GED Social Studies

Which of the following is a primary source?

• A newspaper article written in 2020 about the Civil War

• A letter from a soldier who fought in the Civil War

• A textbook describing the Civil War

• A modern podcast about Civil War battles

What is a secondary source?

• A diary from a survivor of the Great Depression

• A photo taken during World War II

• A biography of Abraham Lincoln written in 2022

• A government speech made in 1863

Which of the following could be BOTH a primary and secondary source depending on use?

• A history podcast

• A speech from 1963 played in class

• A modern newspaper

• A textbook timeline

What caused the U.S. to enter World War II?

• Germany invaded Poland

• The stock market crashed

• Japan attacked Pearl Harbor

• The Cold War began

What was one effect of the Emancipation Proclamation?

• The North surrendered

• Slavery ended immediately in all states

• The purpose of the Civil War changed to ending slavery

• The U.S. joined World War I

What was a major effect of the Great Depression?

• The U.S. became wealthy

• New Deal programs were created to provide jobs

• Many new factories were built

• There was no change in American life

What caused the Cold War to begin?

• U.S. and USSR had different ideologies (capitalism vs communism)

• U.S. was invaded by the Soviet Union

• Germany won World War II

• France declared war on the USSR

Which of these is a fact?

• The Cold War was the most dangerous war

• The Civil War was unnecessary

• The Great Depression began in 1929

• World War I was the worst conflict ever

Which of these is an opinion?

• The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787

• Abraham Lincoln was the greatest president

• World War II ended in 1945

• The 13 colonies became independent in 1776

Which of the following contains both fact and opinion?

• “The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and it was the most important law ever.”

• “Slavery ended in 1865.”

• “Martin Luther King Jr. gave the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.”

• “The Cold War ended in 1991.”