Name:
Social Studies 8th grade 1st Six Weeks Benchmark Study Guide
1. Who wrote the pamphlet, Common Sense that urged the colonist to declare independence
from Great Britain? _______________________________
2. ___________________________________________ is considered the first Constitution
in the American Colonies.
3. What is the purpose of the Magna Carta?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Why were the Intolerable Acts considered a common danger for all colonists?
________________________________________________________________________
5. Jonathan Edwards’s message led to
_______________________________________________________________________.
6. List the reasons for the growth of the plantation system in the south.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. What are the major resources of the New England Colonies?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
8. Describe the features of the Northwest Ordinance.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
9. Define Unalienable Rights.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
10. To demonstrate and protest something you believe to be unjust, like the colonist protested
after the Stamp and Intolerable Acts is an example of? ___________________________
11. What group of people were a proponent of the Declaration of Independence
______________________ and what group of people opposed the Declaration of
Independence ________________________.
12. Place the following events in chronological order: 1st Great Awakening, Jamestown,
Toleration Act, Quaker Colony established in Pennsylvania
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
13. Who is known for saying, “I have not yet, begun to fight” and is also considered the
founder of the United States Navy? ________________________________________
14. What American Colonial writing most inspired the colonist to seek freedom?
________________________________________________________________________
15. What did John Locke believe about the role of government?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
16. Where did the majority of Quakers settle? _____________________________________
17. What was the first “cash crop” of the British Colonies in America? _________________
18. What was the earliest form of taxation without representation enforced in the colonies
by British Parliament? ____________________________________________________
19. How the colonists feel about the Proclamation of 1763?
________________________________________________________________________
20. Describe in detail British Mercantilism.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
21. Before the American Revolution, the British taxed the colonist in order to pay off what
war debt? _______________________________________________________________
22. What was a major contribution to the growth of free enterprise in the American
colonies? _______________________________________________________________
23. Describe the life of Benjamin Franklin.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
24. What was the main reason for Christopher Columbus to journey across the Atlantic in
1492? __________________________________________________________________
25. Which of the following colonies was established for religious reasons: Virginia, Georgia,
Massachusetts, or North Carolina
26. How did the Mayflower Compact contribute to the growth of democratic ideas about
government? ___________________________________________________________
27. What colony was originally established as a Dutch trading center? __________________
28. What is the significance of the Battle of Saratoga? ______________________________
29. Sequence the following in the correct chronological order: Battle of Saratoga, Battles of
Lexington and Concord, Treaty of Paris, Declaration of Independence, Battle of
Yorktown
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
30. What did the Treaty of Paris make Great Britain recognize?