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Social Studies Benchmark Review

Total questions: 53

Worksheet time: 27mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

The United States borders which two countries?

a)

Canada and Central America

b)

Central America and Europe

c)

West America and East America

d)

Canada and Mexico

2.

Which state can claim to have the highest point in the United States?

a)

California

b)

Colorado

c)

Washington

d)

Alaska

3.

The great lakes border the United States and __________

a)

Canada

b)

Mexico

c)

Florida

d)

Brazil

4.

How did the first Native Americans come to North America?

a)

They migrated from what is now Mexico

b)

They crossed a land bridge from Asia

c)

They arrived by ships

d)

They arrived by horseback

5.

What was the first permanent European settlement?

a)

Jamestown

b)

New Haven

c)

Plymouth

d)

St. Augustine

6.

What event led to the Lewis and Clark expedition?

a)

Louisiana Purchase

b)

Spanish-American War

c)

Oregon Trail

d)

Manifest Destiny

7.

What do Rosa Parks and MLK Jr have in common?

a)

Both were leaders in the Civil Rights movement

b)

Both fought for the right of women to vote

c)

Both worked on aircrafts during WWII

d)

Both were killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center

8.

Which of the following is a major benefit of the U.S. free enterprise system?

a)

no competition

b)

private property

c)

limited capital

d)

social programs

9.

Which two countries joined with the US to create the world's largest free trade area?

a)

Mexico and China

b)

Mexico and Canada

c)

Brazil and Canada

d)

China and Canada

10.

What was the goal of the abolitionist movement?

a)

to end the practice of slavery entirely

b)

to punish slaveholders

c)

to regulate the cotton industry

d)

to free slaves who had been imprisoned

11.

The check and balances system outlined in the US Constitution were created to allow the three branches to ___

a)

raise money through taxes

b)

function independently

c)

control the actions of state governments

d)

prevent each other from gaining too much power; limits the power of each other

12.

Popular sovereignty, a principle set forth is the Constitution, means that

a)

People DON'T elect their political representatives

b)

Power is divided between national and state governments

c)

The source of the government's power comes from the people, usually through voting

d)

Each branch of government has its own responsibilities

13.

________ means to approve by voting

a)

ratify

b)

nullification

c)

suffrage

d)

segregation

14.

________ is the right or privilege of voting; women wanted to vote!

a)

segregation

b)

suffrage

c)

socialism

d)

great compromise

15.

_________ is to separate people based on race, ethnic group, or religion.

a)

suffrage

b)

socialism

c)

segregation

d)

sectionalism

16.

_________ was a leader in the struggle for women's rights and women's suffrage movement. Women wanted the right to vote!

a)

Martha Washington

b)

Marian Anderson

c)

Bessie Coleman

d)

Susan B. Anthony

17.

This was a nonviolent American protest against the British Tea Act

a)

Boston Tea Party

b)

Nullification Party

c)

Tariff

d)

Virginia Tea Party

18.

The "Great Charter" of English liberties forced from King John by the English barons in 1215. This became the role model for any fundamental constitution or law guaranteeing right and liberties, such as trial by jury and fair tax.

a)

tariff

b)

Magna Carta

c)

suffrage

d)

socialism

19.

Who was the King of England during the American Revolution?

a)

King Frederick IV

b)

King Malcolm V

c)

King George III

d)

King John II

20.

Our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This was expressed by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.

a)

segregation

b)

socialism

c)

unalienable rights

d)

sectionalism

21.

The struggle by which the 13 American colonies, led by George Washington, won independence from Great Britain and became the United States of America.

a)

American Revolution

b)

Magna Carta

c)

Declaration of Independence

d)

Suffrage

22.

A form of government that is run for the people by the people, giving people the supreme power. The US bases their government system off this idea.

a)

dictatorship

b)

facism

c)

socialism

d)

democracy

23.

Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from May-June 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed in the Articles of Confederation.

a)

Manifest Destiny

b)

Mercantilism

c)

Constitutional Convention of 1787

d)

Treaty

24.

The Judicial, Executive, and Legislative are called what?

a)

The Big 3

b)

Legislative Branch

c)

the three judges

d)

The 3 branches of government

25.

The wife of John Adams and the second first lady of the US. She was the mother of John Quincy Adams and helped start what would be known as the Women's Rights Movement.

a)

Martha Washington

b)

Abigail Adams

c)

Rosa Parks

d)

Rhonda Adams

26.

An escaped slave who became a leader in the anti-slavery (abolitionist) movement in America. He was an orator, writer, and political leader.

a)

Tyke Martin

b)

Frederick Douglass

c)

Harriet Tubman

d)

MLK Jr.

27.

Movement started in Great Britain in the late 1700s which increases productivity and lowered prices by using machines to make goods rather than making them by hand. This led to great change in the way work was done and how people lived.

a)

Urbanization

b)

Mercantilism

c)

Industrial Revolution

d)

Rural

28.

French soldier who served under George Washington in the American Revolution. He was a statesman and a liberal leader. He later took the ideals he learned in the American Revolution back to France and became a prominent leader in the French Revolution.

a)

Marquis de Lafayette

b)

Cherisse Neal

c)

James Hamilton

d)

Frederick Douglass

29.

Was the Spanish hero of the American Revolutionary War and was the Governor of the Spanish colony of Louisiana from 1775-1783

a)

Santa Anna

b)

Miguel Vera

c)

Bernardo De Galvez

d)

Oscar Lopez

30.

An inventor, statesman, diplomat, signer of the the Declaration of Independence, and Delegate to the Constitutional Convention.

a)

Theodore Roosevelt

b)

Martin Luther King

c)

Benjamin Franklin

d)

George Bush

31.

This amendment gives the 5 freedoms: freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.

a)

10th amendment

b)

1st amendment

c)

4th amendment

d)

3rd amendment

32.

Which of the following is a characteristic of fascism?

a)

military dictatorship

b)

nationalist sentiment

c)

exploitation of people's fear

d)

all of the above

33.

Which of the following is the best example of propaganda?

a)

a television show about a family who lives in Italy under Mussolini

b)

a billboard saying that Russians are well fed while they are actually starving

c)

an invitation to a rally for workers rights sent in the mail

d)

a letter from one German Jew to another warning of the government's anti-semitism

34.

In FDR's inaugural address, he said "The only thing we have to fear is________"

a)

fear itself

b)

truth

c)

terror

d)

the Depression

35.

How did Adolf Hitler win the support of the German people?

a)

He formed a secret alliance

b)

He blamed groups like the Jews for Germany's economic and social programs

c)

He created the New Deal to fix Germany's economic and social problems

d)

He gave speeches supporting tolerance of different religious groups.

36.

What event directly caused the US to join WWII?

a)

the discovery of concentration camps in Europe

b)

the sinking if American warships by German U-boats

c)

the bombing of Pearl Harbor

d)

Hiltler's invasion of Poland

37.

What happened on D-Day?

a)

The US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima

b)

Russia declared war on Japan

c)

Germany surrendered to the Allies

d)

The Allies liberated France and Italy from Germany's control

38.

Which of the following was a reason that Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on Japan?

a)

Japan was threatening to drop atomic bombs on US naval bases

b)

An invasion of Japan could have cost up to 1 million American soldier lives

c)

Truman did not know how destructive the atomic bombs would be

d)

Russia declared war on Japan

39.

Which famous historical figure first told President Roosevelt about the possibility of creating an atomic bomb?

a)

Thomas Edison

b)

Albert Einstein

c)

Benito Mussolini

d)

Adolf Hitler

40.

What was the major decision that President Truman faced in 1945?

a)

whether to drop atomic bombs on Japan

b)

whether to surrender to Germany

c)

whether to take over for President Roosevelt

d)

whether to declare war on Japan

41.

What happened in late April and early May of 1945?

a)

France and Italy were liberated from Germany's control

b)

Hitler first rose to power

c)

Germany surrendered and Hitler committed suicide

d)

Germany invaded Poland, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France

42.

What was the purpose of the original concentration camps built in the early 1930's?

a)

to exterminate groups like Jews and gypsies

b)

to be Adolf Hitler's headquarters during the war

c)

to imprison Allied forces during the war

d)

to imprison groups like Jews and Gypsies and have them perform slave labor

43.

Which of these best describes the attack on Pearl Harbor?

a)

a catastrophic ambush

b)

an ineffective strike

c)

a false alarm

d)

a setback to America's war efforts

44.

In 1933, concentration camps in Germany ________

a)

were death camps where millions of people were killed

b)

held many different groups of people prisoner

c)

did not exist

d)

were all closed

45.

The Holocaust is recognized as the _______

a)

end of the war in Europe in 1945

b)

persecution of Jewish people by the Nazis during World War I

c)

Murder of millions of Jewish people by the Nazis during World War II

d)

Period of violence after World War II

46.

Who did the Nazi party target?

a)

Roma people only

b)

Jewish people only

c)

Roma and Catholic people only

d)

Jewish, Roma, and disabled people, among other groups

47.

Which of the following did the Nazi party believe about race?

a)

Germans are elite and belong to the master Aryan race

b)

Race is a social construct that is not based in biology

c)

Only Jewish people are considered non-Aryan

d)

Only Italians belong to the master Aryan race

48.

What kind of laws did Adolf Hitler implement as head of state in Germany?

a)

Laws that reversed the Treaty of Versailles

b)

Anti-semitic laws that persecuted Jewish people

c)

Laws that made violence against not-Aryans illegal

d)

Laws that punished the US for WWI

49.

Under the Nazi regime, many Jewish people

a)

rebuilt synagogues

b)

opened new businesses

c)

were forced to live in ghettos

d)

found safety by fleeing to Poland

50.

On the Night of Broken Glass, Nazis________

a)

converted the homes of Jewish people into labor camps

b)

began the mass murder of Jewish people in death camps

c)

Confiscated the belongings of Jewish prisoners and sold them

d)

Attacked jewish people, burned synagogues, and pillaged businesses

51.

In concentration camps, prisoners were

a)

trained as soldiers and forced to fight for Germany in the war

b)

tattooed with numbers, and then sent home

c)

experimented on and forced to to do hard labor

d)

given good medical care

52.

What was Hitler's "final solution"?

a)

Executing all non-Aryans

b)

Executing all Jewish people

c)

Imprisoning all non-Germans

d)

Imprisoning all Jewish people

53.

Remembering the events of the Holocaust helps us _________

a)

learn how to stop a genocide

b)

honor the legacy of the victims

c)

work to ensure that such events never happen again

d)

all of the above