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US History Pre-Test

Total questions: 75

Worksheet time: 39mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

He was a Spanish explorer who claimed land for Spain that is now the state of Florida. He was looking for the Fountain of Youth. He became the first Spanish explorer to set foot on land that became part of the United States.

a)

Juan Ponce de Leon

b)

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

c)

John Cabot

d)

Ferdinand Magellan

2.

This explorer was the first to reach the Pacific Ocean. He was the first to see it.

a)

Christopher Columbus

b)

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

c)

Amerigo Vespuci

d)

John Cabot

3.

His crew was the first to successfully sail around the entire world. He died in a battle in the Philippine Islands though.

a)

John Cabot

b)

Ferdinand Magellan

c)

Christopher Columbus

d)

Amerigo Vespucci

4.

His name was eventually used in naming the continents North and South America. He was the man who finally figured out they were not in Asia. He sailed down the coast of South America.

a)

John Cabot

b)

Juan Ponce de Leon

c)

Amerigo Vespucci

d)

Christopher Columbus

5.

This man wrote about riches and gold in Asia. He is one of the main reasons so many countries and people wanted to find a route to Asia.

a)

Christopher Columbus

b)

Marco Polo

c)

Amerigo Vespucci

d)

Juan Ponce de Leon

6.

He was credited with finding America, but really didn't land in America. Wanted to find the East by sailing West. He was in search of finding Asia.

a)

Ferdinand Magellan

b)

Christopher Columbus

c)

Amerigo Vespucci

d)

Marco Polo

7.

A navigational tool that early explorers used.

a)

Compass

b)

Pencil and Paper

c)

Ipad

d)

Computer

8.

He was trying to find the Northwest Passage but got stuck in the frozen ice and snow. His crew mutinied against him by sending him out on a boat with 8 other crew members and he was never seen again.

a)

Christopher Columbus

b)

Henry Hudson

c)

Juan Ponce de Leon

d)

Hernando Cortez

9.

Explorers were trying to find a shortcut to _____________.

a)

Europe

b)

Africa

c)

Asia

d)

Antarctica

10.

The ocean that Christopher Columbus crossed on his voyage.

a)

Atlantic

b)

Pacific

c)

Indian

d)

Arctic

11.
What group of Europeans reached North America 500 years before Columbus?
a)
Dutch
b)
Spanish
c)
Vikings
d)
Portuguese 
12.
What new technology helped the explorers improve navigation in the 1400ś?
a)
compass
b)
astrolabe
c)
improved maps
d)
all of the choices
13.
Who opened a school to help explorers learn better ways to explore?
a)
Prince William
b)
Prince James
c)
Prince Henry
d)
Columbus
14.
Who was the leader of the first expedition around the world?
a)
Henry Hudson
b)
Columbus
c)
Cortes
d)
Magellan
15.
What is the name of a Spanish explorer/soldier? 
a)
conquistador
b)
viking
c)
warrior
d)
super hero
16.
What conquistador defeated the Aztecs in Mexico?
a)
Henry Hudson
b)
Columbus
c)
Cortes
d)
Ponce de Leon
17.
What were Verrazano, Cartier, and Hudson searching for in North America?
a)
the City of Gold
b)
the Fountain of Youth
c)
the Northwest passage to Asia
d)
all of the above
18.

Some early explorers hoped to gain wealth by controlling the new trade routes.

a)

True

b)

False

19.

Which of the following best describes what the Continental Congresses were?

a)

a series of meetings planned to respond to England

b)

a provisional government designed to negotiate peace

c)

a local Pennsylvania legislature debating England's taxes

20.

Which of the following was NOT an outcome of the 2nd Continental Congress?

a)

created Continental Army

b)

wrote Declaration of Independence

c)

elected Washington President

d)

print paper money

21.

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

a)

George Washington

b)

Sam Adams

c)

John Adams

d)

Thomas Jefferson

22.

Which (original) Enlightenment thinker influenced the writing of the Dec of Independence?

a)

Carl Marx

b)

John Locke

c)

Thomas Paine

d)

Thomas Jefferson

23.

"Unalienable rights" are similar to which of the following ideas?

a)

right to rebel

b)

natural rights

c)

popular sovereignty

24.

The idea that the power to rule comes from the people is known as

a)

right to rebel

b)

natural rights

c)

popular sovereignty

25.

The idea that the people must overthrow an unjust government is known as

a)

right to rebel

b)

natural rights

c)

popular sovereignty

26.

What impact does Thomas Paine have on the American Revolution?

a)

he persuades the colonists to rebel

b)

he persuades the colonists to remian loyal

c)

he persuades the colonists to immigrate to England

27.

What was the first battle of the American Revolution?

a)

Guilford Courthouse

b)

Trenton

c)

Yorktown

d)

Lexington & Concord

28.

Which Founder Father made the first call for "national" (or colonial) unity?

a)

Samuel Adams

b)

George Washington

c)

Benjamin Franklin

d)

John Hancock

29.
The United States is a republic because...
a)
Citizens rule through elected representatives.
b)
we have three branches of government.
c)
we have a bicameral legislative branch.
d)
we follow the rules of the Constitution
30.
Which of the following was NOT included in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?
a)
Slavery Was Illegal
b)
Trade Regulations Between States
c)
Allowed Native American Land Claims
d)
Created Five New States
31.
Where did the Virginia Plan want power to be placed in the legislative branch?
a)
Amount of Taxes Collected
b)
Equal for Every State
c)
Size of Army
d)
Population
32.
What was the agreement Roger Sherman created to create the current Legislative Branch of the United States?
a)
3/5ths Compromise
b)
The Great Compromise
c)
The Sherman Compromise
d)
The New Virginia Plan
33.
The 3/5ths Compromise dealt with this issue in the Constitution.
a)
Trade Regulations
b)
Controlling Inflation Across State Lines
c)
Counting Enslaved People in Tax Collection
d)
Counting Enslaved People in the Population
34.
The first 10 Amendments in the US Constitution are called...
a)
Articles of Confederation
b)
Bill of Rights
c)
The Founding Amendments
d)
The Airing of Grievances 
35.
The house that power is based on population in the Legislative Branch is called.
a)
Senate
b)
Republic
c)
House of Representatives
d)
Supreme Court
36.
How did railroads impact the prices of goods & services?
a)
Made goods and services more expensive & harder to ship
b)
Made goods and services cheaper & easier to ship
c)
Gave people safer transportation
d)
Opened new land for exploring and settlements
37.

Where did the Industrial Revolution begin?

a)

United States

b)

England

c)

France

d)

Germany

38.

What was he production method of using work that was created by people in their homes called?

a)

Abode Industry

b)

Home and Hearth Industry

c)

Castle Industry

d)

Cottage Industry

39.

Which time period was marked by advances in technology which made farming easier and more productive?

a)

Agricultural Revolution

b)

Digital Revolution

c)

New England Revolution

d)

Scientific Revolution

40.

Which effect did coal have on the Industrial Revolution?

a)

It was converted into steel in huge furnaces

b)

It was a profitable job to make coal in the factories

c)

It replaced petroleum as the most popular fuel in the world

d)

It was used to power new machines

41.

Which word is used to describe the rapid growth of cities during the Industrial Revolution?

a)

Decriminalization

b)

Capitalism

c)

Gentrification

d)

Urbanization

42.

What was one cause of the population spike during the Industrial Revolution?

a)

New theories about childbirth

b)

Rise of textile factories

c)

Agricultural advances

d)

Socialism

43.

Which social class grew the most because of the Industrial Revolution?

a)

Wealthy

b)

Upper class

c)

Middle class

d)

Working class

44.

What is one reason why employers would hire women instead of men?

a)

Women work harder

b)

Employers could pay women less money

c)

Women have more experience than men

d)

Women can do more difficult tasks

45.

Which phrase best illustrates the theory of laissez-faire capitalism?

a)

the state establishing production quotas

b)

decisions related to distribution being based on community traditions

c)

central planning committees setting prices on goods

d)

businesses operating with little government regulation

46.

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of capitalism?

a)

government control of the economy

b)

competition and consumer sovereignty

c)

private ownership

d)

pursuit of personal profit

47.

Who invented the telegraph and Morse Code?

a)

Samuel Morse

b)

Alfred Vail

c)

Cyrus McCormick

d)

Sarah Bagley

48.

Where was most of America's industry (factories) located in the 1800s?

a)

North

b)

South

c)

along the entire east coast

d)

West

49.
Improved transportation led to
a)
more people moving to the cities and to the west
b)
less industrial production
c)
higher taxes on the middle class
d)
higher export taxes
50.
A preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience
a)
prejudice
b)
discrimination
c)
racism
d)
segregation
51.
Why did factory owners hire children?
a)
to keep costs down
b)
to be mean
c)
they only hired children who got kicked out of school
d)
they worked harder than the adults
52.
How were free blacks treated in the North?
a)
they faced prejudice and discrimination
b)
they were treated equally
c)
they were captured and sold into slavery
d)
they were treated fairly most of the time
53.
Which statement is TRUE of early factories?
a)
they were dirty, loud, and dangerous
b)
they were great places to work
c)
most were found in the west and south
d)
many laws were passed to help and protect workers 
54.
Which of the following is NOT a reason for the rapid growth of cities?
a)
an increase in farm production
b)
immigration
c)
an increase in trade
d)
an increase in factory output
55.
Slave codes are BEST described as
a)
state laws in the South to control slaves
b)
laws which allow slaves to buy their freedom
c)
laws that give slaves more freedom
d)
a way for slaves to secretly communicate
56.
White Southerners who owned no slaves and no land were called
a)
tenant farmers
b)
yeoman farmers
c)
planters
d)
indentured servants
57.

What was the nickname for the journey slaves were forced to make across the Atlantic in slave ships?

a)

The First Passage

b)

The Middle Passage

c)

The Middle Voyage

d)

The Slave Ship

58.

Which invention greatly increased the demand for cotton and slave labor?

a)

the sewing machine

b)

the cotton gin

c)

the locomotive

d)

clipper ships

59.

By the 1850s, slavery and cotton growth was focused in the...

a)

Upper South

b)

Deep South

c)

Mid-Atlantic

d)

North

60.

Which compromise outlawed slavery above the 36 30' line in the Louisiana Territory?

a)

Missouri Compromise

b)

Compromise of 1850

c)

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

d)

Louisiana Compromise

61.

Which region had an economy primarily based on agriculture and slave labor.

a)

North

b)

South

c)

West

62.

Which of the following was NOT an event that caused division between the North and South?

a)

Wilmot Proviso

b)

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

c)

Dred Scott v. Sandford

d)

Indian Removal Act

63.

This novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe brought awareness to slavery and helped increase abolition.

a)

The Underground Railroad

b)

The Scarlet Letter

c)

Uncle Tom's Cabin

d)

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

64.

Which of the following words means that a person places the interests of a small area over the interests of the entire country?

a)

Sectionalism

b)

Nationalism

c)

Popular Sovereignty

d)

Secession

65.

Every state north of Missouri's 36°30′ border had to be what kind of state?

a)

Frontier

b)

Manifest Destiny

c)

Free State

d)

Slave State

66.

In the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court...

a)

avoided controversy by ruling that Dred Scott had no right to sue in federal court.

b)

ruled that slaves could sue in federal court only if their masters allowed them to do so.

c)

ruled that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories because slaves were private property.

d)

ruled that a slave that had been transported to a free state or territory was a free citizen of the Untied States.

67.

The Compromise of 1850...

a)

allowed California to enter as a free state.

b)

gave all of the land taken from Mexico to Texas.

c)

banned slavery in Texas

d)

ended the Fugitive Slave law.

68.

Which region of the country had a lot of manufacturing?

a)

The North

b)

The South

c)

The West

69.

What was the secret organization that helped slaves to escape to freedom?

a)

Underground Railroad

b)

American Temperance Union

c)

Seneca Falls Convention

d)

National Road

70.

This construction helped increase manufacturing in the Northeast by bring raw materials from the midwest states

a)

Transcontinental Railroad

b)

Steamboat

c)

The Erie Canal

d)

The Steal Plow

71.

Who was the president of the Confederacy?

a)

Abraham Lincoln

b)

Ulysses S. Grant

c)

Jefferson Davis

d)

Robert E. Lee

72.
This was the President of the Union.
a)
Jefferson Davis
b)
Robert E. Lee
c)
Ulysses S Grant
d)
Abraham Lincoln
73.

What river was an important resource during the war?

a)

Missouri

b)

Mississippi

c)

Amazon

d)

Delaware

74.

What was the capital of the Confederacy?

a)

Washington D.C.

b)

Atlanta, GA

c)

Philadelphia, PA

d)

Richmond, VA

75.

What document does Lincoln refer to in the Gettysburg Address to remind people that "all men are created equal"?

a)

Declaration of Independence

b)

Constitution

c)

Mayflower Compact

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