STAAR Grade 8 Social Studies

Primary Source 1: The Declaration of Independence (1776)

Read the excerpt from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. Then answer the questions that follow.

From the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson, 1776)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

1. The phrase "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" expresses which principle of American government?

2. According to the excerpt, what is the PRIMARY purpose of government?

3. Jefferson's reference to rights that are "unalienable" and "endowed by their Creator" most directly reflects the influence of —

4. Which sentence from the excerpt BEST justifies the colonies' decision to break away from Great Britain?

5. The third paragraph ("Prudence, indeed...") suggests that the authors believed —

6. The Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776. The U.S. Constitution was written more than a decade later in 1787. A student who confuses these two documents would MOST LIKELY make which mistake?

History: Colonial Era through the American Revolution

Choose the BEST answer for each question.

7. Which economic theory guided British policy toward the American colonies during the 1600s and 1700s, requiring colonies to supply raw materials and buy British finished goods?

8. The New England, Middle, and Southern colonies developed different economies primarily because of differences in —

9. The colonial period of "salutary neglect" is BEST described as a time when —

10. Colonists protested the Stamp Act (1765) with the slogan "no taxation without representation." Their main objection was that —

11. Which 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine helped persuade many colonists to support independence from Britain by attacking monarchy in plain language?

12. The American victory at the Battle of Saratoga (1777) was a turning point in the Revolution chiefly because it —

13. The Articles of Confederation, the first national government of the United States, had which major weakness that led to its replacement?

14. Shays's Rebellion (1786-1787), an uprising of indebted Massachusetts farmers, is important because it —

History: Early Republic through the Civil War

Choose the BEST answer for each question.

15. President George Washington's Farewell Address (1796) warned the nation MOST strongly against —

16. The 1803 Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison is most important because it established —

17. The Louisiana Purchase (1803) had which major effect on the United States?

18. The belief in "Manifest Destiny" was the idea that —

19. Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin (1793) had which UNINTENDED effect on the South?

20. Which best describes "sectionalism" in the decades before the Civil War?

21. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Lincoln on January 1, 1863, did which of the following?

22. Which set of constitutional amendments — known as the Reconstruction Amendments — abolished slavery, defined birthright citizenship, and protected the right to vote regardless of race?

Primary Source 2: Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (1852)

Read the excerpt from Frederick Douglass's speech delivered in Rochester, New York, on July 5, 1852. Then answer the questions that follow.

From "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (Frederick Douglass, 1852)

Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?
I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary. Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me.
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license.

23. Frederick Douglass delivers this speech as —

24. Douglass's central argument is BEST summarized as —

25. The phrase "the immeasurable distance between us" most directly contrasts —

26. Douglass's reference to "the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence" suggests that he —

27. The reform movement most directly associated with Douglass and this speech is —

28. A historian would MOST LIKELY use this speech as evidence for which conclusion about the period before the Civil War?

Geography & Culture

Choose the BEST answer for each question. Some items refer to a text-described map.

29. The Appalachian Mountains run roughly from northeast to southwest along the eastern part of the United States. Before 1750, these mountains MOST affected English colonization by —

30. Map description (text): A map of the United States in 1820 shows a horizontal line drawn across the Louisiana Territory at latitude 36°30' N. North of this line, slavery is prohibited in new states (except Missouri). South of the line, slavery is permitted in new states. The map labels Missouri as a slave state and Maine, far to the northeast, as a free state.
This map BEST represents the —

31. Using the same described map, which generalization about the United States in 1820 is BEST supported?

32. The Mississippi River was vital to the early American economy because it —

33. In the early 1800s, large numbers of immigrants from Ireland and Germany settled in the United States. A major "push" factor that drove Irish migration in the 1840s was —

34. Which statement BEST describes the contribution of enslaved Africans and their descendants to American culture before 1865?

35. The First Amendment's protection of religious freedom helped allow which feature of early American society?

36. Throughout the early 1800s, Indigenous nations such as the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole were forced to move from their homelands in the southeastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi River. This event is most commonly known as the —

Government, Citizenship & Economics

Choose the BEST answer for each question.

37. The U.S. Constitution divides the federal government into three branches — legislative, executive, and judicial. This arrangement BEST illustrates which principle?

38. A presidential veto of a bill, which Congress can then override with a two-thirds vote, is an example of —

39. The Bill of Rights — the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution — was added in 1791 chiefly to —

40. "Federalism" is BEST defined as —

41. Which is an example of a citizen's RESPONSIBILITY (rather than a right) under the U.S. system of government?

42. Which feature is most characteristic of a free-enterprise (capitalist) economic system?

43. In the years before the Civil War, northern states tended to support high protective tariffs while southern states tended to oppose them. The southern states' main reason for opposing tariffs was that —

44. The development of railroads, the steamboat, and the telegraph in the early-to-mid 1800s had which combined effect on the United States?

STAAR Grade 8 Social Studies — Practice Test 1

Primary Source 1: The Declaration of Independence (1776)

From the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson, 1776)

History: Colonial Era through the American Revolution

History: Early Republic through the Civil War

Primary Source 2: Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (1852)

From "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" (Frederick Douglass, 1852)

Geography & Culture

Government, Citizenship & Economics

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