8th grade Social Studies practice sheet
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) · from Gradelings · Name: ______________________
Question 1
The Electoral College is how the US…
- Chooses state capitals
- Picks Supreme Court justices
- Elects the president
- Writes amendments
Elects the president
Hint: Each state gets electors.
Question 2
The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in…
- 1865
- 1776
- 1791
- 1920
1791
Hint: Four years after the Constitution was written.
Question 3
The Declaration of Sentiments (1848) demanded…
- Independence from Britain
- Lower tariffs
- Equal rights for women, including the vote
- More slavery
Equal rights for women, including the vote
Hint: It echoed the Declaration of Independence.
Question 4
Sharecropping was a system where…
- Farmers were paid high wages
- Farmers worked land owned by others for a share of the crop, often staying in debt
- Everyone owned land
- Crops were shared free
Farmers worked land owned by others for a share of the crop, often staying in debt
Hint: Many freedpeople were trapped by debt.
Question 5
Put these events in order, earliest first.
- The American victory at Saratoga
- The Civil War ends
- The Bill of Rights is ratified
- The British surrender at Yorktown
The American victory at Saratoga → The British surrender at Yorktown → The Bill of Rights is ratified → The Civil War ends
Hint: In order: The American victory at Saratoga (1777), The British surrender at Yorktown (1781), The Bill of Rights is ratified (1791), The Civil War ends (1865).
Question 6
A strength of the Articles was the Northwest Ordinance, which set out…
- the Electoral College
- a federal court system
- how new territories could become states
- a national bank
how new territories could become states
Hint: It also banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.
Question 7
Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury, wanted…
- A king
- No national government
- To rejoin Britain
- A strong national government and a national bank
A strong national government and a national bank
Hint: He led the Federalists.
Question 8
One cause of the US–Mexican War was a dispute over whether the Texas border was the Nueces River or the…
- Mississippi River
- Red River
- Rio Grande
- Sabine River
Rio Grande
Hint: Fighting began in the disputed land.
Question 9
John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was a leading voice for…
- free soil
- states' rights and slavery
- women's suffrage
- abolition
states' rights and slavery
Hint: He served as vice president.
Question 10
The last land battle of the Civil War was fought in 1865 at Palmito Ranch, near…
- Brownsville, Texas
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
- Atlanta, Georgia
Brownsville, Texas
Hint: News of the war's end had not reached all troops.
Answer key
- 1. Elects the president (Founding Ideals)
- 2. 1791 (Rights & Amendments)
- 3. Equal rights for women, including the vote (Factories & Reformers)
- 4. Farmers worked land owned by others for a share of the crop, often staying in debt (Reconstruction)
- 5. The American victory at Saratoga → The British surrender at Yorktown → The Bill of Rights is ratified → The Civil War ends (Colonies to Independence)
- 6. how new territories could become states (The Constitution & the Courts)
- 7. A strong national government and a national bank (A New Nation)
- 8. Rio Grande (Westward Expansion)
- 9. states' rights and slavery (A Nation Divided)
- 10. Brownsville, Texas (The Civil 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.