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Quizzes > History

8th Grade History Questions: U.S. Practice Quiz

Quick, free grade 8 US history quiz. Instant results.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Arun TipugadeUpdated Aug 23, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper art quiz on sky blue background featuring quill scroll columns factory gears and US map for eighth grade history

Use this quiz to practice 8th grade history questions and check your understanding of key U.S. topics. Each item gives instant scoring so you can see what to study next. For a broad warm-up, try the basic US history quiz, or review early foundations with the US history unit 1 test.

In what year was the Declaration of Independence signed?
1774
1781
1783
1776
The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, formally declaring the American colonies free from British rule. This event is celebrated annually as Independence Day in the United States. The document was primarily authored by Thomas Jefferson and underwent edits by other delegates before adoption.
What did the Three-Fifths Compromise determine?
How enslaved people would be counted toward representation
The number of free settlers allowed per state
The price of emancipating enslaved people
The proportion of taxes paid by each state
During the Constitutional Convention, delegates agreed that each enslaved person would count as three-fifths of a person for determining representation and taxation. This compromise boosted the political power of slaveholding states in the House of Representatives. It reflected the intense conflict between Northern and Southern states over representation.
Which industry was first transformed by the Industrial Revolution in America?
Steel manufacturing
Electronic goods
Textile manufacturing
Automobile production
The American Industrial Revolution began in the textile industry with inventions like the cotton gin and mechanized spinning frames. These innovations dramatically increased yarn production and textile output. Factories in New England became centers of early industrialization.
Who is known as the 'Father of the Constitution' for his key role in drafting it?
Benjamin Franklin
James Madison
Thomas Jefferson
Alexander Hamilton
James Madison played a leading role in drafting and promoting the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. His detailed notes at the Constitutional Convention and his essays in The Federalist Papers earned him the title 'Father of the Constitution.' He later became the fourth U.S. president.
Which river was the main route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
Ohio River
Mississippi River
Columbia River
Missouri River
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from 1804 to 1806, used the Missouri River as their primary waterway into the western territories. They started near St. Louis and followed the Missouri until it became too shallow. Later they used other rivers and portages to reach the Pacific Ocean.
How many amendments make up the Bill of Rights?
10
7
12
8
The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. They were ratified in 1791 to guarantee individual liberties such as freedom of speech, religion, and due process. These amendments were added to address Anti-Federalist concerns about central power.
Which amendment abolished slavery in the United States?
15th Amendment
13th Amendment
12th Amendment
14th Amendment
The 13th Amendment, ratified in December 1865, officially abolished slavery throughout the United States. It states that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist except as punishment for a crime. This amendment followed the Civil War and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
What was the primary purpose of the Erie Canal when it opened in 1825?
To provide irrigation for western farmlands
To serve as a defensive barrier against British attacks
To link the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast
To connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean via New York City
The Erie Canal connected Lake Erie in Buffalo to the Hudson River in Albany, enabling freight and passengers to move between the Great Lakes and New York City. Its opening in 1825 revolutionized trade by cutting transport costs and time. It spurred economic growth in New York and the Midwest.
What was one major effect of Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793?
It greatly increased cotton production and demand for enslaved labor
It was used to refine sugar cane
It powered early textile mills in New England
It ended the need for plantations in the South
The cotton gin quickly separated seeds from short-staple cotton fibers, making processing far more efficient. This innovation led to a boom in cotton cultivation in the Deep South. It also expanded and entrenched the institution of slavery to meet labor demands.
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 established which latitude as the line dividing free and slave territories?
35° north
38° north
36°30? north
40° north
The Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state and Maine as a free state, maintaining the balance in the Senate. It also prohibited slavery north of 36°30? latitude in the remaining Louisiana Purchase territory, except within Missouri. This line temporarily eased sectional tensions.
Which Supreme Court decision ruled that African Americans could not be U.S. citizens and invalidated the Missouri Compromise?
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court held that African Americans, free or enslaved, could not be citizens and had no standing to sue in federal court. Chief Justice Roger Taney also declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. This decision intensified sectional conflict leading up to the Civil War.
What was a major cause of the War of 1812?
Spanish blockade of New Orleans
Dutch interference with American trade
French invasion of Canada
British impressment of American sailors
The British Royal Navy captured American sailors and forced them into service, known as impressment. This violation of U.S. sovereignty angered American citizens and leaders. Combined with trade restrictions and British support for Native American resistance, it led Congress to declare war in 1812.
Why was the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 historically significant?
It was the first organized women's rights convention
It established the Underground Railroad
It outlawed slavery in New York State
It launched the temperance movement
Held in Seneca Falls, New York, organizers like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott drafted the Declaration of Sentiments, demanding equal social, civil, and political rights for women. It marked the formal start of the women's suffrage movement. The convention set the stage for decades of activism.
Which transportation advancement completed in 1869 dramatically lowered coast-to-coast shipping times?
Lincoln Highway
Transcontinental Railroad
Panama Railway
Erie Canal
The First Transcontinental Railroad, completed at Promontory Summit, Utah, linked the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads. It reduced travel across the continent from months to about a week. This fostered national markets and westward migration.
The Monroe Doctrine warned European powers against what action in the Western Hemisphere?
Establishing naval bases in Asia
Trading with Native American tribes
Exploring for new territories
Colonizing or interfering with independent nations
President James Monroe declared in 1823 that European colonization or interference in the Americas would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States. The Monroe Doctrine asserted U.S. influence while discouraging new imperial ambitions. It became a cornerstone of American foreign policy.
Who was President of the United States at the start of the Civil War?
Franklin Pierce
Jefferson Davis
Abraham Lincoln
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th president on March 4, 1861, just before several Southern states seceded to form the Confederacy. His election in 1860 prompted the secession crisis. Jefferson Davis served as the President of the Confederate States.
What key principle was established by the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803)?
Judicial review
States' rights
Executive privilege
Popular sovereignty
Marbury v. Madison established the principle of judicial review, giving the Supreme Court the power to strike down laws that conflict with the Constitution. Chief Justice John Marshall's decision asserted the judiciary's role as a co-equal branch of government. This case shaped American constitutional law.
Which agency was created during Reconstruction to aid formerly enslaved people with food, education, and legal support?
Reconstruction Committee
Homestead Act Office
Freedmen's Bureau
Black Codes Commission
The Freedmen's Bureau, officially the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, was established in 1865. It provided food, housing, medical aid, schooling, and legal assistance to former slaves and poor whites. Its work laid foundations for public education in the South.
Which of the following was included in the Compromise of 1850?
Admission of California as a free state and a stricter Fugitive Slave Law
Admission of Kansas as a slave state only
A ban on slavery in all western territories
Immediate abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C.
The Compromise of 1850 admitted California as a free state, allowed popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico territories, ended the slave trade in D.C., and strengthened the Fugitive Slave Law. Senator Henry Clay crafted these measures to ease sectional tensions. The Fugitive Slave Act's enforcement fueled Northern resistance.
During the Nullification Crisis, which state attempted to nullify federal tariffs?
Virginia
Alabama
Georgia
South Carolina
In the early 1830s, South Carolina declared federal tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void within its borders. It threatened secession if the tariffs were enforced. President Andrew Jackson responded with the Force Bill, authorizing military action, and a compromise tariff was later passed.
Which term describes the late-19th-century era marked by rapid economic growth and the rise of big business?
Antebellum Period
Gilded Age
Revolutionary Era
Progressive Era
The Gilded Age (approximately 1870s to 1900) saw rapid industrialization, urban growth, and the rise of powerful trusts and monopolies. Coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, the term highlights wealth and political corruption. It set the stage for Progressive Era reforms.
What was the Supreme Court's 'separate but equal' ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?
Poll taxes were unconstitutional
Literacy tests for voting were banned
Segregation was constitutional if facilities were equal
Segregation was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment
In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court upheld state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities under the 'separate but equal' doctrine. This decision legitimized Jim Crow laws throughout the South. It remained in effect until overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
Which amendment granted African American men the right to vote?
15th Amendment
13th Amendment
14th Amendment
19th Amendment
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibits the federal government and states from denying citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It aimed to secure voting rights for formerly enslaved men after the Civil War. Enforcement varied due to Jim Crow laws.
What was the primary economic disagreement between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson?
Hamilton endorsed high tariffs for farmers; Jefferson opposed all tariffs
Hamilton supported state banks; Jefferson wanted only a national bank
Hamilton wanted free silver; Jefferson wanted gold standard
Hamilton supported a strong central bank; Jefferson favored agrarianism and limited federal power
Alexander Hamilton advocated for a strong central government, a national bank, and industrial development financed by public credit. Thomas Jefferson believed in a decentralized republic of yeoman farmers with power resting in the states. Their disputes shaped the first American political parties.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 effectively repealed which earlier compromise?
Missouri Compromise
Three-Fifths Compromise
Compromise of 1850
Northwest Ordinance
The Kansas-Nebraska Act allowed the settlers in those territories to decide on slavery by popular sovereignty, nullifying the Missouri Compromise line of 36°30? that had banned slavery north of that latitude. This led to violent conflict known as 'Bleeding Kansas.' The act deepened sectional divisions.
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Study Outcomes

  1. Analyze the 3/5 Compromise -

    Examine the political debates and population calculations that shaped this critical agreement and its impact on representation in Congress.

  2. Compare North vs. South Differences -

    Contrast the economic structures, cultural values, and social systems of the Union and Confederacy leading up to the Civil War.

  3. Evaluate Industrial Revolution Innovations -

    Assess key technological advances and their effects on American industry, labor, and urban growth during the 19th century.

  4. Identify Major Historical Events -

    Recall and place on a timeline essential milestones in U.S. history, from founding principles through pre - Civil War tensions.

  5. Apply Critical Thinking in Quiz Questions -

    Develop strategies to tackle complex 8th grade history test questions and receive instant feedback to strengthen your knowledge.

Cheat Sheet

  1. 3/5 Compromise -

    The 3/5 Compromise counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a free person for both taxation and representation, balancing power between North and South. Mnemonic tip: "3 of 5 stay alive" helps you recall the fraction used. According to the National Archives, this agreement was key in shaping early congressional representation.

  2. Industrial Revolution Innovations -

    The Industrial Revolution brought inventions like the cotton gin, steam engine, and telegraph, transforming America from farms to factories. Remember "CST" (Cotton gin, Steam, Telegraph) to track major breakthroughs. Britannica highlights how these technologies boosted productivity and urban growth.

  3. Sectional Economic Differences -

    The North's economy was industrial and commerce-driven, while the South relied on plantation agriculture and enslaved labor. Use the phrase "Industry up North, Fields down South" to lock in the contrast. University of Virginia research notes these economic divides fueled rising tensions before the Civil War.

  4. Missouri Compromise (1820) -

    This deal admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, drawing the 36°30′ line across the Louisiana Purchase to limit slavery's spread. A quick memory aid is "36 and free" for the latitude line and free states above it. Britannica confirms it was a temporary fix to maintain Senate balance.

  5. Reform Movements: Abolition & Suffrage -

    Abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and suffragists from Seneca Falls championed ending slavery and winning women's voting rights. You can pair "A + S = Rights" to link both movements. The Library of Congress archives show how speeches and petitions drove these social reforms.

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