MRS. SCHNELL’S AMERICAN HISTORY 8H FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

A comprehensive practice exam guide covering American history from the Age of Exploration through the triggers of the Civil War.

What are the five themes of geography?

Location, place, interaction, movement, and region.

What are the three basic questions economists ask about society?

What goods and services should we produce, how should we produce these goods and services, and to whom shall we produce these goods and services?

What is the definition of free enterprise?

An economic system where the government plays a limited role in the economy.

What was the Renaissance and where did it begin?

Known as "rebirth" in French, it began in Italy during the Middle Ages.

Who was Johannes Gutenberg and what did he invent?

A German man who developed a printing press that used movable type, which increased Bible productions.

In what year did Christopher Columbus sail "the ocean blue"?

$$1492$$

What were the names of the three ships under the command of Columbus?

The Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María.

Who financed Columbus’s voyage, and from which country?

The Spanish monarchs, Isabel and Ferdinand, from Spain.

What was the Columbian Exchange and its significance?

It was when explorers and settlers from Europe took plants and animals to America and brought back new animals and plants; it started with the expansion of Columbus.

What was the Protestant Reformation and who started it?

A religious movement that began in a small German town and spread throughout Europe, becoming part of many political disputes; it was started by Martin Luther.

What happened to the Spanish Armada in $1588$ and what was its significance?

A huge fleet of warships was destroyed by a smaller, faster English fleet in a huge battle.

In what year and present-day state was the Jamestown Colony settled?

Virginia in $1607$

What crop, referred to as "brown gold," allowed Jamestown to thrive?

Tobacco

Which group of people originally settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony?

Puritans

What was Bacon’s Rebellion and why was it significant?

A rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon where Virginia frontiersmen attacked Native Americans and burned Jamestown due to high taxes and lack of protection; it was the first colonial rebellion against the Crown.

What was the Mayflower Compact?

A legal contract signed by $41$ males on the Mayflower agreeing to have fair laws to protect the general good; it is one of the first documents of self-government in the English colonies.

What was the significance of the Virginia House of Burgesses?

It was the first elective legislation assembled in the American colonies and established a model for self-government.

Who was Anne Hutchinson and why was she kicked out of Massachusetts?

She believed individuals could have their own relationship with God without a pastor; she was expelled and founded a new settlement in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

How did the Glorious Revolution and English Bill of Rights affect power in England?

They shifted power from the monarchy toward Parliament and established that the government must respect the law and individual rights.

Define the Triangular Trade and the Middle Passage.

Triangular Trade was a system where goods and enslaved people were traded among the Americas, Britain, and Africa; the Middle Passage was the version that brought millions of Africans across the Atlantic.

What was the Great Awakening?

A religious revival where people heard sermons that emphasized virtues and ideas that may have affected colonial politics.

What did the Enlightenment and John Locke emphasize?

The Enlightenment spread the idea that reason and logic could improve society; John Locke believed people had natural rights such as equality.

What was the significance of the Treaty of Paris of $1763$?

It ended the French and Indian War and left Britain in debt, which led them to start taxing the colonists.

What did the Proclamation of $1763$ mandate?

It banned British settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains and ordered settlers to leave the upper Ohio River Valley.

What was Salutary Neglect and its eventual impact?

A period where Britain loosely enforced laws, allowing colonies to develop government and economic independence; strict enforcement later contributed to colonial resistance.

What occurred during the Boston Tea Party in $1773$?

A group of colonists dressed as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into the Boston Harbor to protest taxes.

What were the Intolerable Acts?

A series of laws set up by Parliament to punish Massachusetts for its protests against the British.

What was the significance of Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense?

It claimed colonies had a right to be an independent nation and emphasized that independence from Great Britain was a goal to work towards.

On what full date do we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence?

July $4$, $1776$

What happened during the Boston Massacre of $1770$?

British troops fired on and killed American colonists; the incident was used as propaganda against Britain.

What is the significance of the Battles of Lexington & Concord?

They were the first significant battles of the American Revolution, known for the "shot heard around the world."

What happened during the Battle of Trenton?

On Christmas night, Washington crossed the Delaware with $2400$ men and the next morning captured over $900$ Hessians.

Why was the Battle of Saratoga considered a turning point?

It was the biggest victory for the Patriots at that time and boosted foreign support and morale.

What occurred at the Battle of Yorktown in $1781$?

British General Charles Cornwallis moved his $7200$ men to Yorktown, where he eventually surrendered in the first major battle of the Revolution in that area.

What were the terms of the Treaty of Paris of $1783$?

Britain recognized American independence, set United States borders, and returned Florida to Spain.

What was the Magna Carta?

A document signed by King John in $1215$ that made the monarch subject to law.

What were the Articles of Confederation?

The first United States constitution ($1777$) which featured a single branch of government (Congress), no president or court system, and limited powers.

What is the United States Constitution?

Drafted in $1787$, it divided government into three branches controlled by checks and balances and created a national government with power over taxes, the army, trade, and currency.

What is the Bill of Rights?

Ten of the proposed amendments to the Constitution intended to protect the rights of citizens.

Name the three branches of government and who heads them.

Legislative (Congress), Executive (President), and Judicial (national courts).

What is the purpose of Checks and Balances?

To keep any single branch of government from becoming too powerful.

Define Federalism.

A system of government that balances central and state government powers, dividing them between the central government and the states.

What is a precedent in a political context?

An action or decision that serves as an example for future similar situations.

What was the Louisiana Purchase of $1803$?

Thomas Jefferson authorized the purchase of the Louisiana territory from Napoleon of France, which doubled the size of the U.S. and secured the Mississippi River.

What was the significance of Marbury v. Madison ($1803$)?

It established the principle of judicial review, giving the Supreme Court the power to rule laws or actions constitutional or unconstitutional.

What is the definition of impressment?

The practice of kidnapping or forcing people to serve in the army or navy, notably used by Britain.

What was the Embargo in the context of the War of $1812$?

The end of trade against Britain due to their violations of United States neutrality.

What was the Treaty of Ghent?

The treaty signed by the U.S. and Great Britain on December $24$, $1814$, that ended the War of $1812$.

What was the Hartford Convention?

A secret meeting where New England Federalists opposed the war; they were criticized and lost power after the war ended.

What was the Seneca Falls Convention?

The first national women’s rights convention, where the Declaration of Sentiments was written.

Who was Frederick Douglass?

An American abolitionist who escaped slavery and became an influential publisher from $1817$ to $1895$.

What are Transcendentalism and Civil Disobedience?

Transcendentalism emphasized self-reliance and spiritual awareness over societal standards; civil disobedience is the conscious, non-violent decision to break an immoral law.

What were the terms of the Missouri Compromise?

Missouri entered as a slave state and Maine as a free state; all territory north of the $36^\text{o} 30'$ parallel was free soil, while territory south was slave soil.

What happened during Nat Turner’s Rebellion?

A slave uprising in southern Virginia that killed $60$ white people; it resulted in the execution of $55$ participants and the lynching of nearly $200$ people by mobs.

What was the impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

A novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe published in $1852$ that exposed the brutality of slavery to Northerners and offended Southerners.

What was the ruling in Dred Scott v. Sanford?

The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property, not citizens, and that slave owners were protected by the Constitution.

What was the result of John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry?

John Brown led a raid on a federal armory to start a slave revolt, causing intense fear among white slaveholders that more rebellions would follow.