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U. S. History I Mid-Year Exam Study Guide
PURPOSE:
The mid-year exam will test your historical knowledge and ability to apply key historical thinking skills such as
sourcing and the use of evidence to support claims.
It counts for 10% of your overall grade and consists of…
I. 85 Multiple Choice
II. 2 Open Response
III. 1 HAT (History Assessment of Thinking)
Your thorough preparation using this study guide will make a positive difference!
ACADEMIC HONESTY:
If assigned for homework, this is individual work and therefore responses should be unique. “We worked
together” is not an acceptable excuse for shared answers.
I. MULTIPLE CHOICE-“IDENTIFIES”
Directions:
To prep for multiple choice, use the “IDENTIFIES” (people, places, terms) that follow; you should….
Define --describe its significant characteristic and…
Connect --to 1)at least one “Enduring Understanding” from the unit, 2)AND/OR to at least one other
“Identify” from the list.
Your responses should be complete and detailed. See example below.
Example:

Treaty of Paris, 1763: This officially ended the French and Indian War. Britain claimed all of N. America east of
the Mississippi and purchased Florida from Spain. France was expelled from the Americas, thus increasing
Britain’s power and independence (#2) It was also bad news for the Indians who found the British harder to deal
with than the French. Still the British hoped to minimize conflict between their colonists and the Indians by
passing the Proclamation of 1763 to ban settlement west of the Appalachians. This strained relations between
Britain and her American colonies (#3) who ignored the proclamation and were convinced the British did not care
about their needs.
Commentary: in the above example the “Identify” “Treaty of Paris, 1763” is connected to two “Enduring
Understandings” (#2, #3), and one other “Identify”, the “Proclamation of 1763”
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Unit 1: American Revolution, 1763-1783
Textbook: Ch. 3: The Colonies Come of Age 1650-1760 (pp.64-93);
Ch. 4: The War for Independence, 1768-1783 (pp. 94-129)
Enduring Understandings
1. The British Thirteen Colonies was a melting pot of European immigrants that created tremendous
diversity in Colonial America.
2. The French and Indian War was the first War for Independence the British Colonies fought in
3. The relationship between the British colonies and England got progressively worse during the first half
of the eighteenth century that ultimately led to the Revolutionary War.
4. Not all Americans living in the British Colonies supported separating from England and becoming an
independent nation.
5. The Americans overcome tremendous adversity and obstacles to defeat the more superior British army
IDENTIFIES:
Causes of French and Indian War (85-86)
Albany Plan of Union (97)
Treaty of Paris 1763 (87)
Impact on colonial/British relations (88-89)
Proclamation of 1763 (88)
Sugar Act, 1764 (89)
Navigation Acts (68,70)
Stamp Act (96)
“no taxation without representation” (97)
Boston Massacre, 1770 (98)
Paul Revere (98)
Intolerable Acts (99)
Boston Tea Party (99)
Committees of Correspondence (99)
Mercantilism (66,68)
Common Sense (105)
Declaration of Independence (106)
Political ideals
Enlightenment Influence
Loyalists (106)
Patriots (106)
Key Battles (first battle, moral victory, turning point, winning battle)
Lexington & Concord (100)
Princeton & Trenton (114)
Saratoga (115)
Yorktown (121)
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UNIT 2: United States Constitution, 1781-1791
Textbook: Ch. 5: Shaping A New Nation, 1781-1788 & The Living Constitution (pp. 130-179)
Enduring Understandings
1. The success of the American Revolution did not immediately lead to the creation of a united, ordered
government or society, but it did give us the freedom to begin anew.
2. The first attempt at a new national government was the Articles of Confederation which proved, in
many ways, to be inadequate.
3. The Articles of Confederation successfully allowed for orderly westward expansion; however, under the
Articles, the federal government was unable to exercise any real authority when dealing with foreign
policy, defense, and commerce.
4. Instead of revising the Articles, elected delegates met in Philadelphia and began work on a new plan of
government. After a series of debates and compromises, the convention produced The United States
Constitution.
5. The Constitution provided a strong central government which included an executive, legislative, and
judicial branch.
6. Debate over ratification of the Constitution ensued between the Federalists who supported the new
Constitution and the Anti-Federalists who feared the new government created by the Constitution
would undermine the power of the states and infringe upon individual liberties.
7. The Federalists were successful in getting the Constitution ratified after agreeing to amend the
document to include a “Bill of Rights”, which would protect the states and people from government
abuse.
Identifies
Articles of Confederation (135)
Northwest Land Ordinance (135)
Shay’s Rebellion (140)
Constitutional Convention (141)
Influence of English democratic system on Const.
Delegates-what type of people? (141)
The Great Compromise (142)
New Jersey Plan (142)
Virginia Plan (142)
3/5 Compromise (142)
Federalists and Anti-Federalists (146)
Federalist Papers (146)
Bill of Rights (147)
Preamble (154)
Popular Sovereignty
Federalism (143)
Checks and balances (143)
Adaptability (allowing for change) (153)
Faction (151)
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Unit 3: The New Federal Government, 1789-1824
Textbook: Ch. 6 Launching The New Nation 1789-1816 (pp. 180-209)
Enduring Understandings
1. George Washington established a number of important precedents as this nation’s first president.
2. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton expressed competing viewpoints regarding the economy and
government leading to the nation’s first political parties.
3. President Washington identified a number of warnings in his Farwell Address that were later ignored
during Adams and Jefferson’s presidencies.
4. The presidencies of Adams and Jefferson each differently change the size and scope of government.
5. America faced challenges as the nation’s population rapidly grew and individuals desired to expand
West, beyond the original Thirteen Colonies?
6. A number of underlying causes led to the War of 1812—America’s “second war for independence”;
some of those problems were solved and others left unresolved.
Identifies
Strict v. Loose construction (185)
Election of 1800 (197-8)
Washington’s Precedents (183)
Alien & Sedition Acts (195)
Hamilton v. Jefferson: view of people & government
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (195-6)
(184)
Marbury v. Madison (199)
Hamilton-views on debt & bank (184-5)
Embargo Act, 1807 (203)
National Bank, 1791 (185)
War of 1812-results (205)
Whiskey Rebellion (186-7)
Hartford Convention
Birth of political parties (186)
George Washington’s Farewell Address (194)
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II.
OPEN RESPONSE PREP
You’ll be asked to respond to prompts based on the topics below. Be prepared to provide multiple pieces of
relevant supporting historical evidence. Responses should demonstrate your understanding of the historical
significance of the topics.
Topics
Group A: American Revolution
1. Colonial resistance to British policies after 1763. (excellent chart p.100-101)
2. New theory of government established in the Declaration of Independence. Enlightenment principles.
(106)
Group B: The Constitution
3. Weaknesses of the US under the Articles of Confederation. (136-137)
Group C: The New Federal Government
4. Differences between Hamiltonians (Federalists) and Jeffersonian (Republicans) (184-5)
5. Underlying causes of War of 1812 (202-3)
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III.
HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT OF THINKING (HAT) PREP
Be prepared to respond to a HAT similar to the practice example below. Your response should show your ability to apply
relevant historical thinking skills-particularly “sourcing--” and be supported with relevant text evidence.
Respond to the practice prompt, then use the rubric that follows to self-reflect and improve response.
PRACTICE HAT
Directions: Use the image to answer the question below.
Title: “Declaration of Independence: July 4th 1776”
By: N. Currier
Date: Sometime between 1835 and 1856
Question: The image, “Declaration of Independence: July 4th 1776,” helps historians understand
what happened at the drafting of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Do you agree or disagree? (Circle one)
Briefly support your answer:
______________________________________________________________________________
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Rubric – Signing the Declaration of Independence HAT
To answer the question correctly, students must notice both the date of the event and
the date of the print, and understand that the more than 50 years that separate the two
prevent a historian from using this source to learn what happened at the signing of the
Declaration of Independence.
Proficient Student explains why the time gap limits the reliability of the source as
evidence of what happened at the signing of the Declaration of
Independence.
Emergent
Student evaluates reliability of source, but does not fully understand the
problems caused by the gap in time.
Possible responses:
• "Partial recognition" - student recognizes some aspect of the time gap,
but does not fully explain why the gap in time is problematic. For example,
the student might mention that the painting is not a "primary" source, but
does not explain why this limits the usefulness of the source.
• "Consideration of representativeness" - student discounts the
source because a historian would need more than just this one source to
determine what happened at the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. This answer is laudable in that it recognizes the need to
corroborate historical sources, but this answer does not directly evaluate the
usefulness of this particular source.
• "Perspective of artist" - student evaluates the usefulness of the source
based on the perspective or biases of the artist. This response shows a
sophisticated disposition toward historical sources; historians often
consider the perspective of the author when sourcing a document. But little
is known about the creator of this painting and an evaluation based on the
perspective of the artist would be largely guesswork.
• "Type of source"- student evaluates usefulness based on the type of
source. For example, a student might reject the source because he or she
believes that paintings are not reliable sources of information.
Basic
Student does not recognize the gap in time and instead takes the painting at
face value or provides an irrelevant response.
Possible misconceptions:
• “Goodness of fit” - student evaluates the usefulness of the source based
on how well it matches his or her historical understanding of the event.
• “Clarity of source” - student evaluates the usefulness of the source
based on its aesthetic qualities.
SCRIPTION
Stanford History Education Group. Teaching with Primary Sources-Library of Congress