Key U.S. History Questions for 8th Grade TAKS Review

1. 8th grade TAKS Review

2. [1. Who was the first President of the United States?] • [Thomas Jefferson] • [George Washington] • [John Adams] • [Thomas Paine]

3. [2. Which President purchased the Louisiana Territory in 1803?] • [George Washington] • [John Adams] • [Thomas Jefferson] • [Alexander Hamilton]

4. [3. What court case brought about judicial review?] • [Marbury v.Madison] • [McCulloch v. Maryland] • [Smith v. Wesson] • [Adams v. Adams]

5. [4. What was the document announced the U.S. was an independent nation?] • [Magna Carta] • [Mayflower Compact] • [Common Sense] • [Declaration of Independence]

6. [5. What year was the Declaration of Independence written?] • [1607] • [1776] • [1787] • [1803]

7. [6. What year did the U.S. purchase the Louisiana Territory?] • [1607] • [1776] • [1787] • [1803]

8. [8. Which battle ended the American Revolution?] • [Lexington] • [Saratoga] • [Yorktown] • [Bull Run]

9. [9. Who wrote Common Sense supporting American Independence from Great Britain?] • [Thomas Jefferson] • [Thomas Paine] • [John Adams] • [Ben Franklin]

10. [10. Who was known as the “Father of the Constitution”?] • [James Madison] • [George Washington] • [Thomas Jefferson ] • [John Adams]

11. [11. Who was the President of the U.S. during the Civil War?] • [Ulysses S. Grant] • [George Washinton] • [Abraham Lincoln] • [Andrew Jackson]

12. [12. Which battle started the Civil War? ] • [Vicksburg ] • [Gettysburg] • [Saratoga] • [Firing on Ft. Sumter]

13. [13. What was the main cash crop of the South before the Civil War?] • [cotton ] • [tobacco] • [corn] • [wheat]

14. [14. Which President was the first elected by the common people? • [John Quincy Adams] • [Andrew Jackson] • [William Henry Harrison] • [John Tyler]

15. [15. What independent country became part of the U.S. in 1845?] • [Canada] • [Mexico] • [Florida] • [Texas]

16. 16. Which political party revolved around Alexander Hamilton who believed in a strong government and was supported by industry? • A. Federalist • B. Democratic-Republican • C. Whig • D. Know-Nothing

17. 17. What was the belief in the 19th century that the U.S. would run from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean? • A. Federalism • B. Sectionalism • C. Manifest Destiny • D. Industrialization

18. 18. What was the name given to the journey taken by the Cherokee Indians in which a number of them died? • A. Indian parade • B. Jackson’s jubilee • C. Trail of Tears • D. Cherokee chuckwagon

19. 19. What land did the U.S. gain in 1846 in a treaty with Great Britain? • A. California • B. Florida • C. Texas • D. Oregon

20. 20. What land did the U.S. acquire from Spain in 1819? • A. Texas • B. Oregon • C. Florida • D. California

21. 21. What law passed in 1830 required all Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi River? • A. Manifest Destiny • B. Immigration law • C. Indian Removal Act • D. Law of westward expansion

22. 22. What conflict happened because of impressments and the British capturing American ships? • A. Texas Revolution • B. War of 1812 • C. Civil War • D. American Revolution

23. 23. What was the first Constitution of the United States? • A. Articles of Confederation • B. Magna Carta • C. English Bill of Rights • D. Mayflowers Compact

24. 24. What was the first representative assembly in the Colonies? • A. Congress • B. Parliament • C. House of Burgesses • D. Supreme Court

25. 25. What keeps any one branch of the government from becoming too powerful? • A. Veto power • B. Separation of power • C. Absolute power • D. Presidential power

26. 26. Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence? • A. Ben Franklin • B. Thomas Paine • C. Roger Sherman • D. Thomas Jefferson

27. 27. In what year was the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown founded? • A. 1607 • B. 1620 • C. 1776 • D. 1787

28. 28. Where were the opening battles of the American Revolution? • A. Yorktown • B. Bull Run • C. Saratoga • D. Lexington-Concord

29. 29. What treaty ended the American Revolution? • A. Treaty of Paris 1783 • B. Treaty of Ghent • C. Treaty of Virginia • D. Treaty of Versailles

30. 30. What was the economy in the southern colonies based on? • A. Factories • B. Ship building • C. Plantations • D. Fur trading

31. 31. What is the buying and selling of humans for forced labor? • A. Slavery • B. Indentured servant • C. Apprentice • D. Mercenary

32. 32. Who was an inventor, scientist, and a minister to France? • A. Thomas Jefferson • B. George Washington • C. Ben Franklin • D. John Adams

33. 33. Branch of government that makes the laws. • A. Legislative • B. Executive • C. Judicial

34. 34. Branch of government that carries out the laws. • A. Legislative • B. Executive • C. Judicial

35. 35. Branch of government that interprets the laws. • A. Legislative • B. Executive • C. Judicial

36. 36. Author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin which presented a negative view of slavery. • A. Elizabeth Cady Stanton • B. Susan B. Anthony • C. Harriet Beecher Stowe • D. Sojourner Truth

37. 37. Movement to limit or ban the use of alcohol. • A. Abolition • B. Temperance • C. Women’s rights movement • D. Manifest Destiny

38. 38. Who was the African American abolitionist leader who was a former slave and spoke about equal rights? • A. William Lloyd Garrison • B. Nat Turner • C. Frederick Douglass • D. Horace Mann

39. 39. Who was the leader for free public school education movement? • A. William Lloyd Garrison • B. Nat Turner • C. Frederick Douglass • D. Horace Mann

40. 40. What law allowed Kansas and Nebraska to use popular sovereignty to decide on the issue of slavery? • A. Compromise of 1850 • B. Wilmot Proviso • C. Kansas-Nebraska Act • D. Fugitive Slave Act

41. 41. What is the support and loyalty to a certain region of the country? • A. Sectionalism • B. Nationalism • C. Federalism • D. Mercantilism

42. 42. Who was the commander of the Confederate (south) Army during the Civil War? • A. Jefferson Davis • B. Robert E. Lee • C. Jeb Scott • D. Andrew Jackson

43. 43. Which amendment abolished slavery and made it illegal? • A. First Amendment • B. Tenth Amendment • C. Thirteenth Amendment • D. Fifteenth Amendment

44. 44. What used steam engines and tracks to move people? • A. Railroad • B. Canals • C. Bridges • D. Canoes

45. 45. Who invented the Cotton Gin? • A. Ben Franklin • B. John Deere • C. Cyrus McCormack • D. Eli Whitney

46. 46. Which plan proposed that Congress have 2 representatives from each state? • A. New Jersey Plan • B. Philadelphia Plan • C. Virginia Plan • D. New York Plan

47. 47.Which amendment bans double jeopardy, protects an accused person from self-incrimination? • A. First Amendment • B. Fourth Amendment • C. Fifth Amendment • D. Tenth Amendment

48. 48. Which amendment forbids the government to order private citizens to allow soldiers to live in their homes? • A. First Amendment • B. Second Amendment • C. Third Amendment • D. Fifth Amendment

49. 49. Who founded Pennsylvania? • A. John Smith • B. Duke of York • C. William Penn • D. Lord Baltimore

50. 50. Which religious group of people helped the Indians? • A. Quakers • B. Mormons • C. Baptists • D. Methodists