8th Social Studies Post Test/Exam
Study Guide
Chapter 1
What is Culture? • Culture is the way of life of a group of people. Culture includes such elements as religion, music, and food. • Cultural anthropologists study groups of people to learn about their culture. • The major religions of Louisiana are Catholic and Protestant; the religions of more recent immigrants include Buddhism and Islam. • Louisiana music includes jazz, blues, Cajun music, zydeco, and country music. • The foods most often associated with Louisiana came from the Cajuns and Creoles.
Louisiana’s Festivals • The earliest festivals throughout the world were a celebration of the harvest. Louisiana continued this tradition as an agricultural culture. • The fall festivals featured important crops such as sugar cane and rice. • Louisiana has hundreds of festivals every year, held in every month of the year. Food and music are often the focus of these festivals. • Mardi Gras, Louisiana’s largest cultural celebration, was begun as part of the practice of the Catholic religion. The largest Mardi Gras is in New Orleans, but many other towns and cities also celebrate with parades.
Louisiana’s Cultural Regions • Louisiana can be divided into different cultural regions based on such factors as ethnic heritage, language, religion, food, music, or recreation. • The Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism has divided the state into five cultural regions.
Louisiana’s People • Louisiana has many ethnic groups including Acadians, African Americans, American Indians, Anglos, Germans, Hispanics, and Italians. • Recent immigration has brought more ethnic groups into the state.
Chapter 2
Louisiana’s Location • Louisiana’s location can be described in terms of absolute location or relative location. • The Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River form two of the boundaries of Louisiana. Both have influenced the culture, history, and economy of the state.
Louisiana’s Waterways • Rivers form three of Louisiana’s natural boundaries. • Louisiana’s other important waterways are the bayous and natural and manmade lakes. • The state has almost five thousand miles of rivers, bayous, creeks, and canals.
Louisiana’s Natural Regions • Regions help identify, classify, and analyze geographic information about a place. These geographic regions are described by differences in relief, soil, and vegetation. • Louisiana has been divided into five natural regions. • Some major regions are divided into smaller regions with similar geographic features.
Louisiana’s Climate • Louisiana has a humid subtropical climate. • Northwest Louisiana has both the hottest and the coldest temperatures. The southern part of the state has milder temperatures and a longer growing season. • Louisiana has a long growing season, which means that many crops can be grown here. • The most common form of precipitation is rain. The most falls in southeast Louisiana. • Winds cause damaging storms in Louisiana. People have died from some of these hurricanes and tornadoes. • Tornadoes form quickly and can destroy buildings and uproot trees. • Hurricanes cause major damage with high winds, a storm surge, and heavy rains.
People and the Environment • Louisiana’s natural environment has been altered by humans. • Problems in the environment have been caused by humans and by nature. • Flood-control efforts have saved people and farms from flooding but have had unplanned results. • The biggest crisis is the loss of coastal wetlands, a problem that endangers both the environment and the economy. • Louisiana’s coastline is losing land every year. Efforts to stop the loss must involve the federal government because this loss affects the entire country
Chapter 3
Basic Economic Concepts • All people have economic needs and wants. • Goods and services meet those needs and wants. • Producers provide various goods and services to consumers. • Resources are used to produce those goods and services. Wants and needs are unlimited but resources are not. • This scarcity requires both producers and consumers to make choices. Each choice is an opportunity, with costs and benefits. Sometimes trade-offs are made, combining several options. • An economy may be a market economy, a command economy, or a traditional economy. Louisiana is part of the market economy of the United States. Producers and consumers are free to make economic choices. An important concept of a market economy is supply and demand. • An economy is based on the answers to four basic questions: what to produce, how to produce, how much to produce, and for whom to produce.
Louisiana’s Economic History • Louisiana’s first economic system was a traditional economy—the barter system of the Native Americans. • Colonial Louisiana had a mercantile economy. • By the time Louisiana became American in the nineteenth century, the economy was based on agriculture. • In the twentieth century, the oil industry drove the state’s economy. • Today’s twenty-first-century economy produces a variety of goods and services.
Louisiana’s Resources • Natural resources, capital resources, and human resources all contribute to this economy. Natural resources include mineral resources such as oil, natural gas, salt, sulphur, and lignite. The state also has biological resources such as forests, wildlife, and fish. • Capital resources include ports, highways, and buildings. New capital resources include technology that helps improve the economy. • Human resources are the people who do the work. Skilled workers are needed in today’s economy.
Producing Goods and Services • These natural, capital, and human resources produce many goods and services in Louisiana’s economy. • Economic institutions include small businesses, corporations, banks, and labor unions. • Louisiana is part of the U.S. economy. Today’s economy is more global and interdependent. • Louisiana’s economy has been affected by changes in U.S. trade policies. • The success of the current U.S. economy is measured by several economic indicators. These include the GDP, the CPI, and the unemployment rate.
Chapter 4
Democratic Government • Government is an organization in a society with the authority to make, carry out, and enforce laws. In a democracy, this power comes from the people and is limited by the people. • A democratic government protects individual rights and promotes the common good. • Louisiana government has roots in the state’s colonial days, with some of today’s laws based on French and Spanish ideas. • When Louisiana became a state in 1812, a constitution was written. • The United States government, the state government, and local governments have specific powers and responsibilities as described in the U.S. Constitution and the Louisiana constitution. • The U.S. Constitution gives some powers to states, shares other powers with the states, and keeps some powers only for the federal government. The state constitution receives its power from the U.S. Constitution and the people of the state.
The Structure of State Government • The state government has three branches—the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch—and a separation of powers among those branches. • Each branch of state government checks and balances the power of the other two branches. • The executive branch carries out the laws and runs the government. • The legislative branch makes the laws. The Louisiana legislature has two bodies—the house of representatives and the senate. • The judicial branch interprets and applies the laws. Louisiana has two kinds of law—civil and criminal. • The state court system has three levels: district courts, courts of appeal, and the Louisiana supreme court. • The state budget is an annual plan for receiving and spending money. The money comes mainly from taxes but also from some other sources.
Local Governments • The state has sixty-four parishes, and most parishes have a police jury form of government. • Cities and towns also have local governments. • A school board is a special local government.
Citizens and Government • Citizens have rights and responsibilities. • You can vote when you are 18. • Candidates campaign to win votes. A candidate is usually a member of a political party. • Elections in Louisiana have the open primary system.
Chapter 5
Prehistoric Cultures • American Indians lived in Louisiana thousands of years before any Europeans came. Scientists have classified these prehistoric people into several time periods according to their hunting and settlement practices. • The Paleo Indians were nomads that followed the animals they hunted. • The Meso Indians hunted smaller animals and gathered fruits and vegetables. They stayed in one place longer, building houses and the first mounds. • The early Neo Indians made the first pottery, lived in villages, and developed trade. • The late Neo Indians farmed, built more permanent homes, and built temple mounds.
Historic Indian Tribes • The historic period began when the Europeans arrived and recorded information. • By this time, Louisiana’s American Indians had distinct languages, social and political organizations, belief systems, and customs. • The Atakapa lived in southwest Louisiana and were known as cannibals by other tribes. • The Natchez had a complex social structure and were ruled by the “Great Sun.” They had large villages and farms and were almost completely wiped out by the French. • The Caddo hunted bison from horseback and also grew crops. • The Choctaw, the second-largest tribe in the Southeast, became important allies of the French. They farmed and also traded. • The Houma were driven into the marsh and swamps by the French and learned to trap and fish. They live in that area today. Baton Rouge is the French name for a Houma marker. Chapter Summary 171 • The Tunica trading skill gave them power during the European colonial days. The Tunica and the Biloxi were pushed from their traditional lands and now have a reservation near Marksville. • The Chitimacha originally lived in South Louisiana. Today they are the only Louisiana tribe that lives on its ancestral lands. • The Coushatta encountered the Spanish explorer de Soto and moved further south. They now have a reservation in Allen Parish. Members of the Coushatta tribe still speak their language.
Early Historic Culture • Many American Indians lived in villages that were organized according to clans or social class. • Clothing was usually simple, made from available materials and suited to the climate. The Natchez wore more elaborate clothing, including feather capes. • Work involved hunting, fishing, and farming. Men could make a pirogue from a cypress log, and women made beautiful baskets. Children’s play imitated adult work. • Most houses were made from available material. Sometimes a wood frame was covered with a clay-and-moss mixture. The Caddo built log houses. • Corn was the main food crop, and sagamite made from corn was an important dish. Bear oil was valuable for cooking and was often traded. • The religion of each tribe was based on the concept of sacred harmony. Harvest festivals were religious ceremonies. • Tribes had war chiefs and peace chiefs. Some tribes included women in their governments. Smoking the calumet was an important ritual.
Chapter 6
The French Come to Louisiana • France, Great Britain, and Spain wanted to control North America. • Joliet and Marquette explored the upper Mississippi River for France. La Salle claimed all of the land drained by the river for Louis XIV. • Iberville founded the French colony of Louisiana by building Fort Maurepas. Later several other forts were built. • All governors faced problems because they shared authority with another colonial official. • Lack of food and support from France created miserable conditions for the colonists. • The Indians accepted the colonists at first but soon resented them as intruders.
Louisiana as a Proprietorship • The king allowed Crozat to operate the colony as a proprietorship. • Crozat chose Cadillac as governor, and St. Denis established a fort at Natchitoches to trade with the Spanish. • Crozat did not make money, and the Company of the West took over the colony. • John Law sold stock in the Company to investors. The price of the stock soared, and then the Mississippi Bubble collapsed. • Law recruited a group of German farmers as colonists, and they improved the colony. • Slaves were brought to the colony, and the Code Noir was passed to manage the slaves. • The Company sent Perier as the new governor. He was blamed for the Natchez uprising when the Chapter Summary 203 Natchez Indians attacked the settlers after a French official took their land. • After the uprising, too few colonists wanted to settle in the area. Because of this major loss, the Company of the West returned the colony to the king.
A Royal Colony Again • Bienville returned as governor but returned to France when he could not win a clear victory in the war against the Chickasaw. • Governor Vaudreuil was very formal and dignified but was able to reduce the Indian threat. Kerlerec became the next governor and was soon involved in conflicts. • The colonists included French Canadian woodsmen, German farmers, slaves, soldiers, and nuns and priests. • Convicts were sent to the colony, and some women also came to marry the male colonists. One group was called the casket girls. • The official religion was Roman Catholic, and no other religion was allowed. Priests and nuns provided schools, and nuns cared for the sick. • Mardi Gras was celebrated. • For entertainment, people danced, played cards, and gambled. • A few people lived in elegant homes, but most people lived in simple log houses. • Some clothing was imported from France, but most clothing was made from imported cloth. • They knew little about the diseases such as smallpox and yellow fever that killed many. • Decisions made in France and the lack of enough good colonists created problems.
Chapter 7
Louisiana Becomes a Spanish Colony • France traded Louisiana to Spain in return for money and military assistance. • The agreement at the end of the French and Indian War gave the Florida Parishes to Great Britain. • The first Acadians arrived in Louisiana during the colony’s transition from France to Spain. • The first Spanish governor did not take control, and the colonists rebelled and forced him from the colony. • The Spanish king sent a strong military leader, O’Reilly, to end the rebellion and punish the leaders. O’Reilly angered the French colonists by executing the leaders.
Spanish Control • O’Reilly ended the French Superior Council and set up the Cabildo. • When Governor Unzaga took over, he allowed illegal smuggling so the colony could survive. • Spain wanted loyal Spanish colonists and brought the Isleños from the Canary Islands.
Louisiana in the American Revolution • When France joined the war on the side of the American colonies, Spain entered the war. • The governor of Spanish Louisiana, Gálvez, seized the British forts on the east side of the Mississippi and at Mobile and Pensacola. • The American Revolution ended with the Treaty of Paris. Spain was given British West Florida and now controlled both sides of the Mississippi in Louisiana.
Spanish Louisiana after the American Revolution • Governor Miro had trouble with American neighbors, Indian trade, and a major fire in New Orleans. Chapter Summary 233 • Despite these difficulties, Spanish Louisiana continued to grow. The strong Spanish governors and the Spanish colonial system benefitted the colony. • The French Revolution stirred unrest in the colony, and Governor Carondelet watched for signs of rebellion among the colonists. However, the colonists continued to speak French and live a French lifestyle. • Western Americans pushed for more access to the port of New Orleans. The issue was settled by Pinckney’s Treaty. • The population grew when people came from Haiti to escape the slave revolt. • The colony’s first newspaper was published. • Sugar cane became a profitable crop when Etienne de Boré improved the manufacturing process. • Despite growth and improvements, the colony still did not support itself. Spain decided Louisiana was too expensive to keep.
Chapter 8
Louisiana Becomes American • In 1802, Spain took away the right of deposit, and western farmers demanded action. • In a secret transfer, Spain gave Louisiana back to France. • Napoleon’s plans to take back North America were changed by the revolution in Haiti. • Robert Livingston and James Monroe worked out the Louisiana Purchase in Paris, but the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase were unclear. • The present state of Louisiana became the Territory of Orleans, and William C. C. Claiborne was appointed governor. • Americans began to move in, joining the Frenchspeaking Creoles. • The area along the Sabine River became a neutral zone with no government control. • Former Vice President Aaron Burr was accused of plotting against the United States. • After the Louisiana Purchase, West Florida remained Spanish. The English-speaking people there revolted and were later accepted as part of the United States. • As the agricultural economy grew, so did the number of slaves. After a large slave uprising in 1811, the leaders were executed.