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2021 STAAR Grade 8 Social Studies

Last updated about 4 years ago

44 questions

1

8.11B

8.29B

1

8.25C

8.29C

1

8.29B

8.3A

1

8.26A

8.29B

1

8.16B

8.29A

1

8.1A

8.29C

1

8.18A

8.29B

1

8.11A

8.29C

1

8.29B

8.5C

1

8.24B

8.29B

1

8.29B

8.6B

1

8.29B

8.4C

1

8.29B

8.9C

1

8.12C

8.29B

1

8.29B

8.5A

1

8.10B

8.29B

1

8.1B

8.29B

1

8.15C

8.29A

1

8.29B

8.7C

1

8.23A

8.29B

1

8.22B

8.29B

1

8.24A

8.29B

1

8.21A

8.29B

1

8.29B

8.2B

1

8.27A

8.29A

1

8.29B

8.5G

1

8.29B

1

8.13B

8.29B

1

8.15E

8.29B

1

8.29B

8.8C

1

8.19A

8.29B

1

8.17A

8.29C

1

8.29B

8.4D

1

8.28B

8.29C

1

8.17B

8.29B

1

8.23C

8.29B

1

8.29B

8.2A

1

8.29C

8.4A

1

8.12B

8.29B

1

8.29A

8.8D

1

8.14B

8.29B

1

8.29B

8.9A

1

8.19B

8.29B

1

8.28A

8.29C

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How did the introduction of barbed-wire fences benefit farmers?

By making irrigation of the land more effective

By helping to break up the soil before plowing

By making the harvesting of cotton more efficient

By protecting crops from damage caused by animals

Study the diagram and answer the question that follows.

Which statement explains how the First Amendment has affected these groups?

These groups are allowed to share and promote their beliefs

These groups are allowed to join together to form a national religion.

These groups are prevented from having worship services in public places.

These groups are prevented from establishing religious schools.

What was one way slow communication with the British government affected the American colonies?

The colonies united for trade and defense.

Self-government developed in the colonies

Smuggling of goods in the colonies decreased.

The colonies petitioned the government to establish a navy.

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.

Which statement shows how this excerpt is an example of transcendentalism in the early-to-mid 1800s?

Thoreau uses reason to explain natural events that happen in the world.

Thoreau focuses on the role of science in changing the natural world.

Thoreau studies the relationship between nature and historical events.

Thoreau focuses on the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.

What was an IMMEDIATE effect of this amendment?

Many plantation owners attempted to recapture former slaves.

Many plantation owners were forced to give land to former slaves.

Many former slaves became sharecroppers to earn a living.

Many former slaves were awarded money by former Confederate leaders.

Study the photograph and answer the question that follows.

Which era is represented by this photograph?

The early republic

The Age of Jackson

Westward expansion

Civil War

In which court case was the U.S. principle of judicial review established?

McCulloch v. Maryland

Gibbons v. Ogden

Marbury v. Madison

Dred Scott v. Sandford

Study the map and answer the question that follows.

Which physical characteristic attracted settlers to this area during the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries?

Large amounts of fertile soil for crops

Accessible mountain passes for mining

Natural harbors for whaling

Grassy plains for cattle ranching

Why did many farmers, artisans, and former Anti-Federalists support the Democratic-Republican Party?

The Democratic-Republicans favored the expansion of a strong national government.

The Democratic-Republicans supported strict restrictions on immigration.

The Democratic-Republicans supported the use of tariffs.

The Democratic-Republicans favored states’ rights and the rights of the common man.

Which statement explains how the work of Dorothea Dix benefited U.S. society?

Mental-health facilities were opened to treat patients.

Doctors were required to get federal licenses to practice medicine

States passed laws giving harsher sentences to criminals.

The government distributed land to poor people

Which statement explains one of the motivations behind Manifest Destiny?

“These are the times that try men’s souls: the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country. . . ."

"I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free. . . .” 

“And that claim is by the right . . . to overspread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us. . . .”

“That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.”

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.

Which of the following prompted General Washington to write this letter?

A shortage of Continental soldiers to maintain the siege of Yorktown 

The high number of casualties suffered during the Battle of Bunker Hill 

Low morale after the British army captured New York City

Concern for the Continental troops during the winter at Valley Forge

How did sharecropping affect farmers in the South during Reconstruction?

By introducing new technology for growing food 

By expanding the region’s dependence on corn production 

By making landowners buy supplies from the government 

By keeping renters in debt to landlords

Study the diagram and answer the question that follows.

Which effects correctly replace the numbers in this cause-and-effect diagram?

(1) Used slave labor (2) Used Chinese laborers 

(1) Established plantations (2) Established textile factories 

(1) Exported dried fish (2) Exported agricultural goods 

(1) Imported lumber (2) Imported cattle

Why did Alexander Hamilton think a national bank would strengthen the central government?

The bank would help provide stability for the U.S. economy. 

The bank would create a monopoly that would eliminate state banks. 

The bank would encourage foreign competition for manufactured goods. 

The bank would have the power to regulate interstate commerce.

Boston, Massachusetts, and San Francisco, California, are geographically similar in that they BOTH —

have a Mediterranean climate 

are located near active volcanoes 

have a hot desert climate

are located on a coast

What is the significance of the Pilgrims’ arrival in America?

It led to an alliance between the British and the French. 

It led to an early attempt at self-government in the English colonies. 

It caused Puritans to separate from the Church of England. 

It introduced the slave trade to the Atlantic colonies.

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.

How was this grievance addressed by the Founding Fathers?

By making the president the commander in chief of the armed forces 

By requiring the president and members of Congress to take the oath of office

By giving the president and Congress the power to make treaties 

By giving Congress the power to draft civilians into the armed forces

During the colonial period, what was one difference between slave labor in the North and slave labor in the South?

More slaves in the North worked in gold mines. 

More slaves in the North worked in cash-crop production. 

More slaves in the North worked in trade-related jobs. 

More slaves in the North worked as craftsmen on plantations.

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.

Which reason BEST explains why many Swedish people settled in the American Midwest?

They wanted to work in steel mills. 

They wanted to participate in the abolitionist movement. 

They wanted to settle in large cities. 

They wanted to find fertile farmland.

Why is John Paul Jones remembered as the “Father of the American Navy”?

He won naval victories against the British during the Revolutionary War.

He led the naval assault against the Barbary States. 

He commanded the first steam-powered warship in the U.S. Navy. 

He served as the first Secretary of the Navy.

Study the timeline and answer the question that follows.

Which word correctly replaces the question mark in the title of this timeline?

Suffrage

Abolitionist

Temperance

Transcendentalist

Which statement describes BOTH the Free-Soil Party and the Republican Party in the mid-1800s?

They supported actions to stop escaped slaves from entering the North.

They supported enacting safety regulations to protect factory workers.

They were against the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

They were against the establishment of American Indian reservations.

Study the table and answer the question that follows.

Which reasons correctly replace the numbers in this table?

What was one effect of the cotton gin in the United States?

Improved soil fertility 

Expansion of mercantilism 

Increased efficiency of crop irrigation 

Expansion of the plantation system

What was the issue in Worcester v. Georgia?

The taxation of Cherokee lands

The use of subsistence farming by the Cherokee people

The sovereignty of the Cherokee nation

The abandonment of the Cherokee culture by its people

Why did President Thomas Jefferson approve the negotiations that led to the Louisiana Purchase?

He wanted to settle boundary disputes with Great Britain.

He wanted to take control of the Mississippi River.

He wanted to obtain land to limit Russian colonization.

He wanted to take control of the Appalachian Mountains.

How did immigrants MOST contribute to the rapid industrialization of the United States during the early-to-mid 1800s?

By serving as an inexpensive source of labor

By raising the money needed for investment

By introducing skilled craftsmanship in cottage industries

By designing the methods used to mass produce goods

Thomas Hooker’s Fundamental Orders of Connecticut is important in U.S. political history because it was an early colonial document that-

outlawed protected tariffs

extended suffrage to women

provided for the election of representatives

proposed the creation of an independent country

Which statement BEST describes the importance of the Battle of Vicksburg?

The Confederacy lost control of the Mississippi River

It was the opening engagement of the Civil War in the South.

It was described as the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War

The Confederacy captured military supplies from the North.

Which description is an example of an unalienable right from the Declaration of Independence?

Equality — People’s education should be equal in every state.

Wealth — People’s salaries should be dependent on their skills.

Happiness — People can do lawful things that they enjoy.

Patriotism — People can choose to join any of the armed forces.

Study the image and answer the question that follows.

Which group would have made these arguments in 1787?

Free-Soilers

Anti-Federalists

Loyalists

Federalists

The Great Compromise addressed disagreements over federal representation by —

creating a bicameral legislature

enumerating the powers of the central government

giving veto power to the executive

establishing three branches of government

Study the map and answer the question that follows.

The canals shown on this map caused —

a decline in farming in areas far from the canal routes

increased competition among cotton producers in the South

a decline in international trade going through Atlantic port cities

the rapid growth of urban centers along the canal routes

Which constitutional issue contributed to sectional conflict before the Civil War?

Disagreement over the boundaries of the Oregon Territory

Growing support for limiting female suffrage and immigration

The limits on free speech and press included in the Alien and Sedition Acts

Debate over the expansion of slavery into the West

Settlers in Maryland struggled to resolve various disputes in the early days of the colony. The Maryland Assembly resolved many of those disputes in 1649 by passing a law that —

granted farmland to former indentured servants

allowed men without property to vote in elections

allowed all Christians to worship freely

extended citizenship to all American Indians

What was the INITIAL reason many European explorers sailed to the Americas?

To find new trade routes to Asia

To form military alliances

To spread Christianity to Africa

To find new sources of cheap labor

Read the headlines and answer the question that follows.

How did the American colonists IMMEDIATELY respond to the 1774 laws described in these headlines?

The First Continental Congress declared war on Great Britain.

The colonists adopted the Articles of Confederation.

The First Continental Congress sent a list of grievances to King George III.

The colonists adopted the Bill of Rights

Study the diagram and answer the question that follows.

Which phrase BEST completes this diagram?

Development of labor unions

Increased enlistment in the military

Construction of roads and railroads

Increased profits for plantation owners

Read the excerpt and answer the question that follows.

How did President Abraham Lincoln react to the idea expressed in Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address?

Lincoln stated that the argument by the South to leave the Union was unjustified.

Lincoln called on the U.S. Supreme Court to make a ruling on the legality of secession.

Lincoln believed the reasoning to leave the Union was protected by the Constitution.

Lincoln prepared to amend the Constitution in order to appease the Southern states.

How did the free enterprise system MOST benefit industrial development in the first half of the 1800s?

By allowing entrepreneurs to raise money and invest in companies

By establishing quotas on immigrants

By providing safe working conditions for factory workers

By encouraging the government to put taxes on businesses

Read the passage and answer the question that follows.

Which of the following expresses a goal of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867?

To restore the Democratic Party to power in the South

To rebuild the plantation economy of the South

To protect the rights of African Americans in the South

To encourage former slaves to leave the South

Which situation violates the Eighth Amendment protections regarding criminal punishment?

A protester is jailed for violent acts at a political rally.

A person is sentenced to life in prison for shoplifting

A person is sentenced to ten years imprisonment for assault and robbery.

A judge orders that an accused person be jailed until bail is paid.

Study the images and answer the question that follows.

Which effect did these innovations have on life in the United States?

Natural fertilizer became more effective.

Harvesting season could last longer.

Finding water to irrigate crops became easier.

Crop production became more efficient.