Grade 8 United States History Study Guide

Grade 8 – United States History – Study Guide

U.S. PRESIDENTS

PRESIDENT

YEARS IN OFFICE

/ BIRTH STATE / PARTY / KEY EVENTS DURING TERM
George Washington / 1789-1797 / Virginia / Federalist /

Bill of Rights
Whiskey Rebellion
Cotton gin
Called Father of His Country

John Adams / 1797-1801 / Massachusetts / Federalist /

XYZ Affair
Allen and Sedition Acts
Midnight Appointments

Thomas Jefferson / 1801-1809 / Virginia / Democratic-Republican /

Marbury vs. Madison
Barbary Pirates
Burr Conspiracy
Burr-Hamilton Duel
Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark
Clermont Steamboat

James Madison / 1809-1817 / Virginia / Democratic-Republican /

Embargo Act
War of 1812
Called Father of the Constitution

James Monroe / 1817-1825 / Virginia / Democratic-Republican /

Cumberland Road
New England Factories
Era of Good Feelings
Missouri Compromise
Invasion of Florida
Monroe Doctrine

John Quincy Adams / 1825-1829 / Massachusetts / Democratic-Republican /

Baltimore-Ohio Railroad begins construction
Erie Canal Opens
Photography

Andrew Jackson / 1829-1837 / South Carolina / Democrat /

Indian Removal
Alamo falls to Santa Anna
Nullification Crisis
Texas Independence
Black Hawk War
Jackson vs. Second Bank of U.S.
Nickname: Old Hickory

Martin Van Buren / 1837-1841 / New York / Democrat /

Trail of Tears
Panic of 1837
Telegraph

William Henry Harrison / 1841 / Virginia / Whig /

1st president to die in office; served the shortest term in office
Nickname: Old Tippecanoe

John Tyler / 1841-1845 / Virginia / Whig /

Irish and German Immigration
Oregon Trail
Signs Texas Annexation

James K. Polk / 1845-1849 / North Carolina / Democrat /

Texas Annexation
Manifest Destiny
California Gold Rush
Oregon Treaty
Mexican War
Seneca Falls Convention

Zachary Taylor / 1849-1850 / Virginia / Whig /

Compromise of 1850
Fugitive Slave Act
2nd president to die in office
Nickname: Old Rough and Ready

Millard Fillmore / 1850-1853 / New York / Whig /

Compromise of 1850
Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Franklin Pierce / 1853-1857 / New Hampshire / Democrat /

Underground Railroad
Gadsden Purchase
Boom Time for Railroad Building
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Bleeding Kansas

James Buchanan / 1857-1861 / Pennsylvania / Democrat /

Dred Scott
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Pony Express
John Brown’s Raid-Harper’s Ferry

Abraham Lincoln / 1861-1865 / Kentucky / Republican /

Secession
Civil War
Emancipation
Lincoln’s Assassination
Gettysburg Address
Nickname: Honest Abe

Andrew Johnson / 1865-1869 / North Carolina / National Union /

Reconstruction Starts
13th Amendment
Black Codes in the South
Impeachment Trail

Ulysses S. Grant / 1869-1877 / Ohio / Republican /

Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
Telephone
Susan B. Anthony
Reconstruction Ends

IMPORTANT EVENTS, DOCUMENTS, TREATIES, LAWS, ACTS

YEAR / EVENTS, DOCUMENT, ETC. / SIGNIFICANCE
1215 / Magna Carta / Limited the power of the King
1607 /

Jamestown

/ First permanent English Settlement
1619 /

Establishment of House of Burgesses

/ First representative assembly in America
1620 /

Plymouth

/ First English colony in the Northeast
1620 / Mayflower Compact / Rules established by Pilgrims for how to organize self-government at Plymouth
1639 / Fundamental Orders of Connecticut / 1st written constitution
1660’s / Navigation Acts / Series of laws passed by England to regulate colonists’ trade, so England would make money.
1730-40 /

Great Awakening

/ Religious movement in the colonies.
1754-63 /

French & Indian War

/ Removes French from N. America; Beginning of problems between England and Colonies.
1763 / Treaty of Paris / Officially ended French and Indian War.
1763 / Proclamation of 1763 / Colonists forbidden by England to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains.
1764 / Sugar Act / Tax on molasses. One of many events angering colonists, which led to American Revolution.
1765 / Stamp Act / Tax on legal documents, newspapers, licenses, diplomas, dice, and playing cards. Also led to American Revolution.
1766 / Quartering Act / British soldiers could stay in colonists’ homes; angered colonists.
1767 / Townshend Acts / Taxed goods such as glass, paper, silk, lead, and tea; angered colonists.
1770 /

Boston Massacre

/ First civilians killed by British soldiers
1773 /

Boston Tea Party

/ Key symbolic act of rebellion
1773 / Tea Act / Led to Boston Tea Party
1774 / Intolerable Acts / Britain punishes colonists severely for the Boston Tea Party
1774 /

First Continental Congress

/ First organizing of 13 colonies
1775 /

Shot Heard Round the World

/ Lexington/Concord-Beginning of Revolutionary War
1775 / Olive Branch Petition / Colonists declare loyalty to King George III, but ask him to cancel Intolerable Acts.
1776 /

Declaration of Independence

/ Colonies separate from England “When in the course of human events…” also, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
1777 / Articles of Confederation / 1st American Constitution; States had too much power.
1781 /

Revolutionary War ends

/ Battle of Yorktown – concludes the Revolutionary War
1783 / Treaty of Paris / Officially ended the American Revolution. U.S. recognized as a nation.
1785 / Land Ordinance of 1785 / Set up system for settling Northwest Territory
1786 /

Shays’ Rebellion

/ Demonstrated the need for a stronger government; Showed weakness of the Articles of Confederation and need for stronger federal government.
1787 /

Constitutional Convention

/ Meeting to revise the Articles of Confederation resulting in new form of Government (constitutional); Great Compromise
1787 / Great Compromise / Compromise between Virginia Plan (which favored large states) & New Jersey Plan (favored small states). Set up a 2-house legislature: Senate -–2 votes per state/House of Representatives: Seats awarded based on population.
1787 / 3/5 Compromise / 3/5 of slaves in any state counted towards population
1787-88 / Constitution created / Modern constitution
1789 /

Washington elected President

/ Farewell Address set tone for international politics; isolationism; precedence for transition of power.
1790’s /

Industrial Revolution

/ Beginning of mass production, interchangeable parts; lower cost of goods; factory system; urbanization; deplorable work conditions.
1791 / Bill of Rights / 1st 10 Amendments which guarantee individual rights; gained support for the Constitution to be ratified; rights are not absolute.
1793 / Neutrality Proclamation / Washington declares U.S. will not support either side in war in Europe
1795 / Treaty of Greenville / Several Native American tribes give up land for money.
1798 / Alien Act / Allowed president to expel any foreigner who he thought was dangerous to the country.
1798 / Sedition Act / Citizens could be fined or jailed for criticizing elected officials.
1803 /

Marbury vs. Madison

/ Supreme Court can decide if a law violates the Constitution; judicial review
1803 /

Louisiana Territory Purchased

/ Thomas Jefferson buys Louisiana from France. $15 million; Doubled size of U.S.
1807 /

Embargo Act

/ Forbade Americans to export or import any goods
1809 /

Nonintercourse Act

/ Replaced Embargo Act. Americans could now trade with all nations except Britain and France.
1812 /

War of 1812

/ War with England over impressment of sailors; Francis Scott Key-Star Spangled Banner; Andrew Jackson gains fame at Battle of New Orleans.
1814 /

Treaty of Ghent

/ Officially ended War of 1812.
1823 /

Monroe Doctrine

/ Europe would not interfere in the affairs of Western Hemisphere.
1830 /

Indian Removal Act

/ Native Americans forced to move west of the Mississippi
1835-38 /

Trail of Tears

/ Native Americans forced West by Andrew Jackson; went to Oklahoma.
1845 /

Texas

/ Annexation/Statehood; President Polk in office.
1846-48 /

Mexican War/Mexican Cession

/ Mexico sold all of California and New Mexico to the U.S. Included present day California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Territories gained; states of California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado (President Polk)
1848 /

Seneca Falls Convention

/ Declared women’s rights
1848-49 /

California Gold Rush

/ Settlement in West; pioneers rushing across Great Plains in search of better life.
1849 /

Missouri Compromise

/ Slavery permitted in part of Louisiana Purchase south of 36° 30’ line. Banned north of 36° 30’ line.
1850 /

Compromise of 1850

California entered Union as a free state
Rest of Mexican Cession divided into territories of New Mexico & Utah. Voters would decide slavery question in each territory.
Slave trade ended in Washington, D.C., but can continue between states.
Strict new fugitive slave law passed.

1850 /

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

/ Demanded all citizens help catch runaway slaves.
1853 /

Gadsden Purchase

/ Mexico sold to U.S. a strip of land in present-day Arizona and New Mexico.
1854 /

Kansas-Nebraska Act

/ Divided Nebraska Territory in two: Kansas & Nebraska. Slavery decided by voting.
1857 /

Dred Scott Decision

/ Slavery made legal in all the territories.
1860 /

Election of Lincoln (Republican Party)

/ Led to southern secession in 1861.
1861-65 /

Civil War

/ Union (North) vs. Confederacy (South) AKA, War of Northern Aggression; War of Secession; War to Preserve the Union; War of Recent Unpleasantness; Jefferson Davis (President of Confederacy); Grant (Northern); Lee (Southern).
Jan. 1, 1863 /

Emancipation Proclamation

/ Freed slaves in the seceded states of rebellion; changed the character of the war to include ending slavery as well as preserving the Union.
1865 /

Lincoln’s death

/ Assassinated by John W. Booth at Ford Theater; Radical Republicans gained power; military reconstruction followed.
1865 /

13th Amendment

/ Banned slavery throughout nation.
1866 /

14th Amendment

/ Gave citizenship to all people born in the U.S.
1867 /

Reconstruction Act

/ Divided South into 5 military districts.
1868 /

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

/ First impeachment of a president; Johnson had challenged Congressional law
1869 /

15th Amendment

/ Forbade any state from denying African-American males the right to vote.
1877 /

End of Reconstruction

/ Troops removed from South (President Hayes)

LITERATURE

AUTHOR / WORK / TOPIC / GENRE
William Bradford / Of Plimoth Plantation / History of the Pilgrims / Book
Anne Bradstreet / First Book of Poems / Nature; human emotion in poetry / Poet
Cotton Mather / Clergyman, Scientist
Ecclesiastical history of New England / Theology / Book
Jonathan Edwards / “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God” / Theology / Sermons; Book
Ben Franklin /

Poor Richard’s Almanack

/ Advice, Sayings / Book
Nathaniel Hawthorne /

Scarlet Letter

/ Puritan punishment / Novel
James Fenimore Cooper /

Leatherstocking Tales:

“Pathfinder

“Deer Slayer”
“Last of the Mohicans” / Trapping, Trading, Exploring, American Frontier, French and Indian War / Novels
Phillis Wheatley /

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious & Moral (1773)

/ African born poet. First widely recognized black writer in America. / Poetry
Thomas Paine /

Common Sense;

The Crisis

/ Idea of independence;
“These are the times that try men’s souls” / Pamphlet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow /

”Paul Revere’s Ride”

/ “Listen my children and you shall hear” / Poem
Washington Irving /

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

“Rip Van Winkle” / New York, New Netherland settings / Tale
Ralph Waldo Emerson /

“Concord Hymn”

/ Spirit of the American Revolution / Poem
Edgar Allen Poe /

“The Raven”

“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” / “The Murders” is the first detective story / Stories
Poems, Essays
William Lloyd Garrison /

The Liberator

/ Abolition of slavery / Paper
Harriet Beecher Stowe /

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

/ Horrors of slavery / Novel
Herman Melville /

Moby Dick

/ Whaling Industry / Novel
Henry D. Thoreau /

“Essay on Civil Disobedience”

“Walden or Life in the Woods” / Each person decides what is right or wrong / Essay
Walt Whitman /

Leaves of Grass;

“O Captain! My Captain!” / Book of Poems, Abe Lincoln’s assassination / Poetry
Stephen Crane /

Red Badge of Courage

/ Civil War / Novel
Mark Twain /

Tom Sawyer; Life on the Mississippi; Huck Finn

/ Life in the South; Mark Twain’s Life / Novel, autobiography
Thomas Jefferson /

Declaration of Independence

/ Representative Government / Document

REFORMERS

ABOLITIONISTS / TIME PERIOD /

ACCOMPLISHMENT

William Lloyd Garrison / 1831 / Newspaper The Liberator, NE Antislavery Society
Frederick Douglass / 1847 / Freed slave–speaker; North Star; also supported women’s rights.
Sojourner Truth / 1850’s / Runaway slave 1827 – changed name
Harriet Tubman / 1854 / Underground Railroad
Grimke Sisters / 1840’s / Southern Sisters moved to Philadelphia/became abolitionists
EDUCATION / TIME PERIOD / ACCOMPLISHMENT
Horace Mann / 1837 / Called for publicly funded education for all children. Considered the Father of Public Education.
Mary Lyon / 1837 / Founded Mount Holyoke Female Seminary/1st Women’s College in U.S.
Temperance Movement / 1820 / 1850 Maine ban on alcohol

PRISON REFORM

Dorothea Dix / 1841-60 / She opened grade school in Boston, wrote text in History & Science, improve care for mentally ill, hospitals and prisons. Spoke at Massachusetts Legislature. Convinced all to improve conditions in hospitals. Change in procedure to place debtors in prison.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Elizabeth Cady Stanton / 1848 / Daughter NY Judge Seneca Falls Convention. Declaration of Sentiments patterned after Declaration of Independence.
Susan B. Anthony / 1840’s / Women’s rights organizer
Elizabeth Blackwell / 1st woman to attend medical school in Geneva, NY. 1st in class, 1st woman medical degree, started 1st nursing school.

INVENTORS

Bifocals / Ben Franklin
Franklin Stove / Ben Franklin
Cotton Gin / 1793 / Eli Whitney
Steamboat / 1807 / Robert Fulton
Photo / Late 1820’s / Louis Daguerre (Fr)
Canal Locks / 1825 / Erie Canal
Steam Locomotive / 1830
Telegraph & Morse Code / 1837 / (Samuel F.B. Morse)
Sewing Machine / 1846 / Elias Howe
Reaper / 1847 / (Cyrus McCormick)
Bessemer Process / 1860’s / (Henry Bessemer)
Telephone / 1870’s
Plow / 1836 / John Deere
Interchangeable Parts / Eli Whitney

SUPREME COURT CASES

Marbury vs. Madison /

Judicial Review

Gibbons vs. Ogden

Steamboat case; monopoly

McCullough vs. Maryland

Curbed States Rights

Dred Scott

Supreme Court decision (1857) stated that slaves were property, not citizens.

Plessy vs. Ferguson

Separate but equal

KEY PEOPLE

Christopher Columbus-1492 / “Discovered” America
John Smith / Saved Jamestown
Founders of 13 Colonies
Benjamin Franklin / Enlightenment thinker/inventor. Oldest delegate to Constitutional Convention
George Washington / 1st President
King George III / King of Great Britain during American Revolution
Thomas Jefferson / Wrote Declaration of Independence. Organized Democratic Republicans. Louisiana Purchase.
James Madison / Virginia planter & political theorist supported ratification of the Constitution.
Paul Revere / Warned colonists, “The British are coming!”
Thomas Paine / Wrote pamphlet, Common Sense
Cornwallis / British general who lost at Yorktown.
Crispus Attucks / 1st African American killed at the Boston Massacre.
John Paul Jones / American Captain/hero during American Revolution.
Daniel Shays / Led group of 2,000 farmers to save farms.
Tecumseh / Shawnee leader; tried to establish an Indian confederacy along the frontier as a barrier to white expansion.
Roger Sherman / Wrote Great Compromise.
Alexander Hamilton / Head of Federalists; First U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
Lewis & Clark / Explored new lands of Louisiana Purchase
Andrew Jackson / At Battle of New Orleans, became a hero. President during Trail of Tears.
Abraham Lincoln / Emancipation Proclamation.
Robert E. Lee / Confederate General
Ulysses Grant / Union General and President
Jefferson Davis / President of the Confederacy
Frederick Douglas / Black abolitionist
Harriet Tubman / Underground Railroad
Andrew Johnson / Impeached by House of Representatives. Not removed from office by Senate.

QUOTES

COLONIAL ERA
John Winthrop / “…We shall be like a city upon a hill…”
Roger Williams / Separation of church and state
William Penn / “holy experiment” – Pennsylvania
William Pitt / “I believe that I can save this nation and that no one else can.”
Ben Franklin / “Join or die…” Albany Plan of Union
REVOLUTION
Nathan Hale / “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
James Otis / “Taxation without representation is tyranny.”
Patrick Henry / “If this be treason, make the most of it.”
Patrick Henry / “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”
Ralph Waldo Emerson / “Shot heard round the world”
William Prescott / “Dig men, dig for your lives”
William Prescott / “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes.
“One if by land, two if by sea…”
John Paul Jones / “I have not yet begun to fight”
Ben Franklin / “We shall all hang together or surely hang separately”
Lord North / “Oh, God! It’s all over.”
Thomas Paine / “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot…”
(Tis time to part…) Common Sense
“These are the times that try men’s souls…”
Paul Revere / “The British are coming…”
EARLY REPUBLIC
Declaration of Independence / “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness…
…our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor.
Richard Henry Lee / “…these United colonies are…and of right ought to be, free and independent states…”
George Washington / “Steer clear of permanent alliances…”
John Adams / “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!”
Abigail Adams / “Remember the women…”
Thomas Jefferson / “We are all Republican; we are all Federalists.”
Andrew Jackson / “Corrupt bargain.”
“Our federal Union – it must be preserved!”
“To the victor belongs the spoils…”
“We was robbed.”
Perry (War of 1812) / “Damn the torpedoes…Full speed ahead…Tippecanoe and Tyler too…
John C. Calhoun / “The Union – next to our liberty, most dear.”
Tecumseh / “The people have no right to sell, not to each other, certainly not to strangers…Why not sell the air…?
Trail of Tears / “The Cherokees are nearly all prisoners. …the property of many has been taken and sold before their eyes for almost nothing.”
MANIFEST DESTINY
Texas history / “Remember the Alamo”
Chief Joseph / “I will fight no more forever.”
CIVIL WAR
Abe Lincoln / “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.”
Emancipation Proclamation / “On the 1st day of January in the year of our Lord 1863, all persons held as slaves within any state or…part of a state whose people…shall then be in rebellion against the U.S. shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.
Sojourner Truth / “Ain’t I a woman?”
Robert E. Lee / “I have lost my right arm.” (On the death of Stonewall Jackson)
Robert E. Lee / “The enemy is there and I am going to attack him there.”
Robert E. Lee
Cemetery Ridge / “It’s all my fault.”
Abe Lincoln
Gettysburg Address / “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Union officers / “Leave nothing to invite the enemy to return. Destroy whatever cannot be consumed…”
Grant at
Appomattox Courthouse / “The war is over. The rebels are our countrymen again.”
Abe Lincoln
House Divided Speech / “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other.”