Praxis Middle School Social Studies (5089)

Which document, adopted in 1620, established a self-governing compact among the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony?

• AThe Mayflower Compact
• BThe Magna Carta
• CThe Declaration of Independence
• DThe Articles of Confederation

The system of mercantilism, which shaped Britain's relationship with its American colonies, was primarily designed to do what?

• AGrant colonies full free-trade rights with all nations
• BEnrich the mother country by controlling colonial trade and resources
• CEliminate tariffs between Britain and its colonies
• DEncourage colonial manufacturing to compete with Britain

The phrase "no taxation without representation" expressed colonial opposition to which British policy?

• AThe requirement that colonists quarter British soldiers
• BThe king appointing colonial governors
• CParliament taxing the colonies while they had no members in Parliament
• DBritain's ban on westward settlement past the Appalachians

Which 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine argued in plain language for American independence from Britain?

• AThe Federalist
• BPoor Richard's Almanack
• CDemocracy in America
• DCommon Sense

The Declaration of Independence drew heavily on the political philosophy of which Enlightenment thinker regarding natural rights?

• AJohn Locke
• BKarl Marx
• CNiccolo Machiavelli
• DThomas Hobbes

A major weakness of the Articles of Confederation was that the national government could not do what?

• AEstablish a post office
• BLevy taxes directly on citizens
• CDeclare war
• DNegotiate treaties

The Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise) at the 1787 Constitutional Convention resolved disagreement over what?

• AHow enslaved people would be counted for representation
• BWhether to include a Bill of Rights
• CRepresentation in Congress between large and small states
• DHow federal judges would be selected

The Three-Fifths Compromise in the U.S. Constitution dealt with how to count which group for purposes of representation and taxation?

• ANative Americans
• BIndentured servants
• CFree women
• DEnslaved people

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, made under President Thomas Jefferson, was acquired from which country?

• AFrance
• BMexico
• CSpain
• DGreat Britain

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 attempted to maintain sectional balance by doing what?

• ABanning slavery in all new states
• BAdmitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state
• CEnding the international slave trade
• DAbolishing slavery in Washington, D.C.

Which 1857 Supreme Court decision held that enslaved people were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in the territories?

• APlessy v. Ferguson
• BMcCulloch v. Maryland
• CDred Scott v. Sandford
• DMarbury v. Madison

President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, declared freedom for enslaved people in which areas?

• AOnly the border states
• BAll states in the Union
• CStates and territories not under Confederate control
• DStates still in rebellion against the United States

Which constitutional amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery throughout the United States?

• AThirteenth Amendment
• BFourteenth Amendment
• CFifteenth Amendment
• DNineteenth Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment is most significant for establishing which constitutional principle?

• ADirect election of senators
• BBirthright citizenship and equal protection of the laws
• CPresidential term limits
• DFederal income tax

During the late 1800s, the term "Gilded Age" referred to a period characterized by what?

• AA constitutional crisis over secession
• BWidespread agrarian self-sufficiency
• CRapid industrial growth alongside political corruption and inequality
• DIsolation from world trade

The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 most directly contributed to what development?

• AThe end of westward migration
• BThe collapse of American manufacturing
• CA return to colonial-era trade routes
• DFaster movement of people and goods across the continent

Progressive Era reformers in the early 1900s generally sought to do what?

• AAddress problems caused by industrialization, such as corruption and poor working conditi…
• BExpand the power of political machines
• CEnd public education
• DRestore slavery

The United States entered World War I in 1917 in part because of which provocation by Germany?

• AThe firing on Fort Sumter
• BUnrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann Telegram
• CThe bombing of Pearl Harbor
• DThe invasion of Poland

The Great Depression of the 1930s in the United States is most associated with what triggering event?

• AThe end of World War II
• BThe 1973 oil embargo
• CThe stock market crash of October 1929
• DThe signing of the Treaty of Versailles

President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal was a set of programs primarily intended to do what?

• AExpand slavery into the West
• BRepay World War I debts to Germany
• CFund the space race
• DProvide relief, recovery, and reform during the Great Depression

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led directly to which event?

• AThe U.S. declaration of war and entry into World War II
• BThe start of the Korean War
• CThe end of the Great Depression's stock crash
• DThe signing of the Declaration of Independence

The 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education ruled what?

• AIncome taxes are unconstitutional
• BSegregation in public schools is unconstitutional
• CStates may secede from the Union
• DVoting requires property ownership

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is best known for doing what?

• AEstablishing the Social Security system
• BEnding the Vietnam War
• COutlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
• DGranting women the right to vote

The Cold War (roughly 1947-1991) was primarily a period of geopolitical tension between which two powers?

• AChina and Japan
• BThe United States and Great Britain
• CFrance and Germany
• DThe United States and the Soviet Union

The development of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution most directly enabled which change in human societies?

• AThe rise of permanent settlements and surplus food
• BA return to nomadic hunting and gathering
• CThe end of all trade
• DThe disappearance of social hierarchy

Ancient Mesopotamia, often called the "cradle of civilization," developed between which two rivers?

• AThe Ganges and the Indus
• BThe Tigris and the Euphrates
• CThe Yangtze and the Yellow
• DThe Nile and the Congo

The Code of Hammurabi, from ancient Babylon, is historically important as one of the earliest examples of what?

• AA trade treaty
• BA democratic constitution
• CA written set of laws
• DA religious creation myth

Athenian democracy in ancient Greece is best described as what type of government?

• AA hereditary monarchy
• BA theocracy ruled by priests
• CA military dictatorship
• DA direct democracy in which eligible citizens voted on laws themselves

The Roman Republic was characterized by which feature before it became an empire?

• AElected officials and a Senate representing citizens
• BGovernment by a council of foreign kings
• CNo written laws
• DRule by a single emperor for life

The Silk Road was historically significant primarily because it facilitated what?

• AThe spread of the Roman alphabet to East Asia
• BTrade and cultural exchange between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe
• CThe first voyage to the Americas
• DThe construction of the Egyptian pyramids

Feudalism in medieval Europe was a system primarily based on what relationship?

• AIndustrial wage labor in factories
• BDirect democratic elections
• CThe exchange of land for military service and loyalty
• DFree trade between independent merchants

The Renaissance, beginning in Italy around the 14th century, was marked by a renewed interest in what?

• AThe rejection of all science and mathematics
• BA return to nomadic life
• CStrict isolation from all foreign ideas
• DClassical Greek and Roman art, learning, and humanism

The Protestant Reformation, often dated to 1517, was initiated when Martin Luther challenged practices of which institution?

• AThe Roman Catholic Church
• BThe Holy Roman Army
• CThe Ottoman Empire
• DThe British Parliament

The Columbian Exchange refers to what process following 1492?

• AA treaty dividing Europe among monarchs
• BThe transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds
• CThe exchange of prisoners after the Hundred Years' War
• DThe trade of gold between China and Japan

The transatlantic slave trade was part of which broader system of exchange?

• AThe Hanseatic League's Baltic trade
• BThe medieval guild system
• CThe triangular trade among Europe, Africa, and the Americas
• DThe Silk Road overland network

The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was driven largely by what?

• AOpposition to all forms of national government
• BA desire to restore absolute monarchy
• CAn effort to expand the feudal system
• DDemands for liberty, equality, and an end to aristocratic privilege

The Industrial Revolution, beginning in Britain in the late 1700s, is most associated with what change?

• AThe transition to machine-based manufacturing and factory production
• BA shift from manufacturing to subsistence farming
• CThe collapse of urban populations
• DThe end of global trade

A major cause of World War I (1914-1918) was the system of alliances combined with what other factor?

• AA global agreement to disarm
• BWidespread nationalism, militarism, and imperial rivalry
• CThe collapse of agriculture worldwide
• DThe spread of the internet

The Treaty of Versailles (1919) is often criticized by historians for what reason?

• AIt abolished all European borders
• BIt was too lenient toward all nations
• CIts harsh terms on Germany contributed to instability and resentment
• DIt immediately created the United Nations

The Holocaust during World War II refers to what?

• AA natural disaster in Eastern Europe
• BA peace conference held after the war
• CAn economic recovery program
• DThe systematic, state-sponsored genocide of about six million Jews by Nazi Germany

The Cold War concept of "containment" referred to a U.S. strategy to do what?

• AStop the spread of communism beyond where it already existed
• BWithdraw entirely from global affairs
• CPromote European colonialism
• DSpread monarchy worldwide

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is widely seen as a symbol of what?

• AThe unification of ancient Rome
• BThe decline of communism in Eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War
• CThe beginning of World War I
• DThe start of the Industrial Revolution

The process of globalization in the late 20th and 21st centuries is best described as what?

• AThe decline of all international trade
• BA return to feudal economies
• CIncreasing interconnection of economies, cultures, and communications worldwide
• DThe elimination of all national governments

The classical Maya civilization of Mesoamerica is especially noted for advanced achievements in what areas?

• ATransatlantic naval exploration
• BGunpowder weapons
• CSteam-powered machinery
• DAstronomy, mathematics, and a written script

The U.S. Constitution divides the federal government into three branches in order to do what?

• ASeparate powers and provide checks and balances
• BGive all power to the states
• CConcentrate power in the presidency
• DEliminate the need for elections

Which branch of the U.S. federal government has the power to declare war?

• AThe executive branch (the President)
• BThe legislative branch (Congress)
• CThe judicial branch (the Supreme Court)
• DState governors

Federalism in the United States refers to what?

• AGovernment controlled entirely by the courts
• BA system with no written constitution
• CA division of power between the national and state governments
• DRule by a single national government with no states