Social Studies STAAR Practice I

BLACK CODES was a name given to laws passed by southern governments established during the presidency of Andrew Johnson. These laws imposed severe restrictions on freedmen, such as prohibiting their right to vote, forbidding them to sit on juries, and limiting their right to testify against white men. They were also forbidden from carrying weapons in public places and working in certain occupations.

—National Archives and Records Administration, http://www.archives.gov (accessed July 14, 2010)

Southern states passed the codes described in this excerpt in order to —

• limit the effects of the Reconstruction Amendments

• increase the labor supply for factory jobs in the North

• decrease the number of northern representatives in Congress

• improve relations with the Democratic Party

Which problem did George Washington encounter when he became president?

• Southern states were threatening to secede from the Union.

• The United States had large debts from the American Revolution.

• Great Britain was refusing to trade with the United States.

• The Articles of Confederation needed to be replaced with a stronger constitution

How did geography influence the early economic development of New York, Boston, and Charleston?

• Long coastlines offered abundant natural resources.

• Proximity to flooding rivers limited development.

• Natural harbors provided access to markets.

• Extreme climates limited productive activity.

During the early 1800s many young women in New England were employed outside their homes as —

• crew members on cargo ships

• cloth weavers in textile mills

• staff reporters for local newspapers

• legal counselors in state courts

After the end of the Revolutionary War, states were eager to expand into newly available territory. The states of New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia argued over competing claims to land west of the Appalachian Mountains. This conflict was addressed by the —

• Missouri Compromise

• Wilmot Proviso

• Northwest Ordinance

• Kansas-Nebraska Act

• In 1844, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail sent the first telegraph message between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland.

• In 1861, Western Union laid the first transcontinental telegraph line.

• In 1866, the first permanent telegraph cable was laid across the Atlantic Ocean.

What impact did this innovation have on daily life?

• It increased the regional differences among various groups of people across the country.

• It became a major method of long-distance communication for many years.

• It allowed people to sign legal documents from across the country.

• It was the government’s only method to negotiate with foreign leaders.

The geographic factors in this table led primarily to the —

• founding of trade schools in some colonies

• development of different economies in the two regions

• establishment of import taxes in some colonies

• pattern of religious differences in the two regions

How did southern states respond to the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment?

• By creating a segregated public education system

• By shutting down all remaining offices of Freedmen’s Bureau

• By imposing requirements designed to deny African Americans the right to vote

• By forcing African Americans to work as tenant farmers and sharecroppers

Which outcome best completes this diagram?

• American Revolution

• Popular Sovereignty

• Manifest Destiny

• Civil War

Which of the following best completes this excerpt?

• equal pay

• own property

• a public education

• vote