Grade 8 Social Studies Practice Test: From the Constitution to Reconstruction
- From the Constitution to Reconstruction
- 15 questions
- 20 minutes
This test covers Grade 8 U.S. history from the Articles of Confederation to Reconstruction: the Constitution, westward expansion, the conflict over slavery, the Civil War and the amendments that followed. Tip: link each compromise or law to the problem it tried to solve.
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Question 1
What was a major weakness of the national government under the Articles of Confederation?
Correct answer: A
Under the Articles, Congress could only ask the states for money and had no power to tax. There was no president or national court system at all.
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Question 2
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, large and small states disagreed about representation in Congress.
How did the Great Compromise settle the dispute?
Correct answer: C
The Great (Connecticut) Compromise created two houses: the House of Representatives based on population, which pleased large states, and the Senate with two members per state, which pleased small states.
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Question 3
What did the Three-Fifths Compromise decide?
Correct answer: B
Three of every five enslaved people were counted toward a state's population. Southern states wanted them counted to gain House seats, and Northern states objected.
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Question 4
What did many Anti-Federalists demand before they would support the Constitution?
Correct answer: D
Anti-Federalists feared a strong national government. Promises to add a bill of rights helped win ratification, and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.
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Question 5
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from which country?
Correct answer: A
The United States bought Louisiana from Napoleon's France, which roughly doubled the size of the country. Spain had given the territory back to France shortly before.
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Question 6
What did the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 say?
Correct answer: B
President James Monroe warned European powers not to create new colonies or interfere in the Western Hemisphere. The United States got Florida from Spain, not Britain.
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Question 7
In 1838-1839, U.S. soldiers forced thousands of Cherokee people to leave their homes in the Southeast and walk to Indian Territory. Thousands died along the way.
What is this forced removal called?
Correct answer: C
The Trail of Tears followed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Oregon and Santa Fe Trails were routes used by settlers and traders heading west.
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Question 8
In the 1840s, many Americans believed the United States was meant to spread across North America to the Pacific Ocean. What was this belief called?
Correct answer: D
Manifest Destiny was used to support expansion into Texas, Oregon and California. Popular sovereignty meant letting settlers vote on slavery in a territory.
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Question 9
What did the Missouri Compromise of 1820 do?
Correct answer: A
The compromise kept the balance of slave and free states and banned slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36°30′, except in Missouri. California became a free state under the Compromise of 1850.
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Question 10
The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state. What did the South get in return?
Correct answer: B
The new Fugitive Slave Act required people in free states to help return people who had escaped slavery, which angered many Northerners.
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Question 11
What did the Supreme Court decide in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)?
Correct answer: C
The Court ruled against Scott, said Black Americans were not citizens, and said Congress could not ban slavery in the territories. The decision deepened the divide between North and South. School segregation was struck down much later, in 1954.
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Question 12
Which event led South Carolina to secede from the Union in December 1860?
Correct answer: D
Southern leaders feared Lincoln would stop the spread of slavery, so South Carolina seceded soon after his election. The attack on Fort Sumter came later, in April 1861.
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Question 13
The Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, declared freedom for enslaved people in
Correct answer: A
Lincoln's order applied only to areas in rebellion, so it did not free enslaved people in loyal border states such as Kentucky. Slavery was ended everywhere by the 13th Amendment in 1865.
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Question 14
Where did Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865?
Correct answer: B
Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, which effectively ended the war. Gettysburg and Vicksburg were Union victories in July 1863.
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Question 15
Which Reconstruction amendment made all people born in the United States citizens and promised equal protection of the laws?
Correct answer: C
The 14th Amendment (1868) defined citizenship and guaranteed equal protection. The 13th abolished slavery, and the 15th protected the right to vote regardless of race.
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