Study Island
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Generation Date: 12/11/2014
Generated By: Cheryl Shelton
Title: Grade 8 Blizzard Bag 2014-2015 Social Studies-Day 2
1629
The Massachusetts Bay Company receives a charter to settle land in America. Leaders
of the company are Puritans, and they establish Massachusetts Bay as a Puritan
colony.
1684
After failed attempts to exercise control over Massachusetts Bay, King Charles II
revokes the colony’s charter.
1686
King James II combines the Massachusetts Bay Colony with the rest of New England’s
colonies, creating the Dominion of New England.
1689
Massachusetts learns that William and Mary have replaced King James II as the
monarchs of England. The Dominion of New England is ended, and Massachusetts
begins to govern itself again.
1691
King William and Queen Mary create a new charter for the colony of Massachusetts.
1. Under the 1691 charter, what type of colony was Massachusetts?
A. a proprietary colony
B. an independent colony
C. a parliamentary colony
D. a royal colony
2. Slavery and indentured servitude were both forms of labor which were used in colonial
America. How were indentured servants different from slaves?
A. Indentured servants did not perform manual labor.
B. Indentured servants could hire slaves to do their work.
C. Indentured servants were freed after a set number of years.
D. Indentured servants earned higher wages than slaves.
3. Identify the significance of the Virginia Plan during debates over the formation of an
American constitutional government.
A. It proposed three branches of government.
B. It proposed a one-house national legislature.
C. It proposed congress members be appointed for life.
D. It proposed that each state would cast a single vote.
4. Which of the following is one of the reasons why so many slaves were brought from Africa to
be used on plantations in North and South America?
A. There were not enough people to work on the plantations in the Americas.
B. There were not any jobs in Africa for slaves to perform.
C. Slaves were the most dedicated workers on the plantations.
D. Slaves were the only people capable of working on plantations.
5. Slavery existed in Africa long before the transatlantic trade brought slaves to the
Americas. The transatlantic trade began bringing slaves to the Americas in the 16th century.
Slavery soon spread through parts of South America, the Caribbean, and North America.
Which of the following was the most basic reason that slavery spread throughout the
Americas?
A. need for cheap labor
B. rebellion by indentured servants
C. death of native populations
D. rise of industry
6. Millions of African slaves were brought to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade
between the 16th and 19th centuries. The type of slavery that came to exist in the Americas
was known as chattel slavery. Chattel slavery is different from other forms of forced labor in
that
A. it involved a period of employment where the person worked off their debt.
B. it implies the outright ownership of the slave by a master.
C. a person was sworn into service to a lord and worked the lord's land.
D. a person was tricked into the arrangement by the offer of a good job.
7. The Articles of Confederation were the first governing document of the new United States.
One of the main reasons the Articles of Confederation was ineffective was because
A. the Office of the President was too powerful and could override Congress.
B. Congress had the power to make decisions but not to enforce them.
C. there was no provision for federal courts to have authority over state courts.
D. every law required the unanimous consent of all of the states.
8. Which statement best describes why the Americans created a loose confederation of states
in the Articles of Confederation?
A. They did not want congress to have the power to declare war.
B. They did not want a central authority like the British system.
C. They wanted a central authority to rule over all the joined states.
D. They wanted the states to have a choice about signing the Articles.
9. During the French and Indian War, France and Great Britain fought for control of North
American territory. What was one of the effects of this war on the American colonists?
A. All British colonies in North America were handed over to the French.
B. The colonists began trading more with the French.
C. The colonists became more supportive of Great Britain.
D. Great Britain imposed new taxes on the colonists in order to pay war debts.
10. Alexander Hamilton strongly supported a pro-Federalist interpretation of the Constitution.
He supported greater federal powers at the expense of the states' powers. Which of these is a
result of Hamilton's federalist beliefs?
A.
establishing the Department of the Interior to manage government lands and set up
national parks
B.
establishing the first national bank of the United States as a way to manage money across
state borders
C.
the Supreme Court ruling that the rights of the states held more authority over federal
laws
D.
the creation of the Department of the Treasury and the elevation of the Secretary of the
Treasury to a Cabinet level position
11. Many weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation were corrected with the adoption of the
Constitution as the supreme law of the land in 1787. Which of these statements is true
regarding the differences between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution?
The Constitution provided for a strong central government with an elected executive, a
A. powerful legislature, and the appointment of judges; the Articles provided only for a
legislative branch.
The Articles required each state to elect its representatives to Congress based upon taxes
B. paid to the federal government; the Constitution allowed states' legislatures to elect their
representatives to Congress.
The Articles provided for a strong president whose decisions could not be overruled by
C. the Congress; the Constitution provided for a weak presidency, which required the
approval of the Congress.
D.
The Constitution defined the rights of the states and the powers each state was granted;
the Articles determined each state's powers based upon population.
12. What was the major reason the Massachusetts colony began?
A. It was founded as a penal colony for all the expelled prisoners in England.
B. It was founded in order to grow tobacco and enrich the King of England.
C. It served as a place for the Pilgrims and Puritans to freely practice their religions.
D. It served as a sugar plantation.