8th grade Social Studies practice sheet
New York State Learning Standards · from Gradelings · Name: ______________________
Question 1
Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction was called the Ten Percent Plan because…
- A state could rejoin when 10% of its 1860 voters swore loyalty to the Union
- 10 states joined
- Taxes were set at 10%
- 10% of slaves were freed
A state could rejoin when 10% of its 1860 voters swore loyalty to the Union
Hint: A lenient plan.
Question 2
The Populist Party of the 1890s spoke for…
- railroad owners
- bankers only
- farmers and workers
- foreign kings
farmers and workers
Hint: It called for railroad regulation.
Question 3
Jacob Riis's 1890 book How the Other Half Lives used photographs to show…
- the building of the Panama Canal
- the battles of the Civil War
- life on Western ranches
- the hard lives of the poor in New York City's tenements
the hard lives of the poor in New York City's tenements
Hint: His pictures shocked readers.
Question 4
Muckrakers were…
- Civil War generals
- factory owners
- farmers who cleaned stables
- journalists who exposed corruption and unsafe conditions
journalists who exposed corruption and unsafe conditions
Hint: They dug up problems.
Question 5
The United States bought Alaska from Russia in…
- 1914
- 1959
- 1776
- 1867
1867
Hint: Critics called it "Seward's Folly."
Question 6
Germany's return to unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917 meant it would…
- only attack warships
- sail only in the Pacific
- attack any ship near Britain, including American ships
- stop all attacks
attack any ship near Britain, including American ships
Hint: A key reason the US entered the war.
Question 7
The moving assembly line made cars…
- cheaper, so many more families could buy them
- slower to build
- illegal
- more expensive
cheaper, so many more families could buy them
Hint: Henry Ford introduced it in 1913.
Question 8
The stock market crash that began the Great Depression happened in…
- July 1776
- April 1865
- October 1929
- December 1941
October 1929
Hint: Black Tuesday was October 29.
Question 9
The League of Nations failed to stop aggression in the 1930s partly because…
- it had already won the war
- it ruled every country
- it had no army and the United States never joined
- it was too strong
it had no army and the United States never joined
Hint: It could not enforce its decisions.
Question 10
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 ended when…
- the Soviet Union removed its nuclear missiles from Cuba
- Cuba joined NATO
- the US invaded Cuba
- nuclear war broke out
the Soviet Union removed its nuclear missiles from Cuba
Hint: Thirteen tense days in October.
Answer key
- 1. A state could rejoin when 10% of its 1860 voters swore loyalty to the Union (Reconstruction)
- 2. farmers and workers (Industrial America)
- 3. the hard lives of the poor in New York City's tenements (Immigrants & the Growing City)
- 4. journalists who exposed corruption and unsafe conditions (Workers & Progressives)
- 5. 1867 (Expansion & Empire)
- 6. attack any ship near Britain, including American ships (World War I)
- 7. cheaper, so many more families could buy them (The Roaring Twenties)
- 8. October 1929 (Depression & New Deal)
- 9. it had no army and the United States never joined (World War II)
- 10. the Soviet Union removed its nuclear missiles from Cuba (The Cold War)
Want more than 10 questions?
In Gradelings the questions change every time and adjust to your child, with hints and kind feedback. See all social studies units.