G u i d e
t o
G e o g r a p h y
C h a l l e n g e
The United States, 1790
New
Hampshire
New York
Massachusetts
Boston
Connecticut
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Rhode
Island
New
York
40°N
New
Jersey
Baltimore
Maryland Delaware
N
EE
W
W
S
70°W
Virginia
35°N
North Carolina
South
Carolina
Georgia
Charleston
30°N
75°W
0
85°W
USI_LG_U03_01
The United States, 1790
Second
© Proof
Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
TCI19 76
80°W
100
200 miles
200
miles
0
100
200 kilometers
200
kilometers
AlbersConic
Conic
Equal-Area
Projection
Albers
Equal-Area
Projection
Creating the Constitution 1
G u i d e
t o
G e o g r a p h y
C h a l l e n g e
Geography Skills
Critical Thinking
Score 1 point for each correct answer. Use the
map on the previous page to check shading and labeling.
Questions may have more than one correct
answer. Score 1 to 3 points for each reasonable
answer, depending on the strength of students’
geographic reasoning. Possible answers are given here.
1. Virginia and Pennsylvania had the largest
populations.
2. The nation’s five largest cities in 1790 were
Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts;
Charleston, South Carolina; New York, New
York; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
3. Only 6 of the nation’s 24 largest cities and
towns were located in the South.
4. The South’s next four largest cities had
populations of 2,500 to 5,000. All were located
in Virginia.
5. Students should shade Georgia, Maryland,
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Most of these states were in the South.
6. Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and
Rhode Island had few or no slaves in their
populations. These states were in the North.
7. Eighteen of the nation’s 24 largest cities and
towns were in states with few or no slaves.
8. Slaves were about one-third or more of the
population in Georgia, Maryland, South
Carolina, and Virginia.
9. Students should circle Virginia, North
Carolina, Maryland, and South Carolina.
Virginia would fall from the top rank to the
same range as Pennsylvania. North Carolina
and Maryland would fall below Massachusetts
and New York. South Carolina also would fall
a tier in the population rankings.
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
10.Populous states like Virginia, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and
Maryland would likely support such a system
because it would give them great power in the
national government. Less-populous states like
Rhode Island, Delaware, and Georgia would
likely oppose it because they would have little
power in a population-based legislature.
11.Less-populous states like New Jersey would
benefit from a system of equal representation
and would suffer in a population-based system.
Proposed compromises will vary, but students
might suggest a two-house legislature in which
states are equally represented in one house and
by population in the other.
12.Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and
South Carolina had large slave populations.
Not counting slaves for seats in a populationbased legislature would reduce their power.
This would indirectly benefit populous states
with few or no slaves, like Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts, and New York, which would
likely favor such a plan for that reason.
Suggested compromises might include a twohouse, population-based legislature where
slaves count in one house but not in the other,
or counting only a portion of a state’s slaves
when determining its population.
Creating the Constitution 2
G u i d e
t o
G e o g r a p h y
C h a l l e n g e
Using Scores to Inform Instruction
Geography Skills A score of 6 out of 9 or better
indicates that students have acquired sufficient
geographic information to proceed with the unit.
Critical Thinking A score of 6 out of 9 or better
indicates that students are beginning to understand
the relationships between physical geography and
the different ways in which people live.
Modifying Instruction
ELL or Learners with Special Education Needs Consider focusing on map-reading questions
or limiting the number of “Critical Thinking”
questions.
Students with Weak Map or Critical Thinking Skills Assign appropriate pages from the Social Studies
Skills Toolkit in the back of the Lesson Masters.
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
Creating the Constitution 3