Question 1 of 10
The cotton gin was invented by:
ABenjamin Franklin
BEli Whitney
CThomas Edison
DAlexander Graham Bell
Explanation
📌 Eli Whitney (1793). Made cotton profitable → increased demand for slavery in the South.
Question 2 of 10
The Bill of Rights consists of the first ___ amendments.
A10
B13
C20
D5
Explanation
📌 First 10 amendments = Bill of Rights. Ratified 1791. Protects individual liberties.
Question 3 of 10
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in:
A1860
B1865
C1870
D1863
Explanation
📌 1863. Freed enslaved people in Confederate states. Did NOT free slaves in border states.
Question 4 of 10
The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) was important because:
Ait was the last battle of the entire Civil War
Bit fully ended slavery across the entire South
Cit was the war's first major battle
Dit was the turning point of the Civil War
Explanation
📌 Turning point of the Civil War. Union victory. Ended Lee's invasion of the North. Bloodiest battle.
Question 5 of 10
The 13th Amendment:
Aestablished Prohibition
Bgave women the right to vote
Ccreated the income tax
Dabolished slavery
Explanation
📌 Abolished slavery (1865). 14th = citizenship/equal protection. 15th = voting rights regardless of race.
Question 6 of 10
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) doubled the size of the US. It was purchased from:
AFrance
BMexico
CBritain
DSpain
Explanation
📌 Napoleon's France sold it for $15 million. Doubled US territory. Lewis & Clark explored it.
Question 7 of 10
The Great Plains are primarily used for:
Aagriculture
Bmining
Cfishing
Dsteel factories
Explanation
📌 Agriculture (wheat, corn, cattle ranching). Called 'America's breadbasket.'
Question 8 of 10
The first permanent English settlement in America was:
APlymouth
BJamestown
CRoanoke
DSt. Augustine
Explanation
📌 Jamestown, Virginia (1607). Founded by the Virginia Company for economic reasons (gold, trade).
Question 9 of 10
The Declaration of Independence was primarily written by:
ABenjamin Franklin
BJohn Adams
CThomas Jefferson
DGeorge Washington
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 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?
AImmigration restrictions passed in the 1920s applied only to the plains states
BDrought and dust storms drove farm families out
CWartime factories in those states closed and were never afterwards reopened
DThe federal government relocated residents away from the plains by statute
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.