Question 1 of 10
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in:
A1870
B1865
C1860
D1863
Explanation
📌 1863. Freed enslaved people in Confederate states. Did NOT free slaves in border states.
Question 2 of 10
The cotton gin was invented by:
AThomas Edison
BEli Whitney
CBenjamin Franklin
DAlexander Graham Bell
Explanation
📌 Eli Whitney (1793). Made cotton profitable → increased demand for slavery in the South.
Question 3 of 10
The first permanent English settlement in America was:
ARoanoke
BSt. Augustine
CPlymouth
DJamestown
Explanation
📌 Jamestown, Virginia (1607). Founded by the Virginia Company for economic reasons (gold, trade).
Question 4 of 10
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) doubled the size of the US. It was purchased from:
AFrance
BBritain
CSpain
DMexico
Explanation
📌 Napoleon's France sold it for $15 million. Doubled US territory. Lewis & Clark explored it.
Question 5 of 10
The 13th Amendment:
Aabolished slavery
Bcreated the income tax
Cgave women the right to vote
Destablished Prohibition
Explanation
📌 Abolished slavery (1865). 14th = citizenship/equal protection. 15th = voting rights regardless of race.
Question 6 of 10
The Declaration of Independence was primarily written by:
AJohn Adams
BThomas Jefferson
CGeorge Washington
DBenjamin Franklin
Explanation
📌 Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Adopted July 4, 1776 by the Continental Congress.
Adopted July 4, 1776 by the Continental Congress.
Question 7 of 10
The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) was important because:
Ait was the turning point of the Civil War
Bit was the last battle of the entire Civil War
Cit was the war's first major battle
Dit fully ended slavery across the entire South
Explanation
📌 Turning point of the Civil War. Union victory. Ended Lee's invasion of the North. Bloodiest battle.
Question 8 of 10
The Bill of Rights consists of the first ___ amendments.
A20
B13
C5
D10
Explanation
📌 First 10 amendments = Bill of Rights. Ratified 1791. Protects individual liberties.
Question 9 of 10
The Great Plains are primarily used for:
Asteel factories
Bagriculture
Cmining
Dfishing
Explanation
📌 Agriculture (wheat, corn, cattle ranching). Called 'America's breadbasket.'
Question 10 of 10
The map below shades each state by how its population changed between the 1930 and 1940 censuses. The country as a whole grew by 7.3 per cent over that decade. Five of the six states shaded as losing population form one block on the Great Plains. What best accounts for that pattern?
AWartime factories in those states closed and were never afterwards reopened
BImmigration restrictions passed in the 1920s applied only to the plains states
CThe federal government relocated residents away from the plains by statute
DDrought and dust storms drove farm families out
Explanation
Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and the Dakotas lost people as drought, erosion and falling crop prices pushed tenant farmers and owners off the land, many toward California. Vermont, the sixth state, lost population for an unrelated reason — the long drift away from marginal New England hill farms.