8th Grade US HISTORY STUDY GUIDE

1
8th Grade US HISTORY STUDY GUIDE

• STAAR
• BUSTERS

2

• First English colony in the Americas was
  established where and in what year
• Answer Jamestown, Virginia
• 1607

3
The Declaration of Independence was signed when?

• Answer 1776

4
The new constitution to replace the Articles of
Confederation was presented when?

• Answer 1787

5
The Louisiana Purchase was made in what year and
did what to the size of the U.S.

• Answer 1803
• Doubled the size of the United
• States

6
The Civil War broke out in the year of _______
and ended in the year of ________.

• Answers Started 1861
• Ended 1865

7
Religious freedom, persecution, profit, land,
etc. are reasons for what?

• Answers Coming to America, exploration

8
The document signed by the Pilgrims, in the year
_____, that was an early first step toward
self-government was called what?

• Answers Year 1620
• Document- The Mayflower Compact

9
First written constitution in the New World was
called ____________ and was written in the year
________.

• Answers Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
• Answer Written in 1639

10
The first representative government for the
English colonies was called what?

• Answer Virginia House of Burgesses

11
The economic system where colonies are set up to
make the mother country rich is called what?

• Answer Mercantilism

12
After the French and Indian War, Britain took
what actions ( several), which enraged the
colonists?

• ANSWER
• Proclamation of 1763, Colonists could not settle
  in the Ohio Valley
• Sugar Act
• Stamp Act
• Quartering Act
• Intolerable Acts
• Townsend Act

13
Patriot leader who was an original Son of Liberty
in Boston.( Beer Maker)

• Answer Samuel Adams

14
Inventor, writer, signer of the Declaration of
Independence. Bifocals, Poor Richards Almanac,
ambassador to France. Who does this describe?

• Answer Benjamin Franklin

15
Leader of the British government during the
American Revolution? (Monarch)

• Answer King George III

16
Frenchman who volunteered to serve in the
American Revolution?

• Answer Marquis De Lafayette

17
A system for settling the Northwest territory

• Answer Land Ordinance of 1785

18
A government for the territory that guaranteed
basic rights to settlers and outlawed slavery

• Answer Northwest Ordinance

19
A period when business activity slows, prices and
wages fall, and unemployment rises

• Answer Depression

20
A 1786 revolt in Massachusetts led by farmers in
reaction to high taxes

• Answer Shays Rebellion

21
The Constitutional Era is characterized by

• Answer philosophical differences and compromises
  in forming the new government

22
What are defining characteristics of the era of
the Early Republic

• Answer
• Louisiana Purchase
• Expansion of national power
• War of 1812

23
How did the War of 1812 affect the standing of
the United States in world affairs

• Answer the US established its identity as an
  independent and powerful nation

24
Which issue would be supported by Thomas Jefferson

• Answer
• an expansion of states rights

25
These problems faced leaders during the early
years of the republic

• Answer
• -defining national government authority
• -maintaining national security
• -creating stable economic system

26
What were three approaches Hamilton used to
stabilize the U.S. economy

• Answer
• Protective tariffs
• Repay war debt
• Set up national bank

27
Who was supported by northern merchants and
industry, favored strong Federal Government, and
was a Federalist

• Answer
• John Adams

28
What was the result of the passage of the
Judiciary Act

• Answer Federal Court system was set up

29
Why were early political parties developed

• Answer there was disagreement over the role and
  strength of National Government

30
This action contributed to the beginning of the
War of 1812

• Answer impressment of American Sailors into
  British Navy

31
John Adams administration restricted citizens
from criticizing the government

• Answer The Alien and Sedition Acts

32
Stated the United States would not tolerate
European intervention in Latin America

• Answer Monroe Doctrine

33
How did Washingtons Farewell Address influence
American foreign policy

• Answer To remain neutral

34
How did embargo Act of 1807 impact American trade

• Answer Both imports and exports fell greatly

35
How did Federalist interpret the text of the
Constitution

• Answer loosely according to historic and social
  changes

36
When the concept of Judicial Review was first
applied, it required that all decisions and
interpretations of laws be analyzed according to

• Answer legality under the Constitution

37
A major domestic problem faced by leaders of the
new republic

• Answer Setting up the court system

38
Leadership qualities a Supreme Court Chief
Justice, such as John Marshall, need in order to
be effective

• Answer Ability to discuss issues logically and
  make well reasoned arguments

39
1803 landmark case which formed the basis for the
exercise of Judicial review and was the first to
declare a government action unconstitutional

• Answer Marbury v. Madison

40
Are the most factors a judge uses when conducting
a Judicial Review of a government action

• Answer Rules and laws set forth in the US
  Constitution

41
This factor determines the number of electoral
votes for each state

• Answer states with higher populations have more
  electoral votes

42
In the Executive Branch, the President

• may veto bills

43
In the Judicial Branch, the Supreme Court

• may determine actions unconstitutional

44
First battle of the Revolution- shot heard round
the world

• Answer Lexington and Concord

45
Turning point of the Revolutionary War?

• Answer Battle of Saratoga

46
Father of our country, first President, leader of
the Continental Army, who does this describe?

• Answer George Washington

47
Ending battle where Cornwallis surrendered?

• Answer Battle of Yorktown

48
First American government after independence
established in what year?

• Answer Articles of Confederation
• Answer 1777

49
Which form of democracy was decided upon when the
Constitution was written

• Ans Republic

50
Why is the year 1787 so important in U.S. history?

• Ans The Constitution was written

51
The Federalists Papers were written to promote

• Ans The Constitution

52
Anti-Federalists insisted upon which of the
concerns

• Ans The Bill of Rights

53
Bicameral legislature was a result of the
following.

• Ans the Great Compromise

54
At the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia
Plan included a proposal to

• Ans separation of powers

55
Document used to declare the reasons for the
colonies break from England

• Answer Declaration of Independence

56
Treaty, which ended the war and what year?

• Answer Treaty of Paris
• Answer 1783

57
Where the convention to revise the Articles of
Confederation took place

• Answer Philadelphia

58
Agreement to have 2 houses with representation,
in one based on population and equal
representation in the other is called what?

• Answer The Great Compromise

59
Arguments by the anti-federalists to not ratify
the new Constitution?

• Answer They feared the power of the national
  government could override state decisions, the
  protection of the liberty of individuals would be
  at risk

60
Arguments by the Federalists to ratify the new
Constitution. What are the essays called that
were written to achieve ratification?

• Answer The Federalists Papers

61
A tax on imported goods is called what? Who
supported them? Who opposed them? (During the
colonial unrest period)

• Answer tariff
• Northerners supported
• Southerners opposed

62
Who pushed for a national banking system to
strengthen the US economy

• Answer Alexander Hamilton

63
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

• Answer Thomas Jefferson

64
What two parties did Hamilton and Jefferson
start? What were the differences in political
ideas?

• Hamilton- Federalists Party
• - Supported a strong national government

• Jefferson- Democratic Republican Party
• Limited central government
• Strict interpretation of the Constitution

65
List three major causes of the War of 1812?

• Answer
• Impressment of U.S. sailors
• Violations of U.S. rights at sea
• British support of Indian opposition to colonial
  settlement

66
The election of who signaled a movement by the
common man to get involved in American politics
and the beginning of the modern Democratic Party?

• Answer Andrew Jackson

67
The forced removal of Cherokee and other Indians
from their Southeastern lands to lands west of
the Mississippi River was called what?

• Answer Trail of Tears

68
These laws established the principles for orderly
expansion to the west.

• Answer Northwest Ordinance 1787

69
The idea that the United States should extend
from the Atlantic to the Pacific (God given
right) was called?

• Answer Manifest Destiny

70
A war with our southern neighbors over a border
dispute and expansion- Name the war? Who won the
war? What did the U.S. gain?

• Answer Mexican War (1846-1848)
• Answer The United States won
• Answer gained, Texas, New Mexico, Utah,
  Arizona, Nevada, and California

71
What region of the United States most opposed
tariffs prior to the Civil War?Why?

• Answer Southerners
• Answer they were more dependent on foreign trade

72
Doctrine, which said that a state could declare a
Federal Law void if it was unfair to a particular
region?

• Answer Doctrine of Nullification

73
Name a South Carolina firebrand who called for
secession during regional conflicts?

• Answer John C. Calhoun

74
Name the Senator from Tennessee known as The
Great Compromiser?

• Answer Henry Clay

75
Name the legislator who, in his debates before
Congress, gave compelling reasons for the
abolition of slavery?

• Answer Abraham Lincoln

76
Who was elected President of the Confederate
States of America?

• Answer Jefferson Davis

77
Who was the general who ultimately led the Union
to victory in the Civil War?

• Answer Ulysses S. Grant

78
Who was President of the United States during the
Civil War?

• Answer Abraham Lincoln

79
Characteristics of the New Republic

• Ans- Louisiana Purchase
• - War of 1812
• - Expansion of national power

80
Importance of the year 1803

• Ans Doubled the size of the United States

81
Who was responsible for the Alien and Sedition
Acts

• Ans President John Adams

82
What was the primary reason for the Monroe
Doctrine

• Ans Stated the U.S. would not tolerate European
  intervention in Latin America

83
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and
established precedent of Judicial Review. Who
does this describe?

• Ans John Marshall

84
In 1829, commerce benefitted from a means of
faster transportation because of the construction

• Ans The Erie Canal

85
How did Alexander Hamilton want to pay off the
large debt left by the American Revolution?

• Ans raise money through taxes

86
Who, along with his followers, would support an
expansion of states rights

• Ans Thomas Jefferson

87
What was the purpose of the Embargo Act of 1807?

• Ans pressure warring nations to respect U.S.
  neutrality

88
The Battle of New Orleans earned him recognition
across the U.S.

• Ans Andrew Jackson

89
As the U.S. expanded westward what allowed for
the creation of new states

• Ans Northwest Ordinance

90
These court actions brought about Judical Review
and the regulation of interstate commerce

• Ans Judical Review Marbury vs Madison
• Interstate Commerce Gibbons vs Ogden

91
Protective tariffs was Alexander Hamiltons
philosophy in development of what

• Ans business and industry

92
The number of Supreme Court justices was set at
six by George Washington through this act

• Ans Judiciary Act

93
He was a federalists, from an urban area, and
favored a strong federal government

• Ans Alexander Hamilton

94
Impressment of American sailors into the British
navy was one of the causes

• Ans the War of 1812

95
Millions for defense, but not one cent for
tribute

• Ans rallying slogan for John Adams and the XYZ
  Affair

96
George Washington urged the U.S. to take this
policy where European affairs were concerned

• Ans neutrality

97
As a result of the War of 1812, these economic
changes were made in the United States

• Ans - increased industrial production
• - introduction of the American System
• - introduction of new clothing styles

98
Who was the leader of the Souths army in the
North?

• Answer Robert E. Lee

99
Where were the first shots of the Civil War
fired? When?

• Answer Fort Sumter, Charleston, SC
• Answer 1861

100
Which two battles (one in the east and one in the
west) signaled the beginning of the end of the
Confederacy?

• Answer Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (EAST)
• Answer Vicksburg, Mississippi (WEST)

101
The announcement that slaves in rebel territories
were to be set free was called?

• Answer Emancipation Proclamation

102
What happened to President Lincoln shortly after
the war and where did it take place?

• Answer he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth
• Answer Fords Theatre

103
Where did Lees final surrender take place?

• Answer Appomattox Court House, VA

104
A system in which a planter owns large tracts of
land and uses cheap labor to grow and harvest
cash crops?

• Answer Plantation System

105
A system where supply and demand effect
production and pricing is called what?

• Answer Free Enterprise System

106
How is the Constitution changed?

• Answer Amendments have been added

107
A leading black abolitionist who was a former
slave in Maryland?

• Answer Fredrick Douglass

108
The hero of a fledgling American navy during the
Revolution was called?

• Answer John Paul Jones

109
The President during the time of the Monroe
Doctrine?

• The President during the time of the Monroe
  Doctrine?

110
Leader of the early Womans Rights movement who
helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention and
gave the Declaration of Sentiments?

• Answer Elizabeth Cady Stanton

111
First Chief Justice of the United States Supreme
Court?

• Answer John Jay

112
Define Compromise

• Answer to settle by mutual concessions

113
Why is freedom of speech and press important in a
democratic society?

• Answer a citizen should be able to speak out
  against the government without fear of
  imprisonment or punishment

114
Who set precedent of non-violent protest by
refusing to pay income tax to protest the Mexican
War? (writer)

• Answer Henry David Thoreau

115
Colonial leader who believed in equality under
God and founded a state for Quakers?

• Answer William Penn

116
What invention helped spur the growth of slavery
in the South?

• Answer Cotton Gin

117
Where were the differences between the regions in
the United States?

• North- manufacturing
• Middle- bread basket
• South- planting, cotton, tobacco, rice

118
How did the War of 1812 bring economic changes to
the United States?

• Answer Industrial Revolution
• - factories
• - people worked for wages
• - interchangeable parts
• (90)

119
The rapid change to machine power and machine
made goods is called what?

• Answer Industrial Revolution

120
Putting the needs of the community above your own
interests is called what? (founding fathers
practiced it)

• Civic Virtue

121
Who was the primary advocate for free public
elementary schools?

• Answer Horace Mann

122
List three major womens rights advocates?

• Answer
• Abigail Adams
• Elizabeth C. Stanton
• Loucretia Mott

123
What do these people have in common? Grimke
Sisters, Sojouner Truth, Harriett Beecher Stowe,
Harriet Tubman, and Fredrick Douglass

• Answer They were all Abolitionists (those who
  opposed slavery)

124
The movement to abolish alcohol in the United
States was called?

• Answer Temperance Movement

125
Who was the woman who helped begin the movement
for prison reform?

• Answer Dorothea Dix

126
Which female laborer led a movement for a 10-hour
workday?

• Answer Sarah G. Bagley

127
What were the First and Second Great Awakening?
Who led the first?

• Answer First- a religious movement which swept
  the colonies in the 1700s. Led by Jonathan
  Edwards, it taught people to declare their trust
  in God without needing a clergy to channel their
  prayers
• Answer Second- early 1800s, tent meetings,
  missionary work spread and church membership
  increased

128
Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Ans wrote Uncle Toms Cabin

129
Sojourner Truth

• Ans Fought for equal rights for women

130
Nullification Crisis

• Ans South Carolinas dislike for tariffs

131
Dred Scott

• AnsTook slavery case to Supreme Court
• Ruling Slaves had no rights

132
Why were plantations in the South

• Climate allowed planters to raise profitable crops

133
Elizabeth Cady Stanton

• Ans objected to the 15th amendment
• Why?- excluded women from voting

134
Battle of Vicksburg

• Ans Civil War battle giving Union control of
  Mississippi River

135
Robert E. Lee

• Ans -Graduated West Point
• -Served as leader of Confederate Army
• -Surrendered at Appomattox Court House

136
Who came up with the unique American philosophy
of Transcendentalism?

• Answer Ralph Waldo Emerson
• the importance of each
  individual
• and living close to nature

137
Who invented the steamboat and what was the first
one called?

• Answer
• Robert Fulton
• Clermont

138
Who invented the cotton gin and what effect did
it have on the South and slavery?

• Answer Eli Whitney, it caused slavery to
  multiply greatly

139
What process created steel and allowed for the
industrial revolution to surge forward?

• Answer Bessemer Steel Process

140
What changes in life in the United States came
about as a result of industrialization?

• Answer changed from making by hand at home to
  machinery in factories

141
A government where the power is held by the
people and exercised through elected
representatives is called?

• Answer Representative Government

142

• STOP HERE

143
The period following the Civil War where the
defeated Southern States were rebuilt was called
what?

• Answer Reconstruction Period

144
The extreme institution of reforms upon the
defeated Southern States was called?

• Answer Carpet bagging Reconstruction Acts of
  1867

145
The cornerstone of English justice and law is a
document that first limited the power of the king.

• Answer Magna Carta, 1215

146
Another English document which helped serve as a
forerunner to the US Constitution and Bill of
Rights

• Answer English Bill of Rights

147
Who is given credit for writing the Declaration
of Independence?

• Answer Thomas Jefferson

148
What God given rights are protected in the
Declaration of Independence?What is their
collective name?

• Answer life, liberty, and the pursuit of
  happiness
• Answer unalienable rights

149
Name three major writers of the Federalists
Papers?

• Answer James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and
  John Jay

150
Who is known as the Father of the Constitution?

• Answer James Madison

151
Know what the 3/5 Compromise and the Great
Compromise covered?

• Answer 3/5 Compromise, a slave would count as
  3/5 of a person in determining house
  representatives and direct taxes
• Answer House elected on population,
• Senate, two senators per state

152
The idea that the Constitution and laws can
define the limits of those in power is called
what?

• Answer limited government

153
What system was set up by the Constitution to
ensure that one branch did not become too
powerful was called?

• Answer checks and balances

154
List the individual checks given to each branch
of government

• Answer
• 1- legislative Congress can override veto
• with 2/3 vote of both houses and determines
  the number of judges
• 2- executive President can veto a bill proposed
  by Congress and appoints Supreme Court Judges
• 3- judicial can rule Presidents actions
  unconstitutional and can rule laws passed by
  Congress as unconstitutional

155
Name the three branches of government and what
each is responsible for

• Answers
• 1- Legislative makes laws
• 2- Executive enforces laws
• 3- Judicial interrupts the laws

156
Sharing of power between local and national
government is called what?

• Answer federalism

157
Define Separation of Powers

• Answer the division of governmental power into
  three branches of government

158
The idea that the people should vote to decide
key issues especially dealing with slavery is
called what?

• Answer popular sovereignty

159
The amendment passed during reconstruction that
freed all slaves was?

• Answer 13th Amendment

160
What are the first 10 Amendments to the
Constitution called?

• Answer Bill of Rights

161
What is the primary purpose of the Bill of Rights?

• Answer protect individual rights

162
Know what each of the first 10 Amendments protect

• 1st- freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and
  petition
• 2nd- bear arms
• 3rd- not to quarter soldiers
• 4th- unreasonable search and seizure
• 5th- due process of law
• 6th- speedy trial
• 7th- trial by jury
• 8th- no cruel or unusual punishment
• 9th- constitutional rights do not deny other
  rights
• 10th- states rights

163
The Amendment which gives Equal Protection under
the law and extends the benefits of the Bill of
Rights to all citizens is called?

• Answer 14th Amendment

164
The amendment that gave black males the right to
vote is called?

• Answer 15th Amendment

165
The idea that the Supreme Court can declare laws
unconstitutional is called what?

• Answer Judicial Review

166
Describe the Nullification Crisis of 1828

• Congress approved a high tariff in 1828 to
  protect US interests from foreign trade.
  Southerners were in favor of being free to trade
  and were angry and declare the tariff null and
  void

167
What Supreme Court ruling established the idea of
judicial review?

• Answer Marbury vs. Madison
• 1803

168
Which Supreme Court case gave the federal
government the power to regulate interstate
commerce?

• Answer Gibbons vs. Ogden
• 1824

169
Which Supreme Court case affirmed that the
Constitution was the Supreme Law of the Land?

• Answer McCullough vs. Maryland
• 1819

170
The Supreme Court case which declared slaves were
not citizens and allowed that all states could
vote on whether or not to have slavery was
called? This case threw out the Missouri
compromise.What year?

• Answer Dredd Scott vs. Sanford
• Answer 1857

171
A God given right that can not be taken away?

• Answer unalienable rights

172
What a person of foreign birth who becomes a U.S.
citizen is called?

• Answer naturalized citizen

173
Individuals who played a significant role in the
fight for independence from Britain and the
creation of a new government are called?

• Answer founding fathers

174
Passive resistance to laws one considers unjust
is called?

• Answer Civil Disobedience

175
The central theme for the conflict between the
first two political parties was how much
_______________ the federal government should
have?

• Answer power

176
Who published the Newspaper called the Liberator?

• Answer William Lloyd Garrison

177
Which political party was created to abolish
slavery and in what year?

• Answer Republican Party
• Answer 1854

178
Large nationwide religious revivals in both the
1700s and 1800s were called?

• Answer First and Second Great Awakenings

179
What is a Primary source?

• Answer original documents or notes first hand
  account
• Example Mr. W. telling about combat he was
  involved with in Vietnam

180
What is a Secondary Source?

• Answer interpretations prepared by people who
  were not involved in the events described
• Example A student telling others about combat
  Mr. W. was in during his time in Vietnam

181
What were the weaknesses of the Articles of
Confederation?

• Answers
• 1- the states held too much power
• 2- no President to lead nation
• 3- Congress could not raise money
• 4- Congress could not collect taxes

182
What is bias?

• Answer a distorted point of view

183
List the economic differences between the 3
colonial regions?

• Answers
• 1- North ship building, furs, fishing
• 2- Middle grain farming, seaports, iron works
• 3- Southern plantations, small farms, tobacco

184
Sequence of service

• Answer
• 1- George Washington, first President
• 2- John Adams, second President
• 3- John Marshall, appointed Chief Justice
• 4- Thomas Jefferson, third President