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1st Semester Test Study Guide
Study guide for the 1st semester test
86
History
8th Grade
01/03/2009
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Term
Why did the population of Jamestown plummet downward between 1609 and spring 1610?
 Definition
Because a combination of famine, disease, and a harsh winter killed many in the colony.
Term
Why was the Toleration Act of 1649 in Maryland significant to America's development?
 Definition
It symbolizes the American value of protecting the freedom of individuals and minority groups.
Term
Which colonies had the strictest slave codes?
 Definition
The colonies with the most slaves.
Term
What could the Mayflower Compact best be describes as?
 Definition
An early attempt at self-government in the English colonies.
Term
What is the point of view that best expressed the view of a New England Colonist on education?
 Definition
"All children need to be able to read the Bible."
Term
What did the early economy in New England have as participants?
 Definition
Merchants, shipbuilders, and fisherman.
Term
What made the Middle Colonies different from both southern and northern colonists?
 Definition
Staple crops of wheat, barley, and oats.
Term
What was the significance of the English Bill of Rights?
 Definition
It influenced the writers of the U.S. Constitution.
Term
What was the European nation's practice of carefully controlling trade to create and maintain wealth called?
 Definition
"mercantillism"
Term
How did the ideas of the "Great Awakening" effect political life during the 1730's?
 Definition
Because the sermons on spiritual equality led the colonists to ask for political equality, which set the stage for the American Revolution.
Term
What did the French fight the British over in 1753?
 Definition
Settlements in the Ohio River Valley.
Term
What Act did the British Parliaments pass in 1764 to tax the colonists and was evidence of Prime Minister Grenville's desire to have the colonists pay the costs of the French and Indian War?
 Definition
The Sugar Act.
Term
What was the significance of the Boston Tea Party?
 Definition
It showed how unhappy colonists were with the new trade laws.
Term
What did the colonists call the Coercive Acts passed by British Parliament in the spring of 1774?
 Definition
The Intolerable Acts
Term
The closing of the port in Boston after the Tea Party led to what meeting?
 Definition
The meeting of the First Continental Congress.
Term
On the night of April 18, 1775 a force of 700 British soldiers left Boston in search of a major colonial weapons storehouse rumored to be where?
 Definition
Concord
Term
What could the opinions of the Second Continental Congress be best characterized as?
 Definition
Far from unified but open to comprommise
Term
What affected colonial leaders by inspiring them to challenge British authority?
 Definition
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
Term
Why was the phrase "no taxation without representation" so important to the revolutionary cause?
 Definition
Because colonists didn't wish to support a government in which they had no voice.
Term
Why did the Declaration of Independence raise questions about slavery?
 Definition
Its message wasn't consistent with the practice of slavery in the colonies.
Term
Why did thousands of African-American slaves sign on with the British army?
 Definition
Because the British offered freedom to any slave who served in their army.
Term
Before the Battle of Trenton, what kind of war did many Patriot leaders favor and why?
 Definition
A defensive war because their supplies would last longer.
Term
Why was the Battle of Saratoga a major turning point for the Patriots?
 Definition
They gained the support of France and Spain.
Term
Why was the winter at Valley Forge such a difficult time for the Continental Army?
 Definition
They lacked protection and supplies.
Term
What was the first event that led to the Patriot victory at Yorktown?
 Definition
British General Cornwallis moved his troops in hopes of maintaining communication with the British Army.
Term
What was the primary reason the British entered peace talks with America after the Battle of Yorktown?
 Definition
The British Army could afford to spend years on writing an agreeable treaty, but couldn't afford to spend more money on its army.
Term
What did Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom declare?
 Definition
That no person could be forced to attend church or pay for a church with taxes.
Term
What was the purpose of the Land Ordinance of 1795?
 Definition
To set up a system for surveying and dividing territory.
Term
What was the significance of the Articles of Confederation?
 Definition
it was the first national government of the United States
Term
What was the significance of Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts.
 Definition
It showed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation Government.
Term
Why were the Articles of Confederation ineffective in solving internal problems that existed in the U.S.?
 Definition
They created a weak central government that had little control over the actions of individual state governments.
Term
How did the Great Compromise resolve the debate over state representation in the federal government under the Constitution?
 Definition
By creating a bicameral legislature, where in one house state population determined the number of representatives and in the other the number of representatives were equal.
Term
How did the delegates resolve the debate over how slaves should be factor into representation in government?
 Definition
By deciding in a compromise that allowed each individual slave to be counted as three-fifths of a person.
Term
A system of government in which powers of government are shared between the national and state governments.
 Definition
Federalism
Term
Under the Constitution, which system of government of the U.S. has the power to establish foreign policy?
 Definition
Only the national government.
Term
Both the federal and state governments share this power.
 Definition
The power to establish courts.
Term
Establishing and maintaining schools is a power only reserved to...
 Definition
the states.
Term
Why did the framers of the Constitution create a system of checks and balances?
 Definition
To keep any one branch from becoming too powerful.
Term
What was the problem the Anti-federalists had with the Constitution?
 Definition
the feeling that the central government had been given too much power.
Term
Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?
 Definition
To protect the rights of individual citizens.
Term
What is one reason the U.S. Constitution survived for more than 200 years?
 Definition
the flexibility of the Constitution to meet the needs of a changing nation.
Term
Why does the doctrine of separation of powers divide the powers of government?
 Definition
so that no one branch can pose a threat to popular rights.
Term
What is the function of Congress in the federal government?
 Definition
to be the legislative branch, which makes the nation's laws.
Term
How can the president check the power of the legislative branch?
 Definition
by vetoing a law.
Term
What is the job of the executive branch?
 Definition
to enforce the nation's laws.
Term
What is the role of the judicial branch as assigned by Congress?
 Definition
to interpret the law.
Term
What did James Madison promise to ease American's fears that a central government might take away the rights that states had granted individuals?
 Definition
to add a bill of rights to the Constitution.
Term
What does the Fifth Amendment protect?
 Definition
anyone found not guilty in a criminal trial from being tried again for the same crime (double jeopardy)
Term
A duty of a U.S. citizen that is encouraged but not required...
 Definition
voting in an election.
Term
One requirement for a person to become a U.S. citizen is...
 Definition
that foreign people whose parents are not citizens must move to the U.S.
Term
The new federal government's actions that would set an example for the future... (in George Washington's words)
 Definition
"would serve to establish a precedent." (the answer is precedent)
Term
Alexander Hamilton stood for flexible reading of the Constitution, or...
 Definition
loose construction
Term
Thomas Jefferson stood for this kind of reading of the Constitution.
 Definition
strict construction
Term
What adds tax to the price of imported goods to protect domestic product from foreign competition?
 Definition
a "protective tariff"
Term
What was Alexander Hamilton's version of a robust economy?
 Definition
it depended on the contributions of business people and manufacturers.
Term
Thomas Jefferson's idea of a good economy put greater emphasis on who?
 Definition
the farmers.
Term
What was George Washington's statement that America would not take sides in disputes between warring European countries called?
 Definition
the Neutrality Proclamation.
Term
Why did Thomas Jefferson criticize the U.S. policy towards France?
 Definition
Because he believed the U.S. owed France support for their backing during the Revolutionary War.
Term
What did Pinckney's Treaty address?
 Definition
American settlers' disputes over the Florida border with Spain.
Term
What was the greatest threat to American expansion in the Northwest Territories?
 Definition
American Indian tribes supplied with guns and ammunition by the British.
Term
When did the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania end?
 Definition
When most of the rebels fled before George Washington's army arrived.
Term
Who was the first political party division between?
 Definition
Democratic-Republicans and Federalists
Term
Why did Thomas Jefferson become vice-president after the 1796 presidential election?
 Definition
Because he came in second to John Adams.
Term
What party did Alexander Hamilton help found and what kind of power did the party want to limit?
 Definition
The federalist party wanted to limit state power.
Term
What was supported by the Federalists as a way to protect the country from Republican critics?
 Definition
Alien and Sedition Acts
Term
Who refused to declare war on France despite protests of his own party?
 Definition
John Adams
Term
What is "loose construction" best defined as?
 Definition
The interpretation that says the federal government can take reasonable actions in special cases as long as they are not specifically forbidden by the Constitution.
Term
What is the Electoral College?
 Definition
a body of delegates from each state that casts the deciding votes for president.
Term
Why did Alexander Hamilton take measures to limit the national bank's power?
 Definition
He did not want to create a banking monopoly that lasted indefinitely.
Term
What did Thomas Jefferson characterize the transition of power from one party to another in the Election of 1800 as?
 Definition
"peaceable"
Term
Why was the Louisiana Purchase significant to the U.S.?
 Definition
Because it nearly doubled the size of the country.
Term
Why was the Lewis and Clark Expedition undertaken? (three reasons)
 Definition
in order to explore the Louisiana Purchase, learn about plants and animals of the West, and attempt to find a river route to the Pacific Ocean.
Term
When did the United States find itself involved in the war between Britain and France?
 Definition
When it broke out in 1803 by shipping goods and war supplies to both countries.
Term
What resulted because of Great Britain's violations of the U.S. neutrality?
 Definition
The passage of the Embargo Act, which banned all trade with foreign countries.
Term
Why did the Embargo Act fail?
 Definition
It caused American merchants to lose money and had little effect on Britain and France.
Term
Why were U.S. officials worried about Tecumseh's actions?
 Definition
He may have been supported by the British.
Term
What were the first young members of Congress to call for a trade war against Britain called?
 Definition
War Hawks
Term
Who served as president during the war of 1812?
 Definition
James Madison
Term
What was the document the ended the War of 1812 called?
 Definition
The Treaty of Ghent.
Term
What was the last major conflict of the War of 1812?
 Definition
The Battle of New Orleans.
Term
What did the Treaty of Fort Jackson force the Creek Indians to do?
 Definition
Give up 23 million acres of land.
Term
What was the first thing the British did after their ranks were reinforced in April of 1814?
 Definition
They attacked the city of Washington.
Term
What did the United States believe was the last straw in Britain's breach of U.S. neutrality during the British-French conflict?
 Definition
The stopping of U.S. Navy ships to take run-away sailors back by force.
Term
What would a Federalist might have stated?
 Definition
"Good relations with the British are essential to the health of New England's economy. Better to forge friendly business ties than to fight another war."
Term
What is judicial review best defined as?
 Definition
The power of the judiciary to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional.
Term
Jefferson took office in 1801 and allowed which political party to control the legislative and executive branches of federal government?
 Definition
The Republicans.
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