Social Studies

Question 1

Why were joint stock companies a good way of financing new colonies in North America?

Answer 1

They split profits and divided losses so if it didn’t work out no one person would take a large hit.

Question 2

What is subsistence farming?

Answer 2

A farm that makes enough food for the family plus a small amount extra for trade.

Question 3

What was the importance of cash crops?

Answer 3

They could be sold for money they might need.

Question 4

Explain triangular trade.

Answer 4

The transatlantic trade of goods between Africa, England, Europe, the West Indies, and colonies in North America.

Question 5

What is the Albany plan of union?

Answer 5

The first formal proposal to unite the American colonies, made by Benjamin Franklin.

Question 6

The great enlightenment thinker john Locke argued that people have what natural rights?

Answer 6

Rights to life, liberty, and property.

Question 7

Why was Benjamin Franklin a man of reason and science?

Answer 7

He used reason to improve society. He proved Lightning was a form of electricity, he invented the lightning rod, a type of stove, and a type of eyeglasses.

Question 8

Why were the British soldiers stationed in the colonies in 1763?

Answer 8

To keep colonists from settling west of the Appalachians.

Question 9

Who was the author of common sensed?

Answer 9

Thomas Paine

Question 10

On March 5, 1770, what fight broke out between British soldiers and dock workers?

Answer 10

The Boston massacre

Question 11

Who was the commander of the continental army?

Answer 11

George Washington

Question 12

What did the marquis de Lafayette volunteer to do for the continental army?

Answer 12

It volunteered to be a major general without pay

Question 13

What was the purpose of the British strategy to seize the Hudson River valley?

Answer 13

It would cut off an American water source and would separate the New England colonies.

Question 14

Explain federalism

Answer 14

A system of government where power is shared among the central government and the states

Question 15

Why is James Madison known as the “father of the constitution”?

Answer 15

He contributed to the creation of the constitution by writing essays to help ratify it.

Question 16

What is the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

Answer 16

It described how the northwest territory was to be governed and set conditions for settlement and settlers rights

Question 17

Who was given land in the north west territory as payment?

Answer 17

France

Question 18

What best explains why Americans feared a strong national government?

Answer 18

They feared their individual rights would be controlled or limited

Question 19

What did Virginia a New York want added to the constitution?

Answer 19

A bill of rights

Question 20

Why did anti federalists dislike the proposed constitution?

Answer 20

They thought it took to much power away from the states and did not guarantee rights for the people

Question 21

What was the XYZ affair

Answer 21

1797incident in which French officials demanded a bribe from US diplomats

Question 22

How did Alexander Hamilton deal with the nations financial problems?

Answer 22

He came up with a plan:

1) pay off all war debts
2) raise government revenues
3) create s national bank

Question 23

What is judicial review

Answer 23

The principle that the Supreme Court has the final say in interpreting the constitution

Question 24

What problem troubled Jefferson about the purchase of Louisiana?

Answer 24

The constitution said nothing about the presidents right to buy land

Question 25

Why did Jefferson send the corps of discovery into the Louisiana territory?

Answer 25

To explore the land he purchased

Question 26

How did native Americans aid the Lewis and Clark expedition?

Answer 26

They helped identify land, cross mountains, they helped with language skills, and knowledge of geography.

Question 27

What did the Adams-Onis treaty of 1819 accomplish?

Answer 27

Spain handed Florida to the US and gave up claims in the Oregon

Question 28

What is the cotton gin? What was good and bad about this invention?

Answer 28

It was a device that cleaned seeds out of cotton. It was good because it made cleaning cotton fast and easy. It was bad because native Americans were driven off southern land for more plantations

Question 29

Why was the Missouri compromise so important for the nation?

Answer 29

It kept the balance of power in the senate between the slave states and the free states

Question 30

Why did Andrew Jackson dislike the national bank?

Answer 30

He distrusted banks because he thought they had to much power and they could influence congress

Question 31

What did Andrew Jacksons practice of rewarding his political backers become known as?

Answer 31

The spoils system

Question 32

What group of Americans sought religious freedom in the west?

Answer 32

The Mormons

Question 33

For what reason is Harriet Tubman famous?

Answer 33

She was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, she escaped slavery, and helped others escape

Question 34

What special contribution did Susan B Anthony make to the woman’s movement?

Answer 34

She built the movement into an organization, supported laws that gave women rights, and fought for suffrage.

Question 35

Why was the Republican Party formed?

Answer 35

Southern Whigs supported the Kansas-Nebraska act while northern Whigs opposed it. Northerners and other opposers created the Republican Party

Question 36

How did the outbreak off the war with Mexico revive disagreements over slavery?

Answer 36

Northerners believed that southerners wanted to take territory from Mexico in order to extend slavery.

Question 37

How did the Supreme Court add to the tension over slavery in the 1850s?

Answer 37

In the case Dredd vs Scott, they ruled against Scott saying he was not a IS citizen

Question 38

On what subject did most northern whites and southern whites agree?

Answer 38

Racism- they didn’t want to go to school with, work with, or live near black people. They also didn’t allow them to vote

Question 39

Why did the southern states decide to secede after the election of 1860?

Answer 39

Lincoln was elected president

Question 40

What was one northern strategy for winning the civil war?

Answer 40

One strategy was the anaconda plan which was designed to surround the south with a blockade and smother their economy

Question 41

What advantage did the north have over the south in the civil war?

Answer 41

The north had way more people, more railroad mileage, and they had president Lincoln.

Question 42

What advance in technology made the civil war much deadlier than earlier American wars?

Answer 42

Rifles had new bullets called Minnie balls that could be shot faster and more accurate

Question 43

What are the border states?

Answer 43

The states that lined the border between the north and south.

Question 44

For what reason is the 54th Massachusetts regiment remembered today?

Answer 44

It was the first all black regiment

Question 45

Why were some abolitionists upset with Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation?

Answer 45

It did not free all slaves only some

Question 46

Why did poor southern whites complain that the civil war was a “rich mans war but a poor mans fight”?

Answer 46

Rich men were able to pay someone less wealthy to fight for them when they were supposed to be drafted.

Question 47

What is meant by the statement that William Tecumseh Sherman waged total war?

Answer 47

He destroyed anything that could support his enemy

Question 48

What brought reconstruction to an end in the south?

Answer 48

Ruthford B Hayes is inaugurated as president

Question 49

What did the 15th amendment do?

Answer 49

Guaranteed voting rights for native Americans.

Question 50

What did the freed and bureau do?

Answer 50

It set up schools and hospitals for African Americans and distributed supplies to the south.

Question 51

The New England way was a set of beliefs that…

Answer 51

Emphasized duty, godliness, hard work, and honesty.