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COMPREHENSIVE FINAL STUDY GUIDE & PRACTICE TEST

📘 Part 1: The U.S. Constitution — Fears, Principles, and Compromises

🔹 Main Idea:

After the Revolution, Americans needed a stronger national government than the Articles of Confederation, but they also feared losing freedom. The Constitution was built on principles to balance power and compromises to unite the states.

📝 Open-Ended Practice Questions

1. What were the main fears Americans had when writing the Constitution?

Fear of a strong central government (like the king).

Fear of too much democracy (mob rule).

Fear of disunity among states.

Example: Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress couldn’t collect taxes or regulate trade — it was too weak.

2. What key principles shaped the Constitution?

Popular Sovereignty: Power from the people.

Federalism: Shared power between states and federal government.

Checks and Balances: Each branch limits the others.

Individual Rights: Protected by the Bill of Rights.

Example: The president can veto laws, but Congress can override — this keeps balance.

3. What major compromises helped create the Constitution?

Great Compromise: Senate = equal representation; House = by population.

Three-Fifths Compromise: Enslaved people count as 3/5 of a person.

Slave Trade Compromise: Couldn’t ban slave trade until 1808.

Commerce Compromise: Congress could regulate trade but not tax exports.

Example: Delaware and Virginia each got 2 senators — balance between big and small states.

4. Why were these compromises important?

They allowed the Constitution to be approved by all states.

Balanced freedom vs. order, and state vs. federal power.

Revealed early divisions over slavery.

💬 Essay Practice Prompts

Explain how both fear of tyranny and fear of chaos influenced the writing of the Constitution.

Describe how principles and compromises helped shape a balanced government.

Discuss how the Constitution reflects both unity and division among the states.

🧩 Quick Review Strategy

Think “Fears → Principles → Compromises → Unity.”

Picture a scale balancing power between states, people, and government.

🇺🇸 Part 2: Sectionalism in the U.S. (1800–1860)

🔹 Main Idea:

The U.S. grew, but the North and South grew apart. Differences in expansion, economy, slavery, culture, and politicsled to the Civil War.

📝 Open-Ended Practice Questions

1. What is sectionalism?

Loyalty to one’s own region rather than the whole country.

2. How did westward expansion increase sectional tension?

Each new territory sparked debate: free or slave?

Missouri Compromise (1820): Divided free/slave territories.

Example: Missouri = slave, Maine = free to keep balance.

3. How did economic differences cause sectionalism?

North: Factories, railroads, trade.

South: Plantations, slavery, cotton.

West: Farming and internal improvements.

Example: Tariff of Abominations angered the South → Nullification Crisis.

4. How did slavery deepen sectional divides?

South: Needed slavery for economy.

North: Abolitionist movement grew.

Examples: Fugitive Slave Act (1850), “Bleeding Kansas.”

5. What cultural differences existed?

North: Urban, educated, reform-minded.

South: Rural, strict hierarchy, traditional.

West: Independent frontier lifestyle.

Example: Uncle Tom’s Cabin spread anti-slavery views.

6. How did politics reflect sectionalism?

Old parties split; Republican Party formed to stop slavery’s spread.

Compromises (Missouri, 1850, Kansas-Nebraska) delayed but didn’t solve conflict.

Example: Lincoln’s 1860 election led to secession.

7. What’s the big picture?

Expansion, economy, slavery, culture, and politics divided the nation → Civil War.

💬 Essay Practice Prompts

Explain how westward expansion increased sectional tensions in the early 1800s.

Compare the economies of the North, South, and West and how they caused political conflict.

Describe how slavery became the central issue dividing the U.S. by the 1850s.

Discuss how culture and politics reflected the growing divide between North and South.

🧩 Quick Review Strategy

Use the acronym EESCP:

Expansion – Economy – Slavery – Culture – Politics

→ Each one made the divide worse.

☭ Part 3: Stalin’s Paranoia and the Great Purge (1936–1938)

🔹 Main Idea:

Stalin’s paranoia made him see enemies everywhere. His desire for total control led to terror, fake trials, and millions of deaths.

📝 Open-Ended Practice Questions

1. What does “paranoia” mean, and how did it affect Stalin?

Paranoia = extreme, irrational fear of plots against you.

Stalin thought everyone was trying to overthrow him — even friends.

Example: After Kirov’s death (1934), Stalin used it to start purges.