Name ______Date ______Period ______
8th Grade Social Studies Review Sheet #1
Government:
· The government of the United States is a democratic-republic – People hold the power (“We the People…”); they exercise that power by electing representatives to make decisions on their behalf.
· Constitution of the United State of America explains how the federal government works and our basic rights as citizens.
· The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (“We the people…”) explains the reasons for writing the document.
· The underlying principles of the Constitution are:
· Popular Sovereignty – “People Rule”
· Limited Government – clearly states what the government can and cannot do (limits its power); no one is above the law – government officials have to follow it just like everyone else.
· Representative Government (Republicanism) – people have direct (we vote) and indirect (our representatives vote) ways to choose their leaders and deal with issues.
· Federalism – power is divided between the national/federal government and the states
· Separation of Powers – divides power within the government between three branches: Executive enforces the law, Legislative makes the law, and Judicial interprets the law.
· Checks and Balances – keeps the duties of the branches separate and limits the power of each branch, allowing them to “check up” on one another. For example: Executive may veto a bill passed by Congress; Legislative may override the President’s veto with a 2/3’s vote; Judicial may declare laws unconstitutional (Judicial Review – established by Marbury v. Madison).
· Protection of Individual Rights – the first 10 amendments to the Constitution guarantee personal freedoms (Bill of Rights).
· Constitutional Amendments to Remember:
· 1-10 (Bill of Rights): Grant individual freedoms
· 1: speech, religion, press, assembly and petition (the 5 Freedoms)
· 2: bear arms
· 4: search warrant
· 5-8: rights of the accused
· 13: abolished slavery
· 14: grants citizenship to former slaves/ guarantees equal protection under the law
· 15: gives African-American men suffrage (right to vote)
· 18: prohibition (no alcohol)
· 19: grants women suffrage
· 21: repeals prohibition (alcohol’s back)
· 22: limits President to two terms
· 24: No Poll Taxes
· 26: lowers the voting age to 18
· The elastic clause allows Congress to “stretch” its powers to cover issues the founding fathers could not have foreseen; the amendment process allows us to change the Constitution. Both the elastic clause and the amendment process allows the government to adjust to changing times.
· The President is elected by popular vote and the Electoral College and serves a 4 year term
· Citizenship: 3 ways – 1) born on US soil (“law of the soil”), 2) parent(s) is/are citizen(s), or 3) naturalization
· Responsibilities of a Citizen: be knowledgeable about how the government works and major issues, participate in government (vote, run for office, work for candidates), know and obey the law, respect the rights of others.
Review Questions 1: Government
1. Suffrage is (A) the right to trial by jury, (B) the right to vote, (C) torture, (D) poverty.
2. The elastic clause and the amendment process have often been used to (A) give more power to the President, (B) limit democracy, (C) discriminate against minorities, (D) allow the government to adjust to changing times.
3. The division of power between a central/national power and powers given to individual states is (A) separation of power, (B) checks and balances, (C) federalism, (D) Judicial Review.
4. The branch of government that makes the laws is the (A) Executive Branch, (B) Legislative Branch, (C) Judicial Branch, (D) Electoral College.
5. The part of the federal government made up of the President and the administrative departments that enforces the law is (A) Executive Branch, (B) Legislative Branch, (C) Judicial Branch, (D) Electoral College.
6. The part of the government that consists of the courts, which interpret the law and punish criminals, is the (A) Executive Branch, (B) Legislative Branch, (C) Judicial Branch, (D) Electoral College.
7. A system which allows the three branches of government to monitor each other to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful is (A) Checks and Balances, (B) Separation of Powers, (C) amendments, (D) American System.
8. When the President rejects a bill passed by congress it is called a(n) (A) override, (B) judicial review, (C) veto, (D) amendment.
9. The division of government into different branches, each with its own powers is (A) American System, (B) Articles of Confederation, (C) Checks and Balances, (D) Separation of Powers.
10. The elastic clause gives Congress the power to (A) overrule anything the President says, (B) stretch its power to include things that the founding fathers couldn’t foresee, (C) act as judge and jury in impeachment trial, (D) wear stretchy pants.
11. Amendments are (A) approvals, (B) rejections, (C) taxes, (D) official changes.
12. The first ten amendments to the Constitution which guarantee individual freedoms is called the (A) American System, (B) Articles of Confederation, (C) Bill of Rights, (D) Checks and Balances.
13. The group which elects the President based on the popular vote of the state they represent is the (A) Legislative Branch, (B) Electoral College, (C) Judicial Branch, (D) cabinet.
14. Political parties are (A) big carnivals where they elect the President, (B) taxes on imports or exports, (C) groups of people who organize to elect government officials or influence policy, (D) a good time for all.
15. The principal that gives the Supreme Court the right to declare laws unconstitutional is (A) Judicial Review, (B) separation of powers, (C) Federal System, (D) Great Compromise.
8th Grade Social Studies Review Sheet #2
The “Wild” West:
· Manifest Destiny: the belief that it is our God-given right as Americans to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean
· Barbed wire fences and sod houses were common on the Great Plains as the land was divided up for farming and ranching
· The Homestead Act led to the growth of the west – it gave away land in the west for free or a very small price to anyone who promised to live on the land and improve it. Many African Americans took advantage of this to get away from sharecropping in the south.
· The Transcontinental Railroad completed in1869 connected the east and to the west – made travel and trade faster and cheaper. Many Irish and Chinese immigrants were hired to help build it.
· Native Americans were forced off tribal lands as settlers moved west. Native Americans were placed on reservations. Led to battles between the US Army and Native Americans: Sand Creek Massacre, Battle of Little Big Horn, Massacre at Wounded Knee
Review Questions 2: The “Wild” West
1. The Transcontinental Railroad is (A) an all-water route across North America, (B) a railroad connecting the east to the west, (C) a railroad connecting Canada to Mexico, (D) a railroad connecting Florida to Washington.
2. The law that gave away free or low-cost land to settlers who agreed to live on the land and improve it for a number of years was the (A) Open Door Policy, (B) reservation system, (C) Homestead Act, (D) Patriot Act.
3. Federal land set aside for Native Americans is known as a (A) Homestead Act, (B) reservation, (C) patent, (D) trust.
4. The idea of Manifest Destiny meant that (A) Native Americans had equal claim to land in the west, (B) Slavery should be allowed in the west, (C) No more European colonies would be allowed in the Americas, (D) The United States had the right to expand to the Pacific Ocean.
5. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 contributed to the settlement of which U.S. region? (A) West, (B) Southeast, (C) South, (D) North.
6. Which action toward Native American Indians did the U.S. government take in the 1800’s? (A) Paying Native Americans a fair price for their land, (B) Removing Native Americans from tribal lands to reservations, (C) Encouraging Native Americans to take jobs in U.S. factories, (D) Passing a federal law giving Native Americans full citizenship rights.
7. What do the Massacre at Wounded Knee and the Battle of Little Big Horn have in common? (A) They were both battles in the Mexican-American War, (B) They are both conflicts between settlers and the US Army, (C) They are both conflicts between Native Americans and US troops, (D) They are treaties signed by Native Americans and the U.S. Government.
8. During the late 1800’s, many settlers of the Great Plains lived in (A) log cabins and built split-rail fences, (B) brick homes with white picket fences, (C) teepees made of buffalo skin, (D) sod houses and protected fields with barbed wire.
8th Grade Social Studies Review Sheet #3
The Second Industrial Revolution
· The Second Industrial Revolution (late 1800s)
· An industrial revolution is a shift in making products by hand to machine methods of production
· New machines and methods of production led to the rise of factories and mass production.
· Moving assembly lines (Henry Ford) – workers complete one task as the product moved, not the worker (sped up production).
· Bessemer Process – mass production of steel; made skyscrapers possible, longer bridges, faster trains
· Steam replaced water as the main source of power for factories. Then electricity replaced steam power. Edison invented the electric light bulb in 1879 and was widely used by 1900.
· INCREASED LABOR – better farm machinery freed up laborers, many immigrants looking for jobs moved to cities. Poor treatment led workers to form labor unions.
· Entrepreneurs created new industries.
· COMMUNICATION /TRANSPORTATION– transportation (railroads, canals, etc) linked raw materials, producers and consumers. Communication (telegraph, postal system) to send messages among the same groups. Telephone by Alexander Graham Bell – 1876
· Rise of Big Business:
· Free Enterprise System – government stayed out of business (laissez-faire “Hands Off”) and the business controlled industries and competed for profits. Allowed some business to grow very large and form monopolies and trusts. Working conditions and pay were bad because there was little or no government regulation
· Corporations: Large businesses that sell stock (shares of the business). This led to the creation of the stock market (a place to buy and sell stock)
· Some companies bought up smaller companies, eliminating their competition. These are monopolies or trusts. Owners of big business were called robber barons (Carnegie – steel, Rockefeller – oil, and Vanderbilt – railroads).
· The government took action against trusts with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890). President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt was known as the “Trustbuster”.
· Labor Unions – created to improve conditions and pay for workers (remember Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire?). Two largest: Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor or AFL (founded by Samuel Gompers). Most effective tool was the strike (refusing to work until demands are met).
· Economics:
· Capitalism / Free Enterprise / Laissez Faire – business is controlled by individuals, not the government; government stays out of business (“hands off”)
· Market – who will buy the goods being produced
· Supply and Demand – the relationship between how much there is of a product and how much people want it (think the newest i-Phone, Tickle Me Elmo, etc…)
· High demand and low supply = high price
· Low Demand and high supply = low price
· Positive effects:
· More jobs and opportunities
· Growth of cities (urbanization)
· Inventions made life more comfortable, people had more leisure time
· Negative Effects:
· Only a few people became wealthy
· most workers suffered poor wages and working conditions (Triangle Shirtwaist Fire led to laws improving working conditions); child labor
· Living and working conditions in industrial cities were poor and unhealthy (overcrowded, tenements, poor sanitation, disease…)
Review Questions 3: The Second Industrial Revolution
1. Laissez faire means (A) “Get Out,” (B) “Quit It,” (C) “Feet Up,” (D) “Hands Off.”
2. People who start up new businesses are called (A) suffragettes, (B) immigrants, (C) entrepreneurs, (D) Muckrakers.
3. A system in which business operates free from government involvement is (A) free enterprise, (B) corporations, (C) collective bargaining, (D) trusts.
4. Corporations are businesses owned by (A) one person, (B) two people, (C) many people who bought stock in the company, (D) the board or directors.
5. A trust is (A) a company owned by many people who own stock, (B) a way to eliminate competition by placing several companies under one board of directors, (C) a system in which business is free from government involvement, (D) a company that sells the rights to use its name to many different people.
6. The ratio between how much there is of something and how much people want it is (A) scarcity, (B) monopoly, (C) patent, (D) supply and demand.
7. When workers refuse to work until certain demands are met it is called a (A) strike, (B) collective bargain, (C) recall, (D) patent.
8. When labor unions negotiate on behalf of the entire workforce it is known as (A) striking (B) collective bargaining, (C) recall, (D) initiative.