and the judgement are in the IB notes of chapter 1 in the atlas. Read the chapter first: The Problem That Has No Name.

PAPER 2 · PROTEST AND CHANGE · CHAPTER 5

To what extent was the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment the result of the campaign led by Phyllis Schlafly?

THESIS

Schlafly’s STOP ERA campaign made a measure that had commanded broad agreement into a source of controversy. Ratifications fell sharply after the campaign began, suggesting that it had an effect. But the campaign worked within a constitutional process that required a supermajority: a determined minority in thirteen states could block a change supported by most Americans.

THE THREE POINTS

  1. STOP ERA changed how legislators understood the amendment.

  2. The amendment process gave opponents in a minority of states power to block ratification.

  3. Political changes beyond STOP ERA added strength to the opposition.

The evidence for each point, the counter-argument and the judgement are in the IB notes of chapter 5 in the atlas. Read the chapter first: The ERA and the Backlash.

PAPER 2 · PROTEST AND CHANGE · CHAPTER 2

How effective were the methods women’s organisations used to seek equal treatment at work in the United States and Britain between 1963 and 1970?

THESIS

The most effective methods differed between the two countries. In the United States, lobbying and litigation made use of Title VII, a legal weapon the courts would enforce; in Britain, industrial action was decisive. Spectacular direct action attracted publicity but brought few concrete gains. The question is whether a method could make an institution act.

THE THREE POINTS

  1. Lobbying and litigation made a neglected legal clause enforceable.

  2. Strikes put equal pay on the British agenda.

  3. Direct action had more effect on public opinion than on law.

The evidence for each point, the counter-argument and the judgement are in the IB notes of chapter 2 in the atlas. Read the chapter first: Organising for Equality.

Paper 1 case studies set in this region

These chapters were written for a Paper 1 Focused Study, so their notes are tagged for Paper 1 and Paper 2. They are set in the region, and their evidence serves a regional essay just as well.

Aztec Empire · Paper 1 · Climate and Innovation

Building the southern chinampa system required an estimated 25 million person-days over about forty years, according to Lee Arco and Elliot Abrams. This work followed the Triple Alliance’s conquest of Xochimilco around 1430 and Chalco around 1465.— Climate and Innovation, chapter 9: Chinampas: Feeding a City

Haiti · Paper 1 · Independence and Identity

General Brunet invited Toussaint to meet him. After accepting, Toussaint was seized near Gonaïves on 7 June 1802; he died on 7 April 1803 in the Fort de Joux in the Jura.— Two Roads to Independence, chapter 4: Napoleon’s Expedition

Second-wave feminism · Paper 1 · Protest and Change

By 1969, the National Welfare Rights Organization, led by Johnnie Tillmon, claimed about 25,000 members. It demanded a guaranteed income, but received little mainstream support and went bankrupt in 1975.— Protest and Change, chapter 4: Who Was Left Out?

More atlases set in this region

These atlases are filed under the Americas for Higher Level. Their IB notes are in preparation; meanwhile every chapter carries the study layer (why it happened, the turning point, what it changed and a discussion question), and each atlas has its own IB History page.

The Age of Revolutions 1775 – 1848

Boston, the Bastille, and the barricades of 1848: the seventy years in which the modern political map — and the modern citizen — were invented.

A QUESTION TO ARGUE · CHAPTER 7

Why did victories over Spanish armies fail to end Napoleon’s war in Spain?

HOW WE WOULD ARGUE IT

Napoleon could defeat an army without finding a government able and willing to end the war. Juntas continued to claim authority, guerrillas made French communications costly to protect, and Wellington's army, supplied by sea, remained a threat in the field. Difficult terrain and poor forage increased the strain. Joseph's installation at Bayonne had also left his government without legitimacy among many Spaniards. Each victory dealt with part of the resistance; none removed all of it.

The chapter behind it: The Empire and Its Cracks.

The 12 chapters

The American Civil War 1840 – 1877 · HL (1840–1877)

A war of conquest made slavery the question no compromise could settle. Then came four years that killed more Americans than every other war combined, emancipation, and the gains and losses of Reconstruction.

A QUESTION TO ARGUE · CHAPTER 7

The Proclamation excluded loyal slave states and needed Union force to take effect in rebel territory. Why might it still be called the war’s most important single document?

HOW WE WOULD ARGUE IT

Its immediate reach was limited, but its effects depended on what happened next. In designated rebel areas the Proclamation declared freedom for people treated as “property”; advancing Union forces could give that declaration effect. It authorized Black enlistment, and roughly 180,000 Black soldiers served. Lincoln later regarded their service as indispensable to victory. The policy joined Union victory to the destruction of slavery and made European intervention harder to defend. Its war-power foundation might be threatened by peace, so the Thirteenth Amendment was needed to establish permanent abolition in the Constitution, including beyond the Proclamation’s reach.

The chapter behind it: Antietam and Emancipation.

The 13 chapters

The Cold War 1945 – 1991

Blocs, walls and proxy wars: how forty-six years of armed peace nearly ended everything, several times — and then ended quietly, in a single autumn.

A QUESTION TO ARGUE · CHAPTER 7

Could the United States have won in Vietnam — and what would “winning” have had to mean?

HOW WE WOULD ARGUE IT

The answer depends on the outcome called victory. Mining Haiphong in 1965 or less restricted bombing might have imposed higher costs on Hanoi. Escalation also risked Chinese intervention, a danger American leaders had reason to fear after Korea: by 1967 Beijing had 170,000 support troops in North Vietnam. Washington’s political goal was a durable, independent non-communist South. More bombing could not itself give that state legitimacy or persuade its citizens to defend it. Most historians consequently judge the war unwinnable at an acceptable cost as defined. The definition deserves scrutiny too, because the military result Washington sought mattered as victory only if it secured that chosen political settlement.

The chapter behind it: Vietnam.

The 12 chapters

Revision tools

Test yourself on every atlas set in the region. Each atlas ends with a map quiz that asks you to find places and moments on the map itself; the quick quiz and the printable study guide are free pages on this site.

Maps of History is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization. IB course names describe alignment only; paper, theme and section names follow the new course outline and may change when the final guide is published.

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