084 Social Studies (Secondary) - Sample Test Questions

Kush Kingdom

South of Egypt (Sudan)

Byzantine Empire

Constantinople was the capital, fell to Ottoman Turks in 1453, legalized Christianity

Hundred Years War

1337-1453 between England and France, England had lands in France & conflict over the throne

Spanish Inquisition

1478 by Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand & Isabella to maintain Catholic Orthodoxy. 150,000 persecutions; 35,000 executions. Identified heretics, then ordered Jews & Muslims to convert or leave Spain

Revolutions of 1848

revolts again monarchies of France, Germany, Italy, & Austrian Empire. All failed.

Meiji Restoration

restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji, consolidated political system.

Boxer Rebellion

China anti-western uprising 1899-1901

Russo-Japanese War

Rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria & Korea (1904-1905). Russia wanted warm water port. Japan offered compromise, but Russia refused.

Roman contributions

Architecture, public health programs, public welfare, Latin language, Virgil's Aeneid, & Roman calendar

Persian Empire

550 BCE-331 BCE, monarchs or oligarchy, Iranians settled in and set up cities

Chinese Revolution of 1911

Revolt against Qing Dynasty, established Replublic of China & ended imperial system

Hinduism

Vedas: Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, Atharda Veda

Buddhist

Tripitaka, Mahayana Sutras, Tibetan Book of Dead

Neolithic period

agricultural revolution, tribes no longer nomadic, irrigation & deforestation led to surplus of food, densely populated, division of labor

Mesopotamia

Between the two rivers: Tigris & Euphrates, Modern day Iraq , first language, religion & agriculture. Developed glass, Pythagorean theorem, & sanitation technology.

Ancient Egypt

Pyramids, tombs to Pharoahs, 130 total

Ancient India

Bhimbetka rock shelters, Indus Valley

Ancient Greek

Cradle of western civilization, Hellenistic culture expanded into near middle east.

Mexican Revolution

1910, failure of 35 year regime of Portofino Diaz to find a solution to the presidential succession. Power crisis among elites and agrarian insurrection. Madero revolted against Diaz & ousted him.

Potsdam Declaration

Called for Japan's unconditional surrender after WW2

Hamilton's Ideals

Strong national government, Federalist party, taxes on lower class, wanted to trade with Britain & increase taxes to create navy & expand army

Jefferson's ideals

Small local government, taxes to wealthy, Republican, sided with French, thought military would be a threat to states

William Lloyd Garrison

Editor of "The Liberator", anti-slavery and women's rights activist

Horace Mann

American education reformer, promoted free universal public education.

Dorothea Dix

Activist for mentally ill, created mental asylums

Missouri Compromise

Maine as free state, Missouri as slave state, Prohibited slavery above 36 degree, 30' line

Compromise of 1850

Texas surrended New Mexico, California free state, South prevented Wilmot Proviso, slave trade banned in DC, stricter fugitive slave laws

Wilmot Proviso

would have outlawed slavery in new territories

Truman Doctrine

Goal was to counter geopolitical expansion of Soviet Union during the Cold War

Truman's Fair Deal

ambitious set of proposals: healthcare, fair employment, education

Eisenhower's Modern Republicanism

Reduced taxes, balanced budgets, decrease in govt, return of power to states

Kennedy's New Frontier

Eradicate poverty, & increase space program, unemployment benefits & aid for housing & transportation

Johnson's Great Society

Education, poverty aid, eliminate racial injustice

Social Contract Theory

legitimacy of authority of the state over individual

Liberal Democratic State

Fair & free elections, separations of powers, rule of law

Semi-democratic State

has both democratic & authoritarian elements, free elections

Magna Carta

charter between King John of England in 1215 protection of church rights and limits of payments to King

English Bill of Rights

created separation of powers, limits power of monarchy, enhanced democratic election & bolsters freedom

Mayflower Compact

1st governing document of Plymouth Colony

Federalist Papers

85 articles written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison 7 John Jay to promote ratification of US constitution

Marbury vs Madison

Basis of exercise of Judicial review

Gibbons v Ogden

1824 power to regulate interstate commerce and navigation to congress

McCulloch v Maryland

1819 Maryland tried to impose taxes on all bank notes not charters in Maryland

Lau v Nichols

1974 case when court decided that the lack of supplemental language instruction in public school for students with limited language proficiency violated

the Civil Rights act of 1964

Allocatively efficient

Produce the goods and services that consumers most desire to consume

Productively efficient

Produce these goods and service at lowest possible cost, wasting nothing

Market failures

led by monopolies, oligopolies, and poorly designed property rights. Situations in which markets dont deliver socially optimal outcomes

Public goods

goods or services that are impossible to provide to just one person

Keynes' Monetary policy

changes in the money supply to change interest rates in order to stimulate economic activity

Keynes' Fiscal policy

Using increased gov't spending or lower tax rates to help fight recession

Too much debt

leads to economic downturn

Opportunity cost

The value of the best alternative

Sunk costs

Costs already incurred

Diminishing returns

Eventually the more you make of something, the more it costs

Production possibilities frontier (PPF)

a graph economists use to help them visualize the tradeoffs you make when you efficiently reallocate inputs from producing one thing to producing another

Biased technological innovations

Benefits one product bt not the other

Command economy

all economic activity is directed by govt

Traditional economy

economy based on age-old traditions

Perfectly inelastic

no matter the price, price does not affect supply

Equilibrium

When market price and market quantity meet

Price-taking assumption

numerous buyers and sellers that nobody is big enough to affect market price

Tax curve

Captured supply curve after taxes have been imposed

Product differentiation

What makes our product unique

Externalities

situations where ones behavior either positively or negatively affects another

Tragedy of the Commons

overexploited resources due to perverse incentives created by common ownership

Autonomous expenditures

Part of planned expenditures that doesnt depend on income

Induced expenditures

Part of planned expeditures that does depend on income

Which early feminist work was written by Mary Wollstonecraft?

Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in the late eighteenth century in response to contemporary events and practices. Wollstonecraft called for equality in education at a time when many people believed that women only required domestic education that would enable them to run households. The Declaration of Sentiments was a document addressing the rights of women; it was primarily written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and then read to and signed by the delegates to the Seneca Falls Convention. Frankenstein was written by Mary Wollstonecraft's daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. The Awakening was written by Kate Chopin and published in 1899.

How did the Nile shape the Ancient Egyptian Empire?

The Nile River was the lifeblood of the Ancient Egyptian Empire and is sometimes credited with being the reason this empire was able to become one of history's most stable societies. Its yearly floods replenished the soil by leaving fertile silt that made large scale agriculture possible in the land immediately surrounding the river. The agriculture provided Egypt with goods to trade, further enriching the empire. The Nile was also the center of Egyptian cultural and spiritual life. The ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was responsible for providing the yearly floods as part of his role as the divinely appointed ruler.

In which country does a large part of the native, traditionally nomadic people currently live in large tents known as yurts or gers?

The Mongol people have traditionally been nomads living in large white felt tents that are commonly known as "yurts" or "gers" and in Mongolia, many of these people still live in this traditional housing. The term yurt is of Turkish and Russian origins, while ger is the Mongolian term. The Mongol ger is designed, decorated and positioned based on a strict formula determined by religion, tradition, and superstition. Today the Mongol people are spread over the Asian steppe region including Mongolia, and parts of Russia, China Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Which of the following was not a tax levied on the American colonies by the British government in the 1760's and 70's?

The Sugar Act of 1764 raised import duties on goods which were not of British origin, including sugar, while reducing the import tax on molasses. The Stamp Act of 1765 was a tax of paper and printed products, intended to help the British government recoup some of the costs of the French and Indian War. It was extremely unpopular with the colonists and was repealed in 1766. Lead was one of the goods taxed under the Townshend Acts, enacted in 1767, but it did not receive its own specific tax act. The Tea Act of 1773 was another unpopular tax and led to tea boycotts and was the catalyst for the Boston Tea Party.

To whom was the Declaration of Independence addressed and why?

The Founding Fathers decided that because the colonies did not have the right to elect representatives to the British Parliament they could not be justly ruled by Parliament. They envisioned the British Empire's government as being headed by the King of England, under whom the various local parliaments and legislative bodies served to enact laws for the peoples whom they represented. By addressing their ills to the king, the Founding Fathers sought to prevent the appearance that they acknowledged the British Parliament in London as having any authority over the American colonies.

How did the ruling in Marbury v. Madison alter the Supreme Court's power in the federal government?

Marbury v. Madison started with the election of Thomas Jefferson as third President of the United States. The lame-duck Congress responded by issuing a large number of judicial patents, which the incoming president and Secretary of State refused to deliver to their holders. Marbury, who was to receive a patent as Justice of the Peace, sued to demand delivery. What makes this case important is the decision which declared the judiciary's ability to overturn legislation that conflicted with the Constitution. The case states: "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases must, of necessity, expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each.\

Which of the following is an example of historiography?

Historiography can be described as the study of the study of history. It is a term used to describe the entire body of historical literature, the writing of history and the critical examination of past historical writings and historical sources. A typical historiographic essay will be a critical look at the past historical research whether it is a broad look at the study of history as a whole or of a specific subject that is being analyzed.

Which of the following is considered to be the largest cause of death among Native Americans following the arrival of European colonists in North America?

While wounds from war most certainly killed more than a few, European disease laid waste to vast swaths of Native American people who has no immunity to the foreign diseases which the Europeans carried. The forced marches took place in the mid-19th century. While wounds from war most certainly killed more than a few, European disease laid waste to vast swaths of Native American people who has no immunity to the foreign diseases which the Europeans carried. The forced marches took place in the mid-19th

What method did Johannes Gutenberg use to create printing plates for his printing press?

Gutenberg's press used moveable metal type which he formed casting a metal alloy into molds made for each character. These individual pieces were then organized by letter. The letters were loaded into composing sticks that were then loaded into a metal form to create printing plates. As the printing press spread across Europe, printers began using woodcut prints to include illustrations in their products. While Gutenberg is generally given credit for the invention of moveable type, in the 1040s Pi Sheng, a Chinese inventor and alchemist, created moveable type using clay characters which were then pressed into waxcoated plates for printing.

The Erie Canal is 363 miles long and connects which body of water to Lake Erie?

The Erie Canal opened in 1825 and created a water route between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Water routes have historically been cheaper and easier than overland ones and the Erie Canal was originally proposed in the 1700s as a means of providing a shipping route to assist in settling the areas west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Mississippi River is to the west of the Great Lakes, its source is in Minnesota and it discharges into the Gulf of Mexico approximately 100 miles downstream of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Susquehanna River runs through New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland and is the home of Three Mile Island, the site of the United States' largest nuclear disaster. The Lehigh River is located in eastern Pennsylvania. 21. C: The telegraph was a gigantic leap forward in the

The telephone was a solution to which of the following problems with the telegraph?

The telegraph was a gigantic leap forward in the realm of communications. Before the telegraph, messages could take days, weeks or months to reach their intended recipient, based upon the distance that they had to travel. The telegraph allowed people to send methods through use of electric signals transmitted over telegraph wires, allowing for instantaneous communications. The main drawbacks to the telegraph included the need to "translate" the message into and out of the appropriate telegraphic code and that the telegraph could only relay one message at a time. In contrast, the telephone allowed for spoken communication between people at different locations, increasing the efficiency and speed as the people on each end of the conversation could communicate multiple messages quickly and in one telephone conversation.

What was the ancient Agora of Athens?

Besides being Athens' primary marketplace, the Agora also served as a central point where ancient Athenians would go to meet friends, conduct business, discuss ideas and participate in local government. While most ancient Greek cities contained agorés, the Athenian Agora was particularly known for its intellectual opportunities. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were all known to frequent the Athenian agora. The Athenian Agora is also credited with being the birthplace of democracy. The ancient Athenian democracy allowed all citizens the opportunity to vote on civic matters and serve on juries.

What was the standard government economic principle in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

The idea behind Laissez faire was to leave the market alone and let it take care of itself with minimal government intervention. Opponents of this policy often blame it for causing the situation which led to the Great Depression while supporters claim that it was an increase of government interference in the market that led to the Great Depression. Social Darwinism is the idea that the fittest members of society will rise to the top and flourish. Keynesian Economics advocates that the government should use its powers to stabilize the economy through raising and lowering interest rates and creating demand through government spending, frequently leading to deficit spending. Keynesian economic theory is chiefly concerned with microeconomic trends and short-term solutions. It's founder, John Maynard Keynes, was quoted saying, "[i]n the long run, we are all dead." Monetarism is an economic school of thought that concentrates on macroeconomic principles and long-term solutions to economic problems. An economist supporting this policy would be in favor of policies that are monetarily neutral in the long term but are not neutral in the short term.

Which of the following American cities was not founded by people fleeing religious persecution?

Jamestown, Virginia was originally founded and settled by members of the Virginia Company of London, chartered by King James I of England. The Virginia Company was a profit-making venture and the first settlers of Jamestown were instructed to search for gold and a water route to Asia. Plymouth, Massachusetts was founded by the Pilgrims in 1620. Boston, Massachusetts was founded by the Puritans in 1630. The Pilgrims and Puritans were fleeing religious persecution in England. Providence, Rhode Island was founded in 1638 by followers of Roger Williams, a former Puritan leader, and his followers who had been exiled from Massachusetts due to their break with the Puritans.

Which economic crisis led to the creation of the SEC?

The Great Depression began with the 1929 Stock Market Crash on Thursday, October 24, also known as Black Thursday. This crash was the beginning of a market collapse that continued as investors began panicking and banks began to fail. The crash was due to rampant stock speculation and fraud. Many people had invested in the belief that the Stock Market could only go up, and unscrupulous people had taken advantage of this by creating sham companies or artificially pumping up stock shares. The SEC, or Securities and Exchange Commission, was created in 1934 to regulate stock exchanges.

What was Manifest Destiny?

Manifest Destiny was the idea that the United States was intended by God to expand to fill North America. There were various ideas on what this meant, yet at minimum it was the belief that the United States should expand to the Pacific Ocean. At maximum, it was the belief that the United States should expand to fill North America and South America. The idea behind why the United States should expand through greater territorial acquisitions was to expand the American ideals of freedom, democracy and self-government.

Which of the following is a true statement concerning the Magna Carta?

The original Magna Carta, signed by King John on June 15, 1215, was meant to protect the rights and property of the few powerful families that topped the feudal system. Its primary purpose was to force King John to recognize the supremacy of ancient liberties, to limit his ability to raise funds and to reassert the principle of due process. The majority of the English population at that time was mentioned only once, in a clause concerning the use of court-set fines to punish minor offences. The last clause, which created an enforcement council of tenants-in-chief and clergymen would have severely limited the king's power and introduced the policy of 'majority rule.' However, the time was not yet right for the introduction of majority rule. In September 1215, three months after the signing of the Magna Carta, Pope Innocent III, at John's urging, annulled the "shameful and demeaning agreement, forced upon the king by violence and fear." A civil war broke out over this, which ended when John died the following year, in October 1216.

What were Martin Luther's 95 theses?

The 95 Theses were part of a letter of protest that Martin Luther wrote to his archbishop in 1517, when Luther was a monk in the Catholic Church. These theses criticized church practices, particularly the practice of selling indulgences. Some sources claim Luther nailed this document to the door of the All Saint's Church in Wittenburg (located in modern-day Germany). Luther's intention was to reform the Catholic Church from within, but his letter soon placed him at the center of a religious and civil revolt. He was excommunicated in 1520.

Which Japanese city was the first to be attacked with an atomic bomb?

Hiroshima had an atom bomb detonated over it on August 6, 1945, officially beginning the atomic age; Nagasaki was bombed three days later. Both cities were selected for atomic bombing because they had not been previously bombed during the war.

Which of the following peoples did not practice a form of feudalism?

Feudalism was a common practice during the Middle Ages, popular as a means of providing social structure and for maintaining the established government and social order. It was most widespread and systemic in Europe but also practiced in other parts of the world including Persia and the Byzantine Empire. The Norsemen of what is now known as Scandinavia, however, were an exception to European feudalism and lived in a fairly egalitarian society where rank was strongly based on personal merit. This is not to say that the Norsemen were entirely opposed to the class delineations of feudalism; when the French King Charles the Simple ceded to them the land that became the province of Normandy, the Norsemen who settled there settled into a feudalistic structure that their descendants took with them to England during the Norman Conquest, where the feudal system was used to assist with subduing the newly-conquered English people.

Which of the following was a contemporary argument against The Bill of Rights?

The people who were opposed to the idea of having a bill of rights in the Constitution were primarily concerned that by specifically enumerating a set of rights, that there would be an argument that the rights not listed did not exist or were not important. The Bill of Rights did not initially apply to the states even though there was some concern that the states were more likely to infringe upon individual liberties than the federal government.

What was Franklin D. Roosevelt's "court packing" plan?

The New Deal met with conservative opposition, especially in the Supreme Court, whose conservative justices frequently blocked New Deal legislation. The plan that was dubbed the "court packing" plan was to appoint a second justice for every justice over the age of seventy. Because all of the conservative justices on the Supreme Court were over seventy, this would have given Roosevelt the ability to appoint enough justices to swing the Court to his favor. However, this plan was met with extreme popular disapproval which led to its eventual abandonment.

How did the invention of the cotton gin change the cotton industry in the United States?

Eli Whitney's cotton engine (or gin) was designed to aid in the cleaning of American cotton. Before this invention, cleaning American short-staple cotton was a long and tedious process as all the cotton seeds had to be removed from the cotton by hand, usually by slaves. Whitney's invention could clean more cotton than an individual person could, thereby increasing cotton's profitability and turning it into a cash crop. As cotton became a viable cash crop, the amount of land dedicated to its cultivation increased, as well as the number of laborers needed to work in the cotton fields, which resulted in an overall increase in the number of slaves held in the southern United States. As cotton production increased, cotton also became a major Southern export as textile mills in both the northern United States and Europe became dependant on Southern cotton.

Texas and it's relation to Mexican american War?

The Texas Rebellion began in 1835 when a group of Texan leaders declared independence from Mexico. Texas won independence in 1836, but the U.S. initially held back on plans for annexation due to concerns that such an act would lead to war with Mexico. In 1845, however, the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty and Texas became the country's 28th state on December 29 of that year. The war with Mexico, which had broken off diplomatic relations with the U.S. in 1844 when the treaty was agreed upon, began in 1846 following news of skirmishes between American and Mexican forces along the Rio Grande.

What did the landmark Supreme Court case, Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka decide?

The U.S. Supreme Court justices had decided that Brown would have a unanimous holding (the legal term for a court's rulings or decisions) before they determined what that holding would be, which resulted in a fairly narrow holding that "the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment." This decision was used in later Civil Rights cases as a legal precedent for the idea that the doctrine of "separate but equal" was inherently unconstitutional, reversing the precedent set by Plessy v. Ferguson.

According to Plato's Republic, which sort of person would make the best head of state?

In The Republic, Plato calls for a philosopher king, selected from the ranks of philosophers who are at least fifty years old and given the power of absolute rule for life. Plato's belief was that in this society there should be no laws as they would interfere with the king's ability to use his judgment.

Which of the following is an effect that mountains can have on a society?

Mountains provide societies with a natural protective barrier, making it difficult for an outside force to invade them. The Swiss Alps are frequently credited with being a reason that Switzerland has managed to maintain its independence and neutrality. The barrier created by the mountains can also discourage trade and prevent cultural diffusion.

Which of the following was a long term effect of the New Deal?

The New Deal did not end the Depression. The Depression only ended after the beginning of World War II when there was a huge increase in demand for goods and manpower. The New Deal increased the agricultural price supports offered to farmers and increased the role that the federal government played in the U.S. economy.

Which of the following was an effect of industrialization in the United States?

The industrialization of the United States led to an overall decrease in the number of farmers as people moved from the country to the city in search of the new jobs created by industrialization. This move also resulted in fewer Americans being self-employed, as they instead became wage earners working for other people. Industrialization also led to an overall increase in economic and employment opportunities for women. Many of these opportunities took the form of what we now sometimes think of as "pink collar" jobs such as typing and stenography.

Enlightenment principles signaled a departure from which of the following types of government rule?

The Enlightenment, also known as The Age of Enlightenment and The Age of Reason, occurred in the eighteenth century and centered on a belief in reason. The Enlightenment encouraged the ideals of liberty, self-governance, natural rights and natural law. Both the American Revolution and the French Revolution had their genesis in Enlightenment ideals which encouraged the idea that the common man should have a say in government. This was a departure from the most common types of governance, including monarchy and the belief in the divine right of kings. Enlightenment leaders tended to prefer representative republics as a form of government.

What was the first well-known American school of painting?

The Hudson River School was the first well-known American school of painting. Its members intended to break away from the European art schools and develop a distinct American art school of thought through their celebration of the American landscape.

What does the Communist Manifesto claim makes up all of history?

The Communist Manifesto claims that history has been a series of class struggles; that the rise of Communism will eliminate class boundaries and end the struggle. Karl Marx, the Manifesto's primary author, ended with a call for the working class of the world to start a revolution against the order of things, forcibly taking over the means of production. The final lines read:"The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite!"

In a market economy, what is the theoretical basis for the price of an individual good?

In a pure market economy, price is typically seen as a reflection of supply and demand. A larger supply will result in a lower price and a greater demand will result in a lower price.