Virginia SOL Virginia and US History test prep

Preparation for the state of Virginian SOL ("Standards of Learning") History test

Released tests can be found here:

Maps & Timelines

Regions of North America

Major Regions of North America	BIG IDEAS Native American tribes and language groups were divided into these basic geographic regions
File:NorthAmerica-sel-regions LCPS VA-Edu..jpg Major regions of North America from the Virginia Dept. of Education SOL framework document	BIG IDEAS A) Coastal Plain B) Appalachian Mountains mountain range that extends along the Coastal Plain from Georgia to New England includes sub-regions the Piedmont, Low Plateaus and Mountains the Appalachian Mountains served as a barrier between early American colonies (to the east of the Appalachians along the Coastal Plain) and French and Indian lands (to the west of the Appalachians) C) Canadian Shield D) Interior Lowlands E) Great Plains F) Rocky Mountains high mountain range above and to the east of the Great Basin the "Continental Divide" is in the Rocky Mountains, marking the point at which the land descends to the east or the west important rivers flow from origins in the Rocky Mountains G) Basin and Range the "Great Basin" = a geographic depression (low area) that was once under the sea no rivers flow out of the Great Basin the Range H) Coastal Ranges western slope of mountains that border the Great Basin and Rocky Mountains and that produce important rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean and the coastal lowlands of modern California, Oregon and Washington
Cultural areas of North America at time of European contact
The Atlantic coastal plain	ATLANTIC COASTAL PLAIN lowland coast region along Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico the 13 American colonies were settled in the Coastal Plain from modern Georgia to Massachusetts note that Massachusetts is part of the Appalachian region, but it was settled along with the Coastal Plain the western barrier to the Coastal Plain is the eastern slope of the Appalachian Mountains
AppalachianLocatorMap2 Appalachian region of United States	APPALACHIAN REGION the eastern slope of the Appalachian mountains marked the border between British American colonies (the 13 colonies) and French and Indian territories all rivers from the eastern slope flow towards the Atlantic Ocean all rivers from the western slope flow towards the Mississippi River after Britain defeated France in the 1854-63 French-Indian War, the entire Appalachian
	INTERIOR LOWLANDS
Satellite image illustrating the Great Plains Great Plains region	GREAT PLAINS REGION
RockyMountains-Range	ROCKY MOUNTAINS REGION
One of various geographical definitions of the Province The hydrographic Great Basin (magenta outline), distinguished from the Great Basin Desert (black), and the Basin and Range Geological Province (teal).[3] Great Basin map	BASIN AND RANGE the Great Basin the VA & US SOL refers to the "Great Basin" as "t the Range includes mountains from which water flows into the Great Basin or beyond it, such as the Colorado River
Northern and Southern Coast Ranges and other major mountain ranges of California

Rivers of the U.S.

Map of Major Rivers in US	BIG IDEAS rivers start in mountains and flow downhill thus they mark the major regions
US map - rivers and lakes3
Mississippi River Watershed Map Mississippi river map

Indigenous peoples/ Native Americans

pre-1492 (pre-Columbian)

1748	Map showing French possessions in North America just before the French-Indian War (1754)	BIG IDEAS red = British colonies in red, including 13 American striped red = British territory in Canada ceded (surrendered) by France to Britain in 1713 blue = French territory, called "New France" orange = Spanish territory, which includes Florida and parts of modern Southwest US (an area that belonged to Mexico after Mexican independence from Spain) the red (British) and blue (French) territories are separated by the Appalachian Mountains
1775	Map Thirteen Colonies 1775	BIG IDEAS after the French-Indian War (1754-1763), the lands that had belonged to Franch became British Canada all lands east of the Mississippi River France gave control of Louisiana to Spain = lands west of the Mississippi River English King George prohibited colonies from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains he reserved that land for Native Americans ("Indian Territories")