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This page shows a list of test questions in the 8th Grade Social Studies public release collection at MSDE. 8th Grade Social Studies
Unit "4 - Geographic Expansion and Political Division (1820-1860)," Topic "Sectional Growth"

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Expand All Official Practice Test

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Information about the question.

Multiple-choice question with one correct answer choice.

What effect did the invention of the cotton gin have on agriculture in the United States?

  1. A.
    It increased the demand for enslaved African Americans to harvest cotton.
  2. B.
    It allowed cotton to be grown in the North.
  3. C.
    It decreased the demand for cotton in foreign countries.
  4. D.
    It reduced the amount of land needed to grow cotton on plantations.

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Information about the question.

Multiple-choice question with one correct answer choice.

Which of the following was an accomplishment of the construction of the Erie Canal?

  1. A.
    It increased the nation’s reliance on railroads to transport goods from the North to the South.
  2. B.
    It strengthened economic interactions between eastern cities and western farms.
  3. C.
    It increased the South’s advantage over the North in clothing and textile manufacturing.
  4. D.
    It helped improve agricultural production in eastern farms and western ranches.

This is a drag and drop question that allows you to select text and place it in an appropriate answer space.

Select three impacts of technological changes on the United States during the 1800s and drag them to the boxes in any order.

lower taxes increased migration decline of the factory system increase in national unity economic growth introduction of popular sovereignty increased travel time
Impacts of Technological Changes on the
United States during the 1800s

This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.

Information about the question.

Writing prompt. Additional information needed to answer the question is provided.

Use your knowledge of U.S. history to answer the constructed response question.

  • Identify two countries of origin for European immigrants to the United States in the 1800s.
  • Explain how nativism impacted the lives of these immigrants in the United States.
  • Use details and examples to support your response.

Enter your answer in the space provided.

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Read the list.

mathematics expression or equation

  • viewed as property
  • families often separated
  • received harsh punishments for disobedience

Which title completes this list?

  1. A.
    Treatment of American Indians by White Settlers
  2. B.
    Life for Enslaved African Americans
  3. C.
    Experiences of Women Suffragists
  4. D.
    Management of Workers by Factory Owners

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Which of the following had the greatest influence on the factory system in the United States during the 1800s?

  1. A.
    the introduction of the mechanical reaper
  2. B.
    the development of interchangeable parts
  3. C.
    the expanded use of antiseptics
  4. D.
    the invention of the telegraph

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Read the excerpt.

In 1860, Elizabeth Burkett  . . .  with her husband, Henry Burkett  . . .  and  . . .  fellow slaves Thomas Sipple, his wife Mary Ann Sipple, John Purnell, and Hale Burton, holding a total of thirty dollars and looking to cross the Delaware Bay into freedom  . . .  purchased a small vessel for six dollars and began their journey up the coast on their way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. En route, they encountered a group of white men who attempted to overtake the slaves' boat. The fugitives, however, defended their vessel and continued on, despite injury to the passengers.

—Archives of Maryland

What form of resistance to slavery is described in this excerpt?

  1. A.
    running away
  2. B.
    sabotage
  3. C.
    faking illness
  4. D.
    working slowly

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Which diagram accurately shows how new technologies unified the United States geographically during the early industrial period?

  1. A.
    interchangeable parts, arrow, jobs for new immigrants in southern cotton fields
  2. B.
    steamboats, arrow, increased tobacco exports to Great Britain
  3. C.
    railroads in the West, arrow, jobs for farmers in northeastern cities
  4. D.
    New England textile mills, arrow, increased cotton production in the South