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0409 Cambridge IGCSE American History (US)
Detailed guidance and important administrative information concerning the coursework
component of this qualification can be found in the published syllabus. The information
below provides supplementary guidance to teachers and should be read in conjunction with
the syllabus.
Introduction
Each candidate has to undertake a research-based historical enquiry into the material past.
Before work can begin, each class teacher has to select the site or object to be investigated
and put together a collection of sources to support that research. Both site/object and the
sources must be chosen with care if candidates are to be able to score marks in the highest
bands of the marking scheme (see below pp.23 - 24). An entire class investigates the same
site/object, using the same set of source material provided by the teacher. Each student
however, makes their own individual investigation.
The site or object needs to be studied in context to assess its historical significance. The
emphasis should be on an ordinary site or object so its significance will be local/regional.
There is no requirement to select somewhere of national significance. The chosen site/object
should itself form the core source used, but additional primary and/or secondary sources can
also be used.
Guidance is offered here on how to put together a coursework scheme:

how to choose a site or object for your class to investigate

how to support your candidates’ writing by asking them to answer a series of
questions about the chosen site/object and its significance

how to select appropriate sources on that site/object for your candidates to use (an
exemplar sources pack is included below).
Once a teacher has prepared their draft scheme, they are strongly advised to send it to
Cambridge for advice from a Coursework Consultant (see below p.22).
Exemplar site:
The railroad station and depot at Tucson, Arizona.
Rationale:
This site would work well because:
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it is accessible – there is a museum at the site of the second railroad station at
Tucson. If the school is nearby, a field trip would be possible
it is ordinary – there are many railroad stations across the USA. This allows for
comparison of both the site and its significance
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Paper 3 History Around Us: How to prepare the coursework
scheme
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there is a range of source material readily available on the Internet and from the
museum. This allows the teacher to put together a sources pack and the candidates
to access additional materials if they wish
the accessibility of the sources is varied but much of the pack can be understood at a
range of levels. This is useful in ensuring that:
o (i) a good proportion of the sources can be used by candidates of differing
abilities to score across the levels;
o (ii) there are sufficient sources that will allow able candidates to reach the
highest level, while
o (iii) there are also enough that will allow low ability candidates to score some
marks
a range of secondary material is available on the impact and significance of the
railroad to the USA in general, and the Tucson area in particular. This gives
candidates a starting point for their assessment of the significance of the site
there is a range of possible lines of enquiry about the social and economic
significance of the railroad in Tucson. This allows candidates to prioritise lines of
enquiry and to recognise that significance depends on the questions asked
there are contrasting towns nearby where the significance of the arrival of the railroad
was different from that at Tucson. This allows comparisons to be made at a local
level.
Questions that teachers could give to students about the site:
The questions that teachers need to devise should enable candidates to reach the highest
bands of the mark scheme while also being accessible to all their candidates
(see below pp.23 - 24). Candidates would not necessarily answer all the questions
suggested. Rather, candidates should be encouraged to develop answers to some of the
questions about the site/object and about its significance. This will avoid the production of
superficial answers if all questions are attempted.
Questions that could be asked about the railroad station and depot at Tucson include:
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Where is the station/depot located within Tucson? Why is it in this position?
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How does the design of the building reflect the time and place in which it was built?
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How and why was the building altered?
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What are the functions of the different parts of the building? Why were these different
functions needed?
Answers to these questions could be developed beyond what the candidates can see at the
station/depot itself by using a range of source material such as photographs of the building
in its various incarnations and newspaper reports of events such as the opening of the depot
in 1880. Using primary source material and historians’ accounts, they could research the
changes made to the building in 1907 and 1941, and the reasons for the decline of the site
after the Second World War. It is acceptable to use historians’ accounts in this way provided
that a candidate uses their own observations of the site to support the descriptive analysis.
2
[N.B. Candidates write up their investigation as a single essay organised in a logical and
coherent manner in continuous prose, using sections/headings as needed based on the
guiding questions provided by the teacher.]
Questions that teachers could give to students about the significance of the
site:
Questions are needed that will set your candidates thinking about the historical significance
of the site/object (the mark scheme gives 10 of the 25 marks to significance
(see below pp.23 - 24). Questions about significance could include:

To what extent was the development of Tucson the result of the coming of the
railroad? (aspects could include: the physical appearance of the town – building
style, size, etc.; the economy of Tucson – which industries declined and which
expanded).

How did the coming of the railroad/building of the station affect the population? (e.g.
size, racial demographics, communications, social issues such as law and order, the
founding of the hospital).

How typical is Tucson station of the stations built on the Southern Pacific Railroad?
Compare aspects of Tucson with others. If there are differences, what might explain
why Tucson has particular features/characteristics?

How did the coming of the railroads affect the concept of the USA? The significance
of links between east and west; the frontier spirit, etc.
There is a range of sources that candidates could use to support their ideas in answer to
these questions. They should be encouraged to use the sources critically, asking questions
about the typicality, purpose and reliability of each of the sources they use.
In using what historians have written about Tucson, or about the impact of railroads in
general, candidates should seek to identify how historians have used the available source
material and the extent to which the conclusions drawn by historians apply to Tucson.
How candidates can use the site and a range of sources to meet the marking
criteria
An exemplar sources pack is shown below (pp.5 - 19). Please note that the source material
included is only a selection of those available. It would be desirable for teachers to include
more primary material, such as extracts from business directories and census reports.
Source 10 gives an example of census report data that could be used. Candidates could
extract additional data from that collected at ten-year intervals, using e.g.:
http://www.archive.org/details/us_census
http://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/genealogy/census_records.html
http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/hiscendata.html
3
Candidates could also access oral history sources from the Arizona Historical Society which
collects and transcribes oral histories documenting the rich history of Southern Arizona.
Some of the major oral history collections compiled by this Society include the urbanization
of Tucson, Southern Arizona’s medical history, Southern Arizona’s legal history, the
Mexican-American Heritage Project, and individual reminiscences. These are accessible at:
http://www.arizonahistoricalsociety.org/library_and_archives/
Teachers provide the sources pack but individual candidates are free to use additional
sources that they have found for themselves. Any additional sources used in this way would
need to be attached to the candidate’s submitted investigation, explaining what they were.
4
To reach the highest bands in the marking criteria, candidates could adopt the
following approaches:
Meeting AO2: significance and knowledge
Candidates consider the significance of the site at the time for different groups of people.
These groups could include the inhabitants of Tucson, the railroad workers, businessmen in
Tucson, the sick, those enforcing law and order, various ethnic groups.
Candidates consider the impact of the railroad at the time and through time. For example
they extend the timeframe to include the declining significance of the railroad after the
Second World War. They extend the timeframe to include the establishment of the Railroad
Depot Museum.
Candidates compare the impact of the railroad on Tucson and Benson (or other relatively
nearby locations).
In order to meet the criteria successfully, candidates must recognise that there are different
significances and develop their ideas about them, using a wide range of supporting evidence
and thus demonstrating a high level of historical understanding and knowledge.
Meeting AO4: Use of sources in research
Candidates use evidence from the sources critically. Selection of evidence goes beyond
recognising what is relevant to a consideration of the weight that should be given to the
evidence in the sources. For example, when writing about changes in the physical
appearance of Tucson candidates question the typicality of the buildings shown in the
photographs (Source 1).
For example, when considering the development of freighting in the Tucson area, candidates
could question the reliability of Source 6, identifying the sources used in putting the article
together and how evidence from them has been used to support the argument.
For example, when considering the significance of the railroad in the development of health
services in Tucson candidates could consider the purpose of Source 5, as it is written by a
sister from the order that founded the hospital. This could lead to issues concerning the way
events are portrayed.
[N.B. The above approaches are examples only. They do not represent the only ways of
meeting the marking criteria effectively and they do not all need to be adopted for a
candidate to score full marks.]
5
Exemplar Sources Pack: The railroad station and depot at Tucson, Arizona.
(Please note that this set of sources is not exhaustive. It would be reasonable for a teacher
to provide candidates with more material that can be accessed online or locally.)
Source 1 Early photographs of Tucson and transport methods.
Pre-railroad freight wagons in Arizona. [From the LA County Museum of Natural History].
Adobe buildings made from materials found in Tucson. [From the LA County Museum of
Natural History].
6
House built from materials brought to Tucson by the railroad. [From the Arizona Historical
Society].
One of the first trains in Arizona, 1880. [From the Arizona Historical Society].
7
Source 2: Maps of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
[The Southern Pacific network c.1980, from the entry for the Southern Pacific Transportation
Company on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Pacific_Transportation_Company accessed
12/7/2011].
8
[From ‘Across Arizona’ by William H. Bishop, Harper's Magazine, March 1883, on the
website ‘Discover Southeast Arizona’
http://www.discoverseaz.com/History/Tombstone_Bishop.html accessed 2/23/2012].
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[‘Map of the Central Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Railroad and Connections 1880’, from
the website of Dr. Gayle Olson-Raymer, Humboldt State University
http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist383/CentralPacific.html accessed 2/23/2012].
(It would be a good idea to include several maps showing the growth of the railroad/dates
when it reached different locations.)
10
Source 3: A description of the building of the Tucson section of the track.
Southern Pacific's tracks were pushed on from Yuma in November, 1878. At that time
Tucson was the only town of any size all the way to El Paso, about 560 miles. Only stage
coach and freight stations dotted the route, except at a short distance northerly there were
the villages of Florence and Tempe, also the store, blacksmith shop, and a few buildings at a
crossroads, the site of present-day Phoenix.
The arrival of the first train in Tucson on March 20, 1880, was celebrated with great
enthusiasm, and the banners of all nations fluttered from the outer walls of the ancient
pueblo. As the train approached the little city of 2,000 inhabitants, a salute of 38 guns was
fired and a cavalry band burst into a medley of patriotic tunes. Charles Crocker added
another "last spike" to his collection.
As the railroad continued on from Tucson a military escort accompanied the construction
forces over a portion of the route, for the Apaches were then on the warpath. The line was
opened to Benson on June 22, 1880; through what is now Willcox, to Lordsburg on October
18; to Deming, December 18, and to El Paso on May 19, 1881.
[From Seventy-Five Years of Progress. Historical Sketch of the Southern Pacific 1869-1944
by Earle Heath (published 1945), on the website of the Central Pacific Railroad Photographic
History Museum http://cprr.org/Museum/SP_1869-1944/index.html accessed 12/7/2011].
11
Source 4: A brief description and history of the railroad depot at Tucson.
The Tucson depot is today the pride of downtown. Originally designed in 1907 by Southern
Pacific Railway (SP) staff architect Daniel Patterson and staff engineer J.D. Wallace, the
original brick structure was in the Spanish Revival style then so popular throughout the
southwest. The building, costing $665,000, featured a center portion with a hipped red tile
roof flanked by two end towers that framed the entire composition. The windows of each
tower displayed elaborate ornamentation in the Churrigueresque style, marked by
expressive, sculptural detailing generally associated with Spanish architecture of the 17th
and 18th centuries. A circular drive allowed visitors to pull up to the front entrance to pick up
and drop off friends and family who could linger underneath the shade of the front arcade.
In 1941, the SP decided to enlarge and modernize the facility. The renovation increased the
square footage by one-third, extending the arcade and allowing passengers to access tracks
through tunnels. At this time, the façade received an Art Moderne update, and was
accordingly stripped of its Churrigueresque decoration in favor of a more streamlined
aesthetic. The main waiting room is decorated with colorful blue and yellow tiles and
handsome wooden benches. It was this version of the depot that the Duke and Duchess of
Windsor experienced when they visited Tucson in 1959.
Although quite beautiful and impressive, the 1907 depot was actually the second on the site.
When the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived from Yuma in 1880, the company built a wooden
station with deep eaves and windows featuring colorful awnings; President McKinley
stopped here in 1900. This building was replaced because passenger and freight traffic
outgrew the space.
The 1907 station complex was sold to the city of Tucson in 1998 by the Union Pacific
Railroad for $2.1 million dollars. With the decline of passenger rail travel after World War II,
the depot had fallen into poor condition. The Mayor and City Council appointed a task force
to develop a master plan for the area; it was decided to renovate the buildings to the 1941
period. Upon completion of the $2.8 million renovation, the depot now offers office,
restaurant, and retail space in addition to its rail functions.
[From ‘The Tucson Depot’, on ‘The Great American Stations’ website
http://www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/TUS accessed 12/7/2011].
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Source 5: The story of St Mary’s Hospital, Tucson.
Standing about midway in the lonely expanse between El Paso to the east and the Pacific
Coast to the west, Tucson was a natural staging area for the railroad. For all its marvels, this
new phenomenon was far from self-sufficient. Regional repair facilities and machine shops
were badly needed; major fuel depots were an obvious part of the system; food and rest
areas for crews and passengers, homes for railroad workers - all these must have given
Tucson the aura of a heaven-sent metropolis whatever its frontier limitations might be. Most
of all, Crocker and his lieutenants knew, the railroad needed help in handling the daily toll of
painful injuries that plagued train crews and track gangs. A hospital was needed in Tucson.
They put their case to Bishop Salpointe.
The plea posed a cruel dilemma for the missionary prelate. In 1877, he had purchased a
tract of ground about one-and-one-half miles west of the city, adjoining the grounds of the
Sisters' novitiate. Here, he was erecting a trade school for the Indian youth of the area, and,
with their help, the building was almost completed; however there was no questioning the
need for a hospital - not only for the railroaders but for the welfare of the entire community.
Given the circumstances of time, there was no way by which he could open the trade school
and also establish a hospital. The painful decision was made - the trade school was
postponed, the building was turned into a hospital, and the Sisters of St. Joseph accepted
the responsibility of staffing it. Deeply disappointed and hurt, the Indians nonetheless
returned to help finish the building when they saw the nuns laboring to carry the heavy rocks.
St. Mary's Hospital was dedicated on April 24, 1880 and received its first eleven patients on
May 1st.
With each passing month Tucson was growing. The Federal Government had moved to end
the dreary and cruel Indian campaigns once and for all. Before the troops were able to
subdue Geronimo, however, upwards of five thousand soldiers were in and about the
Southwest at one time. It was no longer a matter of teamsters and traders passing through
Tucson. They had come to stay, centralizing their operations, and they were being joined by
mining companies, by merchants and businessmen of all kinds. A telephone exchange had
come into operation in 1881. A few years later, in 1885, the Territorial Legislature
established a university - with the curious proviso that the town had to provide the land for a
campus. It is worth noting that, when the land was finally donated, it was because of the
generosity of two gamblers and a saloon-keeper who pooled their resources to give a fortyacre tract east of town!
[From The Story of St. Mary's Hospital, 1880-1980 by L G Byrne & A Cammack (published
1997) on the website ‘Through Our Parents’ Eyes. History & Culture in Southern Arizona’,
from the University of Arizona
http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/carondelet/heritage_1thehospital.html accessed 12/7/2011].
(Students might look at more of this History. One of the authors was a sister who worked in
the Hospital.)
13
Source 6: A description of Benson, a neighbouring railroad town.
THE EMERGENCE OF A RAILROAD CENTER
Benson was born of the union of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the mining regions of the
San Pedro Valley. The Southern Pacific, coming overland from California, chose the Benson
site to cross the San Pedro River. It was necessary to establish a junction point to obtain ore
from and ship freight to the mines at Tombstone, Fairbank, Contention and Bisbee. Copper
and silver ore was brought in covered wagons to Benson and then shipped out on the
railroad.
Benson, named in honor of Judge William Benson, a friend of Charles Crocker, the president
of the Southern Pacific Railroad, was located on the elevated plains overlooking the river.
The town of 160 acres was laid out in a square, which was dissected by the railroad.
Six avenues, named after the
principal mountain ranges and
rivers, were intersected by cross
streets numbered one through
eight. Fourth Street, south of the
railroad right-of-way, became the
commercial street of the town.
The better residential section was
located southwest of the railroad
depot.
The economy of Benson grew
with the demand for silver and
copper; a smelter erected by the
enterprising firm of Salisbury and
White of San Francisco operated
sporadically from 1881 to 1909.
Fourth Street and Huachuca 1940
The ore was brought to the
Benson smelter, converted to bullion and shipped out on the railroad. A freight depot, equal
in size to that of Tucson, handled the daily shipments of copper ore (1,400 pounds a day)
and other freight. A roundhouse was built to house auxiliary locomotives, which assisted
trains up the steep grades.
As more railroad lines were built, Benson developed into the "Hub City". In 1881, Benson
became the terminus for the Sonoran Railroad from the seaport of Guaymas, Mexico. This
line built by the Santa Fe was a major route between Mexico and the United States for many
years. In 1897, the El Paso and Southeastern Railroad ran a main line through Benson to
Phoenix. Apparently, Benson rivaled Tucson as a rail transportation center at that time.
The railroad traffic brought in its wake a need for retail trades and services; hotel, saloons,
livery stables, merchandising establishments and restaurants served the area. The
transients created a brisk retail trade. The mining camps and the Latter Day Saints
agricultural colonies created a trade area in the Benson sub-basin in the Upper San Pedro
Valley, which persists to the present. Foodstuffs and supplies were also needed for the
Territorial Reform School established in Benson in 1904. A traveler from Boston described
Benson's prosperous main street as bustling, filled with cowboys, miners, railroad men,
Mexicans, Americans, and Chinese.
14
Agriculture and ranching were aided by the drilling in the 1890's. A series of artesian wells,
which increased the number of cattle, and crops that were raised in the Benson region, set
the stage for the transition from a railroad town to a trade center for a prosperous agriculture
region.
In 1880, the population of Benson was around 300, growing nearly fourfold during the 30year railroad period to 1,100 in 1910. This rapid growth, not matched until the period after
World War 11, reflected the prosperity of the town. A preponderance of transient males
composed the population in those days and the prevailing philosophy typical of the mining
regions was "get it and get out". This transient population made for a rather unstable
community with little law and order. Benson had its share of saloons, gambling
establishments and houses of ill-repute. From time to time the stable population of Benson
made efforts to rid themselves of undesirables. For example, they demolished a saloon
known as "The Joint" which was the haven for the "Top and Bottom Gang" who had shot a
sheriff's deputy. The gang was invited to leave town before sundown and promised a necktie
party in their honor if they remained. The outlaws took a train for Tucson that evening.
Benson also had to contend with natural hazards such as fires and floods. Fires heavily
damaged the business section of town in 1883, 1886, and 1905. A serious flood coming from
the Whetstone Mountains inundated the western part of the town in 1896. Such was its
destructive force that is swept two families into the San Pedro River and tore the Southern
Pacific freight depot off its foundation.
The establishment of schools and churches brought greater stability to Benson. In 1895 and
1904, respectively, Catholic and Presbyterian churches were erected. In 1908 Benson had
an elementary school staffed by five teachers; in 1914 a secondary school opened its doors
to 45 children, some of whom were brought to school from the nearby farms and ranches in
a horse-drawn omnibus. The school occupied the buildings of the former Territorial Reform
School, which had relocated at Fort Grant in 1914. Home economics, manual trades and
agriculture as well as the traditional academic courses were taught. By the turn of the
century, a bank, newspaper, telephone system, and fire department and sheriff's office were
established in Benson.
In summary, In 1900 Benson was clearly a transportation center. It began as a junction of
the east-west railroad and the north-south overland trails in the San Pedro Valley. It was not
the obsolescence of the steam engine as much as the natural development of the railroad
system to be attracted to the larger cities that eventually hurt Benson and forced her to turn
attention to other sources of revenue in order to remain in existence. It was only when the
Sonoran Railroad moved its terminus to Tucson in 1910 and when the El Paso and
Southwestern Railroad also switched its traffic that Benson declined. This relocation of
railroads was a most serious economic loss to Benson and effectively ended her claim to
being "The Hub City".
[From ‘Benson History’ on the website ‘Benson Visitor Centre, Arizona’
http://www.bensonvisitorcenter.com/history.htm accessed 12/7/2011].
(This is a useful source because it allows comparisons to be drawn between the
development of Tucson and that of a nearby railroad town.)
15
Source 7: An account of freighting before and after the railroad.
The 1876 census reports Pima County with a population of 8,117, Maricopa County with
3,702 and Yuma County with 2,212. Of the major communities, Tucson had an estimated
population of 3,500, Florence, 1,000, Yuma, 1,500 and Phoenix, 500. These figures suggest
that southern Arizona was not yet capable of supporting an elaborate wagon-making
industry; however, apparently there was some demand. An 1877 Arizona business directory
listed the following blacksmiths and wagon-makers in southern Arizona. Although the survey
of the day may not have been complete, it at least suggests a picture of the wagon making
industry. In Allen Camp, about 50 miles southeast of Ajo, Joseph H. Richards, wagonmaker
and builder; Phoenix, John Burger, wagonmaker, and Wash Evans, John Lentgerding and
John West, blacksmiths; Tucson, Thomas Belknap and C. T. Etchells, blacksmiths; Yuma,
John G. Capron, agent for Mitchell wagons, and C. Horner, blacksmith.
With the coming of the railroad to Tucson in 1880, the Old Pueblo began to expand as a
leading trade center, attracting merchants, miners and cattlemen from the outside world.
Major changes in freighting practices came about since the long-haul distributing freighters
were no longer necessary. The shorter haul and lighter wagons were now in demand to
deliver raw materials and supplies throughout the city as well as to other fledgling villages
and mining camps that began to take root. With the increasing need for transportation of
materials, local freighting and express competition became keen. Out of this came the
demand for new wagons and wagon repairs, and by 1883 two businesses in Tucson were
handling the bulk of the work. The older of the two was a wagon and blacksmith shop owned
by Charles T. Etchells on the northeast corner of Congress and Pearl Streets. The other
wagon and blacksmith shop was owned in partnership by Winnall Dalton and Adolfo
Vasquez and was located at 317 and 319 Meyer Street.
[From ’Tucson’s Ronstadt Family’ on the website ‘Through Our Parents’ Eyes. History &
Culture in Southern Arizona’, from the University of Arizona
http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/ronstadtfamily/wagons/wagonmaking_sherman.html
accessed 12/7/2011].
(This source is useful because it gives evidence of the development of Tucson and suggests
further lines of enquiry, such as the use of business directories and census reports.)
16
Source 8: The impact of the railroad on justice in Tucson.
Arizona became a Territory of the United States in 1863 and over the next several months
counties were organized. Tucson, the seat of Pima County, became the capital of the
Arizona Territory in 1867 and remained so for ten years. From 1866 to 1868, Pima County
business was conducted in some buildings rented from Solomon Warner. Increased
population and activity made it clear that Pima County needed a permanent courthouse.
After moving the Court to more rented
locations, the county purchased a lot at the
corner of Court and Ott Streets for $200. Bid
notices were posted in October 1867.
Charles Meyer was awarded the contract.
The bid amount was $15,500 and $150 was
added
for
two
additional
doors.
Specifications called for a rock foundation,
"walls of adobe made of good dirt well mixed
with straw," and a step in front of each
doorway, "made of good sound mesquite
timber." This building was typical of those
built in southern Arizona in those days with
its flat, unadorned exterior and deeply
recessed doors and windows. Meyer
finished the building in May of 1868 but it was not yet painted.
The Southern Pacific Railroad reached Tucson in March 1880, and continued construction
eastward through Benson, Wilcox, and Bowie. This brought more new settlers and more
commerce to the still vast and undivided
Pima County.
A larger Courthouse was needed.
Additional land at the northwest corner
of Pennington and Court Streets was
purchased. On this site a second, larger
Courthouse was built in 1881. County
Commissioners W. W. Williams, James
Toole, and William S. Oury contracted
with John Harlow to build the new
courthouse, a two-storied brick building
with a grey stone foundation. The
cruciform building had two side wings
topped by gable attics and a tower with
a cupola. Called "the pride and joy of the
Territory," this courthouse was used
through the rest of the Territorial era
until after Arizona became a state on Valentine's Day, 1912. It was torn down in 1927.
[From ‘History Homepage: The Buildings’ on the website of Pima County Consolidated
Justice Court http://jp.pima.gov/Pages/history/buildings.htm accessed 12/7/2011].
17
Source 9: Two accounts of the impact of the railroad on Tucson’s ethnic diversity.
The Chinese Arrive in Tucson
… Chinese immigrants began arriving on the west coast of the United States in the 1840s.
The California Gold Rush in the late 1840s increased immigration dramatically. Over the
next several decades hundreds of thousands of people, mostly men, made the journey from
Guangdong and Fuhjian provinces. Many followed relatives who had previously arrived.
They traveled from major cities, such as San Francisco, heading inland to small mining
communities or to work for the railroad.
The railroad companies hired many Chinese men, who were well known for working hard
and cheaply. Many of these men left the railroad and began their own businesses. The
dream of most men was to earn enough money to return to China and live off of the
accumulated wealth. It was a dream some realized; others spent their lives living in an often
racist, foreign culture. They clung to their roots and often recreated the China they left
behind, settling in Chinatowns and rarely acculturating into the dominant Euro-American
culture.
Chinese immigrants arrived in Tucson in the mid-1870s, the first probably a pair of men
named Wong Tai and Louy, who opened a restaurant by July 1876. Prior to 1880, a trickle of
Chinese came to Tucson, overland by foot or by stagecoach. Travel was still perilous due to
attacks by Native Americans. As a result, few Chinese came to Arizona, unlike other western
states. However, the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad in March 1880 spurred the
growth of Tucson's Chinese community
Southern Pacific employed many Chinese men to lay tracks and cook. Some of these men
chose to remain behind in Tucson rather than follow the tracks eastward. These individuals
opened stores, operated restaurants, washed laundry, worked as personal servants, and a
few moved to the west bank of the Santa Cruz River to farm.
Chinese Gardeners in Tucson
The Chinese had a reputation as good gardeners. An 1869 account about the western
United States noted:
Many [Chinese] are vegetable farmers, too. In this even climate and with this productive soil,
their painstaking culture, much hoeing and constant watering, make little ground very fruitful,
and they gather in three, four, and five crops a year. Their garden patches, in the
neighborhoods of cities and villages, are always distinguishable from the rougher… grounds
of their Saxon rival.
Chinese gardeners in Tucson are first mentioned in the 1880 census, when six were
counted. These men found the land along the Santa Cruz River to be very suitable for
raising vegetables and a few types of fruit. They rented small parcels of land totaling about
60 hectares from local businessmen. Much of this land had previously been rented to local
Mexican-American farmers.
[From Archaeology in Tucson. Newsletter of the Centre for Desert Archaeology, Vol. 12 No.
2, Spring 1998 http://www.cdarc.org/pdf/ait/arch-tuc-v12-no2.pdf accessed 12/7/2011].
18
The Railroad Clashes Cultures - Cultural Diversity thrives:
The Southern Pacific Railroad brought many changes to Tucson that, to this day, are still
evident. Of the influx of many new settler’s in Tucson, the African Americans, Chinese,
Anglo-Americans, Mormons, and the "pioneer Jews" from Central Europe are to this day an
integral part of the community.
The building of the Railroad brought the majority of early Chinese immigrants to Tucson. The
Chinese had been brought to Arizona for the hazardous task of extending the railroad
through the desert. The railroad viewed the Chinese as inexpensive, reliable laborers. Their
wages were $1.00 per day, 50 cents less than Anglo workers.
Anglos and Mexicans were xenophobic; they did not understand the dress and customs of
the Chinese. The Anglo and Mexican workers deeply resented the Chinese laborers adding
competition to the job market, despite the difficulty and low wages of the jobs given to the
Chinese.
Eventually, the Chinese were forced to leave their railroad jobs due to racism. Some
Chinese immigrants decided to remain in Tucson to make their fortune and then return to
China, or of make enough money to bring their families here. They started restaurants,
laundry cleaners, and farms and became for a time, Tucson's chief source of fresh produce.
During the 1860's and 1870's, the first Anglo-American settlers lived in harmony with the
majority Mexican-American community. The population of Tucson was still primarily Mexican
and Mexican-American and they dominated the trade business from Mexico that supplied
goods and supplies to the settlers.
But the cordial relationship between the Mexican-American and Anglo-American community
began to change in the 1880's. A major economic, social, demographic and political shift
occurred in Tucson with the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The railroad brought
wealthy Anglo entrepreneurs who invested and dominated in mining, ranching, retailing and
agriculture. Goods and supplies from American suppliers were brought from the railroad for
competition with Mexican trade.
The railroad also brought more Anglo-American women, which resulted in the decline of
intermarriages between Anglo-American men and Mexican women. The dominant MexicanAmerican population rapidly declined as more and more Anglo-Americans arrived. Influential
Mexican families soon were excluded from Anglo-American social events.
To counter the loss of political and economic power and rising prejudice among the AngloAmerican population the Mexican-American community organized the Alianza HispanoAmericana, Club Mexicano Republicano and Club Democrático Mexicano and were
successful at electing influential individuals to public office.
[From ‘Tucson: a brief history’ on the website ‘Sonoran Sunsets’
http://www.sonoran-sunsets.com/tucson.html accessed 12/7/2011].
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Source 10: Census data for Arizona.
1870 Census
9658 inhabitants were recorded. This was the smallest population in the U.S. other than
Wyoming. Native Americans were not counted.
Of these, 9581 were classified as “White”; 26 were classified as “Colored” (all “Free
Colored”); 20 were classified as “Chinese”, with 31 unspecified.
The population of Pima County was 5716. This was the most populous of the 4 counties of
Arizona territory.
Population aged 10 years and over:
Total 8237 (Male 6148; Female 2089)
Of which, engaged in work: Total 6030 (Male 5734; Female 296).
Types of work:
Agriculture: Total 1285 (Male 1284; Female 1)
Professional and personal services: Total 3115 (Male 2979; Female 136)
Trade and transport: Total 591 (Male 588; Female 3)
Manufacture, mechanical and mining: Total 1039 (Male 883; Female 156).
1880 Census
Total population of Arizona: 40440 (Males 28202; Females 12238)
Of these: 24301 “Native born”, 16040 “Foreign born”, with 99 “unknown”.
By ethnic groups as defined in 1880: “White” 35849, “Colored” 155, “Chinese” 1030,
“Japanese” 2, “Indians” 3404.
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Example of a site that would be a poor choice for a History Around Us
coursework scheme.
Site
America’s Stonehenge, Salem, New Hampshire.
Rationale
The site has been chosen because:


it is interesting and of national importance;
it raises many questions about who created the site, when and why.
Why would investigation of this site prevent candidates from scoring high marks?
Marks are awarded by teachers for how well an investigation meets the criteria specified in
the generic mark scheme: AO4 (Use of Sources in Research) and AO2 (Significance)
(see below pp23 – 24).
The core problem is that there is too much uncertainty about this site to allow candidates to
score well in their investigation.
Why scoring a high AO4 mark would be very difficult using this site
The home page of the Stonehenge USA website ( http://www.stonehengeusa.com/ ) states:
“Built by a Native American Culture or a migrant European population? No one knows for
sure. A maze of man-made chambers, walls and ceremonial meeting places, America's
Stonehenge is most likely the oldest man-made construction in the United States (over 4000
years old).
Like Stonehenge in England, America's Stonehenge was built by ancient people well versed
in astronomy and stone construction. It has been determined that the site is an accurate
astronomical calendar. It was, and still can be, used to determine specific solar and lunar
events of the year.
Various inscriptions have been found throughout the site including Ogham, Phoenician and
Iberian Punic Script. Dr. Barry Fell of Harvard University did extensive work on the
inscriptions found at the site. They are detailed in his book America B.C.”
This tells the teacher straightaway that, as with many archaeological sites, more questions
are raised than can be answered. Experts speculate, using specialised knowledge that is
beyond that of high school students. Inscriptions have been found in a range of ancient
Middle Eastern and European scripts but students can only learn this by being told.
The related documentary source material is all secondary, consisting of interpretations of the
site by archaeologists and anthropologists. Teachers would not be able to put together a
sources pack containing a range of documentary material that is contemporary with the site.
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Why scoring a high AO2 mark would be very difficult using this site
In terms of the site’s historical significance, all judgement would be speculative. This is
because so many questions about the site (who made it, when, etc.) cannot be answered.
This is clear from the Tour Guide on the site’s website:
http://www.stonehengeusa.com/Tour%20Guide%20Map.pdf
In consequence, the issue of significance could be addressed only in very general terms.
The only elements of significance that could be judged with any certainty would relate to the
site’s importance as archaeological evidence. Historical significance can only be addressed
in relation to people living at the time that the site was built during its occupation, and this
could only be based on assumptions (albeit well-researched) about the purpose of the site.
22
Advice from a Cambridge consultant on a draft coursework task
To help centers devise and set an appropriate task (especially centers preparing coursework
for the first time for this examination), Cambridge coursework consultants will give advice on
a proposed coursework scheme. We strongly recommend that each center should email
their draft scheme to Cambridge. A coursework scheme needs to be set out clearly and
contain five parts:
1. The identity of the chosen site or object:
2. A short justification of the site’s/object’s significance with a clear explanation of how
the chosen site/object and the sources pack enable candidates to reach the highest
bands of the marking scheme
3. The series of questions to be given to candidates about the site/object and its
significance, around which they would build their historical enquiry; and
4. The proposed sources pack to be given to students to support their historical enquiry,
accompanied by
5. An indication of ways in which candidates might use the sources in the pack to score
across the levels in the mark scheme, including the highest and lowest ability. It is
essential that the chosen sources allow candidates of all ability levels to respond to
the questions.
Draft schemes should be emailed to international@cie.org.uk marked for the attention of the
Product Manager, IGCSE American History. This should be done no later than the
December before the candidates take the examination.
Centers should allow up to four weeks for Cambridge to return the consultant’s comments on
a draft set of questions and sources pack. In the light of comments/suggestions from the
consultant, teachers would be welcome to ask follow-up questions and/or send Cambridge a
revised draft.
If a task and sources pack are not changed, there would be no need to re-submit them in
subsequent years.
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Marking Criteria for 0409/03 investigations
Marks are awarded for each Assessment Objective, using the criteria listed below.
The candidate’s work should demonstrate the qualities given for that band. If it does not, the
marks should be adjusted.
Generic Mark Scheme
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