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EDUCATION MATTERS:
Take a walk in history students’ shoes
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By DAN KIMBER
My students have been in cram mode for the past week preparing for their big test (advanced placement U.S. history) being given today.
Four-hundred years of history is not an easy thing to put into a manageable format. One study sheet that we use has more than 10 pages of people, places, events, acts, battles, scandals, speeches, etc.
The kids who sign up for this monster test are the best and brightest in their class, many taking more than one college-level class and now sitting for the exams that will qualify them for advanced placement in the college of their choice.
I thought it might be interesting to offer up a little test for you readers to see what you have retained about our country’s history and government. What follows is a three-tiered mini-exam, the first 10 questions being more general, and likely more familiar for all of you who remember some of the lessons you once learned. The second 10 is for those of you out there who were/are genuinely interested in history, even its finer points. The third group is for the true students of history whose passion for the subject lasts a lifetime.
Pencils ready, and here we go.
1. Name the two founding fathers whose divergent views on social and economic issues forged the foundation of our new government. (hint: They were both in Washington’s Cabinet.)
2. Where were the first shots of the American Revolution fired?
3. What are the first three words of the Constitution?
4. Who did we fight in the War of 1812?
5. Who did Thomas Jefferson send to explore the Louisiana Purchase?
6. At what fort were the first shots of the Civil War fired?
7. Name three out of the six territories (later states) that we
gained from the war with Mexico.
8. What invention do you associate with Kittyhawk, N.C.?
9. Who was president of the United States when the stock market crashed in 1929?
10. What two presidents were involved in the nation’s first televised debates?
Here are some tougher questions:
1. What is the first representative assembly in America? (hint: It met in Virginia in Williamsburg.)
2. Which of the 13 colonies allowed catholics to settle and freely practice their religion?
3. What seven-year government preceded the Constitution and was largely a failure?
4. After what Civil War battle did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
5. Plessy v. Ferguson is a Supreme Court decision that would be reversed in 1954 by what other Supreme Court decision, both involving segregation of the races?
6. Who were the two attorneys in the 1920s Scopes Trial?
7. What New Deal Agency was designed to provide employment for young men in outdoor projects?
8. Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg both belonged to what alienated group of young people in the 1950s?
9. In what North Vietnamese gulf was an American ship fired upon which becomes the questionable legal basis for LBJ to send large numbers of troops into Vietnam?
10. What two leaders did Jimmy Carter bring together to bring about the Camp David Accords?
And finally, for the real masters:
1. What principle was established by the landmark Supreme Court decision, Marbury vs. Madison?
2. Who is known as the “Father of the American Factory System”?
3. “He made the decision, now let him enforce it”. What president said that about what Chief Justice on the question of removal of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia?
4. What do Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner have in common?
5. What naval commander opened up Japan to American commerce by steaming into Tokyo Bay in 1853?
6. Name the two scandals that plagued the administrations of U.S. Grant and Warren G. Harding.
7. What undersecretary of the Navy dispatched Admiral Dewey to Manila Bay during the Spanish American War?
8. In 1960 students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth lunch counter in what city and state?
9. What were Robert Kennedy’s last public words before he was assassinated?
10. Whose candidacy for president was promoted by the bumper sticker, Au H20?
Here’s how I’m scoring it:
Ten out of thirty correct — pretty good
Twenty out of thirty correct — very impressive
Twenty-seven or better — You might just have passed the test my students are taking today.
DAN KIMBER is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District, where he has taught for more than 30 years. He may be reached at DKimb8@sbcglobal.net.
Four-hundred years of history is not an easy thing to put into a manageable format. One study sheet that we use has more than 10 pages of people, places, events, acts, battles, scandals, speeches, etc.
The kids who sign up for this monster test are the best and brightest in their class, many taking more than one college-level class and now sitting for the exams that will qualify them for advanced placement in the college of their choice.
I thought it might be interesting to offer up a little test for you readers to see what you have retained about our country’s history and government. What follows is a three-tiered mini-exam, the first 10 questions being more general, and likely more familiar for all of you who remember some of the lessons you once learned. The second 10 is for those of you out there who were/are genuinely interested in history, even its finer points. The third group is for the true students of history whose passion for the subject lasts a lifetime.
Pencils ready, and here we go.
1. Name the two founding fathers whose divergent views on social and economic issues forged the foundation of our new government. (hint: They were both in Washington’s Cabinet.)
2. Where were the first shots of the American Revolution fired?
3. What are the first three words of the Constitution?
4. Who did we fight in the War of 1812?
5. Who did Thomas Jefferson send to explore the Louisiana Purchase?
6. At what fort were the first shots of the Civil War fired?
7. Name three out of the six territories (later states) that we
gained from the war with Mexico.
8. What invention do you associate with Kittyhawk, N.C.?
9. Who was president of the United States when the stock market crashed in 1929?
10. What two presidents were involved in the nation’s first televised debates?
Here are some tougher questions:
1. What is the first representative assembly in America? (hint: It met in Virginia in Williamsburg.)
2. Which of the 13 colonies allowed catholics to settle and freely practice their religion?
3. What seven-year government preceded the Constitution and was largely a failure?
4. After what Civil War battle did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
5. Plessy v. Ferguson is a Supreme Court decision that would be reversed in 1954 by what other Supreme Court decision, both involving segregation of the races?
6. Who were the two attorneys in the 1920s Scopes Trial?
7. What New Deal Agency was designed to provide employment for young men in outdoor projects?
8. Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg both belonged to what alienated group of young people in the 1950s?
9. In what North Vietnamese gulf was an American ship fired upon which becomes the questionable legal basis for LBJ to send large numbers of troops into Vietnam?
10. What two leaders did Jimmy Carter bring together to bring about the Camp David Accords?
And finally, for the real masters:
1. What principle was established by the landmark Supreme Court decision, Marbury vs. Madison?
2. Who is known as the “Father of the American Factory System”?
3. “He made the decision, now let him enforce it”. What president said that about what Chief Justice on the question of removal of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia?
4. What do Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner have in common?
5. What naval commander opened up Japan to American commerce by steaming into Tokyo Bay in 1853?
6. Name the two scandals that plagued the administrations of U.S. Grant and Warren G. Harding.
7. What undersecretary of the Navy dispatched Admiral Dewey to Manila Bay during the Spanish American War?
8. In 1960 students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth lunch counter in what city and state?
9. What were Robert Kennedy’s last public words before he was assassinated?
10. Whose candidacy for president was promoted by the bumper sticker, Au H20?
Here’s how I’m scoring it:
Ten out of thirty correct — pretty good
Twenty out of thirty correct — very impressive
Twenty-seven or better — You might just have passed the test my students are taking today.
DAN KIMBER is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District, where he has taught for more than 30 years. He may be reached at DKimb8@sbcglobal.net.
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