Eighth Grade U.S. History Test Quiz

Answer: Louisiana Purchase

Jefferson purchased about half of the western part of what is now the United States from the French for fifteen million dollars. The French also gave the United States the right to use the port of New Orleans.

Answer: Great Britain

Congress declared war against Great Britain after the British seized some American ships on the high seas. Britain had also pressed some U.S. citizens into serving in the Royal Navy.

In 1814 the British fleet sailed up the Chesapeake Bay and their army marched towards Washington. A battle happened just east of the city and the British then entered Washington and burned several public buildings including the White House.

Answer: Philadelphia

Washington, D.C. had not yet been chosen as the capital city. In 1787 leading men from the twelve existing states traveled to Philadelphia to write the Constiution. We now call this event the Constitutional Convention.

Answer: The battle was fought two weeks after the War of 1812 had ended

The War of 1812 ended in late 1814. Because communications were slow word did not arrive in New Orleans until much later and thus the Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 after the peace treaty had been signed.

Answer: Clara Barton

Clara Barton was called "the Angel of the Battlefield", because after receiving word of a major battle, she would travel there and aid wounded soldiers. She later founded the American Red Cross.

Answer: Fort Sumter, South Carolina

Several southern states had already left the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. At 4.30 am on April 12, 1861 Confederate forces fired on the Union fort off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, beginning the Civil War.

Answer: Utah

The Transcontiental Railroad was a product of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad. Chinese laborers worked on the portion that came from California to Utah. Their job was very difficult because they had to brave mountain snows and rugged terrain.

The east to west portion of the railroad used many Irish laborers. Finally on May 10, 1869 the two tracks joined at Promotory Summit, Utah.

Answer: The Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation was an order by President Lincoln, under the power given him by the Constitution, that decreed that slaves in the Confederate states be set free. (Contrary to popular myth, it did *not* free slaves throughout the U.S.). As the Union armies advanced into the South thousands of slaves became free every month.

Answer: The Allied Powers

The Allied Powers were, for the most part, the United States, Canada, France, Great Britain, Russia, and several other countries. The main Axis Powers were Germany, Japan, and Italy.

Answer: The Holocaust

Even before the United States entered the war a systematic roundup of Jews was occurring in Germany and German-occupied territory. In some cases, especially in the Soviet Union, they were shot in open-air massacres as at Babi Yar. Those in other countries were sent to extermination camps.

In all about six million Jews were killed. It was said that when General Eisenhower was being driven to inspect one of the camps he could detect the odor two miles away.