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100 TAKS Facts
100 essential TAKS facts to study for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| The first permanent English settlement founded in 1607. | Jamestown |
| This document was written by Thomas Jefferson and signed on July 4, 1776 that declared the colonies independent from England. | Declaration of Independence |
| This document was written in 1787 | The U.S. Constitution |
| Purchased by Thomas Jefferson from France in 1803 | Louisiana Territory |
| Location of the first shots of the American Revolution in April 1775 | Lexington, Massachusetts |
| The years of the Civil War | 1861 – 1865 |
| The site of the first battle of the American Revolution | Concord, Massachusetts |
| The turning point of the American Revolution | The Battle of Saratoga |
| The site where the British were defeated by George Washington’s troops that signaled the end of the American Revolution | Yorktown, Virginia |
| The site where the first shots of the Civil War were fired | Fort Sumter, South Carolina |
| This was the turning point of the Civil War for the North. Confederate troops were forced to retreat and never invaded the North again. | Battle of Gettysburg |
| The capture of this town by the North in 1863, effectively split the Confederacy in two and gave control of the Mississippi River to the Union | Vicksburg, Mississippi |
| The site in a small town in Virginia where Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army to Ulysses S. Grant ending the Civil War | Appomattox Court House |
| Mercantilism | The economic theory that a country’s strength is measured by the amount of gold it has, that a country should sell more than it buys and that the colonies exist for the benefit of the Mother Country. |
| abolitionist | a person who wanted to end slavery in the United States |
| tariff | a tax on goods brought into a country |
| protective tariff | a tax placed on goods from another country to protect the home industry |
| sectionalism | a strong sense of loyalty to a state or section instead of to the whole country |
| Manifest Destiny | The belief that the U.S. should own all of the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. |
| Temperance Movement | A campaign against the sale or drinking of alcohol. |
| Representative Government | A system of government in which voters elect representatives to make laws for them. |
| Republic | A nation in which voters choose representatives to govern them. |
| The House of Burgesses | The first representative assembly in the new world. |
| Three Branches of Government | Legislative BranchJudicial BranchExecutive Branch |
| Checks and Balances | A system set up by the Constitution in which each branch of the federal government has the power to check, or control, the actions of the other branches. |
| Free Enterprise | The freedom of private businesses to operate competitively for profit with minimal government regulation. |
| Federalism | The sharing of power between the states and the national government. |
| Separation of Powers | A system in which each branch of government has its own powers. |
| Popular Sovereignty | The practice of allowing each territory to decide for itself whether or not to allow slavery. |
| Amend | Change |
| Unalienable Rights | Rights that cannot be given up, taken away or transferred. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are some of those rights. |
| Tyranny | A cruel and unjust government |
| Democracy | A form of government that is run for and by the people, giving people the supreme power |
| Ratify | To approve by vote. |
| Judicial Review | The rights of the Supreme Court to judge laws passed by Congress and determine whether they are constitutional or not. |
| Civil Disobedience | The refusal to obey a government, law, or laws as a means of passive resistance because of one’s moral conviction or belief. |
| Federalists | Supporters of the Constitution who favored a strong national government. |
| Anti-federalists | People opposed to the Constitution, preferring more power to be given to the state governments than to the national government. |
| Nullification | The idea of a state declaring a federal law illegal |
| Primary Sources | The original records of an event. They include eyewitness reports, records created at the time of an event, speeches, and letters by people involved in the event, photographs and artifacts. |
| Secondary Sources | Are the later writings and interpretations of historians and writers. Often secondary sources, like textbooks and articles, provide summaries of information found in primary sources. |
| Republicanism | An attitude toward society in the late 1700s based on the belief that the good virtue and morality of the people was essential to sustain the republican form of government. |
| Industrial Revolution | The era in which a change from household industries to factory production using powered machinery took place. |
| The Magna Carta | Signed in 1215 by King John, was the first document that limited power of the ruler. |
| English Bill of Rights | Protected the rights of English citizens and became the basis for the U.S. Bill of Rights |
| Articles of Confederation | The first American constitution. It was a very weak document that limited the power of the Congress by giving states the final authority over all decisions. |
| Constitution of the United States | A document that sets out the laws and principles of the government of the United States |
| George Washington’s Farewell Address | A speech that advised the U.S. to stay “neutral in its relations with other nations” and to avoid “entangling alliances.” |
| The Monroe Doctrine | A foreign policy statement by President James Monroe stating that 1) the U.S. would not interfere in European affairs, and 2) that the western hemisphere was closed to colonization and/or interference by European nations. |
| The Treaty of Paris of 1763 | Ended the French and Indian War and effectively kicked the French out of North America. |
| The Treaty of Paris of 1783 | Ended the American Revolution and forced Britain to recognize the U.S. as an independent nation. |
| Northwest Ordinance | A policy of establishing the principles and procedures for the orderly expansion of the U.S. |
| Mayflower Compact | The agreement signed in 1620 by the Pilgrims in Plymouth to consult each other about laws for the colony and a promise to work together to make it succeed. |
| The Federalist Papers | A series of essays written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton, defending the Constitution and the principles on which the government of the United States was founded. |
| Common Sense | A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine to convince colonists that it was time to become independent from Britain. |
| U.S. Bill of Rights | The first ten amendments to the Constitution and detail the protection of individual liberties. |
| Gettysburg Address | A short speech given by Abraham Lincoln to dedicate a cemetery for soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is considered to be a profound statement of American ideals. |
| Emancipation Proclamation | Issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, it set all slaves in the Confederate states free. |
| Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address | A speech that stated “no state…can lawfully get out of the Union”, but pledged there would be no war unless the South started it. |
| Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address | A speech that was meant to help heal and restore the country after four years of Civil War. |
| The Great Compromise | Created two houses of Congress. One based on population, the other gave equal representation to each state. |
| Sam Adams | A member of the Sons of Liberty who started the Committee of Correspondence to stir public support for American independence. |
| Benjamin Franklin | An inventor, statesman, diplomat, signer of the Declaration of Independence and delegate to the Constitutional Convention. |
| King George III | The King of England who disbanded the colonial legislatures, taxed the colonies, and refused the Olive Branch Petition leading to the final break with the colonies. |
| Thomas Jefferson | Wrote the Declaration of Independence; became the 3rd President of the U.S. and purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French, doubling the size of the U.S. |
| Thomas Paine | Wrote pamphlets like Common Sense and The Crisis to encourage American independence and resolve. |
| George Washington | The leader of the Continental Army who became the first President of the United States. |
| Andrew Jackson | The leader of the original Democratic Party and a “President for the people.” He was also responsible for the Trail of Tears, which forced Native Americans west of the Mississippi River. |
| John C. Calhoun | A South Carolina Congressman and Senator who spoke for the South before and during the Civil War. |
| Henry Clay | A powerful Kentucky Congressman and Senator who proposed the American System and the Compromise of 1850. |
| Daniel Webster | A Massachusetts Congressman and Senator who spoke for the North and the preservation of the Union. |
| Jefferson Davis | The President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. |
| Ulysses S. Grant | The General of the Union Army and was responsible for winning the Civil War for the North. |
| Robert E. Lee | The General of the Confederate Army. |
| Abraham Lincoln | The 16th President of the U.S. who successfully put the Union back together only to be assassinated 5 days after the Civil War ended. |
| Alexander Hamilton | The leader of the Federalists, first Treasurer of the U.S., creator of the Bank of the U.S., and killed in a duel by the Vice President of the U.S., Aaron Burr. |
| Patrick Henry | A passionate patriot who became famous for his fiery speeches in favor of American independence. His most famous quote included the words, “Give me liberty or give me death!” |
| James Madison | Considered to be the “Father of the Constitution” |
| Frederick Douglass | A former slave who became the best-known black abolitionist in the country. |
| James Monroe | The author of the Monroe Doctrine, which shut down the western hemisphere to European expansion or interference. |
| Harriet Tubman | An escaped slave who became a “Conductor” on the Underground Railroad and helped over 300 slaves to freedom in the North. |
| Elizabeth Cady Stanton | Organized the Seneca Falls Convention creating the Women’s Rights Movement in the United States. |
| First Amendment | This amendment states “Congress shall make no law” restricting freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition. |
| Second Amendment | This amendment guarantees the right of states to organize militias, or armies, and the right of individuals to bear arms. |
| Third Amendment | This amendment forbids the government to order private citizens to allow soldiers to live in their homes. |
| Fourth Amendment | This amendment requires that warrants be issued if property is to be searched or seized (taken) by the government. |
| Fifth Amendment | This amendment protects an accused person from having to testify against him or herself; bans double jeopardy, and guarantees that no person will suffer the loss of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. |
| Sixth Amendment | This amendment guarantees the right to a speedy public trail by an impartial jury; the right to a lawyer; the right to cross examine witnesses; and the right to force witnesses at a trial to testify. |
| Seventh Amendment | This amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil suits. |
| Eighth Amendment | This amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail or fines. |
| Ninth Amendment | This amendment states that people have rights other than those specifically mentioned in the Constitution. |
| Tenth Amendment | This amendment states that powers not given to the federal government belong to the states. |
| Thirteenth Amendment | This amendment abolished slavery. |
| Fourteenth Amendment | This amendment guarantees citizenship and rights to all people born or naturalized in the United States |
| Fifteenth Amendment | This amendment guarantees the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race. |
| Marbury v. Madison | The 1803 court decision that gave the Supreme Court the right to determine whether a law violates the Constitution. It set up the principle of Judicial Review. |
| Dred Scott v. Sanford | The Supreme Court decision that said slaves were property and not citizens. |
| The Cotton Gin | An invention by Eli Whitney that speeded the cleaning of cotton fibers and in effect, decreased the need for slaves. |
| Robert Fulton | Invented the steamboat that revolutionized transportation and trade in the United States. |
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