Virginia SOL Virginia and US History test: important concepts

Important concepts for the Virginia & US History SOL test

• this page follows the units structure of the actual test
• important concepts and facts are highlighted
• source = SOL Standards and Released tests 2011, 2012, 2014
• key words are in bold

Early America Through the Founding of the New Nation

Native Americans

• negative impact from European settlements
  • disease
    • led to decline in population
    • disrupted Native American tribes
  • loss of land
    • pushed westward by colonial settlements and western settlers
    • led to reorganization of tribal alliances
• other impacts
  • fur trade with Europeans, especially the French

American Colonies

Thirteen Colonies of North America: Dark Red = New England colonies. Bright Red = Middle Atlantic colonies. Red-brown = Southern colonies.

MAJOR REGIONS OF THE 13 COLONIES

Major Region	Sub regions	Colonies
Middle colonies	Mid-Atlantic	Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York
New England colonies	n/a	Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
Southern colonies	Chesapeake	Virginia & Maryland
	Colonial South	Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virgina

Population & Economic Characteristics of Colonial Regions

Region	Population	Economic	General notes
Middle colonies	higher population major port city in each colony w/ large populations, esp. New York City & Philadelphia inland small towns	ocean & inland trade ship building small manufacture independent farmers	religious tolerance townships with independent governments & citizen involvement
New England	higher population major port city in each colony w/ large population, esp.. Boston inland small towns	ocean & inland trade ship building small manufacture independent farmers	Massachusetts: puritanism (lack of religious tolerance) Other colonies: religious tolerance, esp. Rhode Island
Southern colonies	lower population larger slave population major port city in each colony small towns inland	ocean trade to sell agricultural products growing slave-based and large plantation economy focus on "cash crops" for bulk (large quantity) export	Chesapeake: tobacco planting with large plantations Colonial South: rice, indigo, tobacco Maryland tolerated Catholics Virginia mostly Protestant with some Catholics called "Cavaliers"

Revolutionary War

• the war started in 1775 at the battles of Lexington and Concord between colonial militia (private solders) and British professional soldiers
  • "Paul Revere's Ride" announced the arrival of British troops
• the first major battle was at Boston (the failed British naval "siege of Boston") in 1775
  • George Washington commanded the American forces
  • the battle set Washington's general strategy of maintaining defensive positions and not directly attacking the stronger British army and navy
    • as the War went on, Washington adopted the strategy of "strategic retreat" = to attack, then move back to avoid being hit back
    • this was especially important at Valley Forge, where Washington kept his army away from the British and spent the winter training them and keeping up troop morale (positive fighting spirit)
• the 1777 Battle of Saratoga marked an important victory for American forces over the British in Saratoga, New York (Washington was not the American commander there)
  • having shown that the Americans could defeat a part of the British army (which surrendered at Saratoga)
  • the French agreed to get involved in the War and started sending materials and, later, a larger fleet of ships
• in 1781, with help from the French fleet, Washington defeated the main British army at the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia
  • the British surrendered and the war effectively ended
  • in 1783, the now independent United States signed a peace agreement with the British in the Treaty of Versailles
  • as part of the treaty, the U.S. took all British lands between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River
    • this greatly expanded the size of the new country

Founding Documents

• during the American Revolution, between 1763 and 1791, a series of important documents were issued
  • these documents importantly:
    • stated the rights of the people and the theories behind them
    • stated and justified the causes and reason for American independence and self-government
      • ("self-government" = ruling themselves as opposed to being colonies ruled by the British Parliament and the King of England
    • established the rules and laws of the "union" of states as the "United States of America"

Founding Documents

Document & Date	Purpose	Impact
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense", 1775	declared equality of men denied the need for a king	convinced the people that the colonies should declare independence from England led to the Declaration of Independence
Virginia Declaration of Rights, 1776	issued about 1 month before the Declaration of Independence stated that all men (people) are born equal citizens have fundamental rights and protections against government abuse government must be limited in its powers government must have the "consent" (permission) of the people	drafted principally by George Mason of Virginia the Declaration of Rights influenced the text of the Declaration of Independence the Declaration of Rights was adopted as part of the Virginia Constitution in 1830 (Article I) The Declaration of Rights influenced: the Declaration of Independence the U.S. Constitution the Bill of Rights
Declaration of Independence, 1776	declared "independence" of the American states from England, including from rule by the English King	drafted principally by Thomas Jefferson justified the American Revolution and War laid out the reasons for declaring independence, especially the abuses committed by the government of England gave philosophical reasons for breaking from rule by the Kind declared the "all men are created equal" declared that government must have the consent of the people
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 1777	guaranteed the freedom of religion in Virginia	draft by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia the Statute for Religious Freedom directly influenced the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights
Articles of Confederation of the United States, 1783	created the first, formal national government of the Union of the United States of America the Articles of Confederation gave some powers to the new government but the states kept most of the powers to themselves	created a union of the 13 new states (former colonies) created a weak government that was unable to effectively manage many issues and problems therefore, in 1787, the states sent delegates to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia to draft a new "constitution"
Federalist Papers, 1787-1788	series of pamphlets (published articles) that explained the logic and reasoning for the proposed Constitution	primarily authored by Alexander Hamilton of New York and James Madison of Virginia deeply influenced: adoption of the US Constitution state constitutions judicial interpretation of the US Constitution
United States Constitution, 1789	created a new central government for the "United States of America" (replacing the Articles of Confederation) gave many powers to the "federal" (central) government	the working and ideas in the Constitution were heavily influenced by James Madison of Virginia
Bill of Rights, 1791	The Bill or Rights are the first ten amendments to the US Constitution explicitly protected rights of citizens by protecting them from abuse by the new federal government abuse	drafted by James Madison of Virginia 1st Amendment: speech, press, religion, assembly & petition (asking the government for something) 2nd Amendment: right to bear arms 4th-8th Amendments: legal and personal protections against government abuse

Expansion, Reform, Civil War, and Reconstruction

• time period: 1791-1877

Monroe Doctrine

• after defeating the British in the War of 1812, the President James Monroe issued the "Monroe Doctrine"
  • a "doctrine" = a set of principles or ideas the government is supposed to follow
• the Monroe Doctrine declared that European countries must stay out of the Americas
  • it was a very powerful statement of "self-determination" for countries in the Americas
  • especially to Spanish colonies in South and Central America that gained independence

Slavery & southern Slave economy

• with introduction of the "cotton gin", large-scale cotton farming became possible
  • (the "gin" separated seeds from the cotton fibers)
• "King Cotton"
  • = the dominance and dependence of cotton planting in southern states
  • just before the Civil War, southern states accounted for upward 40%+ of U.S. economic wealth
  • after the Civil War, with growth of northern industries and immigration, southern states accounted for less than 20% of US economic wealth
    • the south continued to produce cotton, only without slavery
    • sharecropping replaced slavery
      • = a system by which land owners would allow poor farmers (mostly blacks) to plant crops in exchange for a large "share" of the "crops"
      • this system entrenched (made to endure) the poverty of former black slaves

"Industrialized North" & European immigration

• during the Civil War northern factories produced huge amounts a metals and textiles for the War
• after the Civil War, those steel and textile factories continued to grow
• these factories needed workers, and many Europeans immigrated to the U.S. to work in them

Emergence of Modern America and World Conflict

• time period 1877-1945

Imperial expansion

• "imperialism" = creating colonies and / or controlling overseas (foreign) people, territories, or countries,
• in the late 1800s, American merchants greatly expanded their trade markets, especially across the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean
  • the U.S. government in the 1890s decided to build a large coal-powered navy in order to
    • protect existing and open new U.S. trade markets (especially China and Japan)
    • "project" or send U.S. military power across the oceans

Spanish-American War

• U.S. defeated Spanish forces in the Spanish colonies of Cuba, Philippines and Puerto Rico
• US also "annexed" (officially took as a US territory) Hawaii
  • Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
  • therefore is became an important stopping point for US ships that were crossing the Pacific Ocean
    • sailing ships would stop for supplies and fresh water
    • steam boats would stop of coal
    • i.e., Hawaii was a "refueling station" (a place to pick up more coal for fuel for steam engines)

World War II

• after the War, President Woodrow Wilson gave a speech calling for creation of a "League of Nations" to ensure world peace
  • the speech was called the "Fourteen Points" speech"
    • because he outlined "14 points" about democracy, self-government (national independence) and peace
  • the League of Nations was started by other countries, but the U.S. Senate refused to join the treaty and thus the US stayed out of it

The United States since World War II

• time period 1945-today