U.S. History

U.S. history is a BIG topic, and our goal in this section is to give you the introduction necessary to tackle the stimuli the GED social studies test will ask you to analyze.

Practice Quiz

Historical Documents

Besides the Constitution, here are some fast facts about important historical documents you should know for the GED social studies test:

• The Declaration of Independence (1776): This foundational document declared the American colonies’ independence from Great Britain. The primary author was future U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.
• The Articles of Confederation (1777): This document was the United States’ first attempt at a constitution. It failed because it provided the federal government with too few powers.
• The Federalist Papers (1787-88): These essays argued that the states should ratify the then-proposed Constitution.
• The Monroe Doctrine (1822): President James Monroe told European nations that the United States would not permit further colonization of the Americas.
• The Emancipation Proclamation (1862): Written by President Abraham Lincoln, this document made slavery illegal in rebelling states that did not return to the Union by the end of the year. It laid the groundwork for the 13th Amendment banning slavery once the Civil War was over.
• “Day of Infamy” Speech (1941): Written by President Franklin Roosevelt, the speech described Imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and asked Congress to declare war.
• “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” Speech (1963): Delivered by President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin, the speech highlighted the Cold War tensions between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union.

The GED social studies test may ask you to read excerpts from these or other documents. If you are unfamiliar with the text, make sure to read the introduction and instructions, as they may provide valuable context clues.

Now that you know a little about some of the documents that have shaped U.S. history, let’s dive into the events!

Colonial History

In the early 17th century, English settlers arrived at present-day Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts. Jamestown settlers hoped to find riches in the New World, while Plymouth settlers, also known as pilgrims, wanted to escape religious persecution.

Throughout the 17th century, further English settlements would lead to the creation of the original Thirteen Colonies. These colonies stretched from modern-day Maine to Georgia. Because they were so far away from England, they relied on self-governance to meet their basic needs. White men with land could vote in local elections.

From 1754-63, Great Britain and its American colonies fought a lengthy war against the French, the French and Indian War. Although the British proved victorious, the war’s fallout would set the stage for revolution.

The Revolutionary War and the Early United States

The French and Indian War put Great Britain into significant debt. Parliament increased taxes on the colonists, such as the Stamp Act. Each imported good required a stamp showing a tax had been paid to the Crown. The colonists fought back with calls of “No Taxation Without Representation.” At the time, the colonies did not have representatives in the British Parliament in London. Tensions also rose when Great Britain prohibited colonists from setting beyond the Appalachian Mountains.

Although the colonists attempted to repair their relationship with Great Britain, the conflict came to arms in April 1775. The Thirteen Colonies created a Continental Congress to direct the war effort. The following year, they declared the colonies’ independence with the Declaration of Independence.

The Revolutionary War lasted until 1783 and was won due to the leadership of General George Washington and significant help from the French. The Treaty of Paris formally ended the war.

The United States faced many challenges, including the weak Articles of Confederation. The young nation could not work effectively, which led to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The Constitution they developed differed from the Articles of Confederation in many ways.

Westward Expansion

In 1803, the United States doubled in size with the Louisiana Purchase. Settlers soon set out beyond the Mississippi River to explore and settle these new lands. By the 1840s, the term Manifest Destiny defined the national mood – it was Americans’ divine right to claim these lands, typically at the expense of Native American tribes. By the 1850s, many tribes had been forced from their land and onto reservations.

Cheap land was just one reason settlers ventured west. In 1849, the discovery of gold in California caused the Gold Rush, whereupon 300,000 people went looking for riches. San Francisco, once a sleepy harbor, saw its population increase by a factor of 25 in a single year.

The Civil War and Reconstruction

As Americans settled new lands, new states formed. In Congress, the debate over the number of free and slave states led to friction. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 balanced the number of free and slave states. It also banned slavery in new states above the 36th parallel while allowing slavery in new states below it.

Attempts to compromise did little to soothe tensions among the states, and by the late 1850s, slave states were on the verge of secession – leaving the Union. The election of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, in 1860, prompted the first states to leave. Further southern states would secede and form the Confederacy the following year.

Although the Union was victorious, Abraham Lincoln did not live to guide the nation through Reconstruction – putting the nation back together. He was assassinated just days after the war’s end.

Three constitutional amendments defined Reconstruction (1865-77):

• Thirteenth Amendment: The United States banned slavery.
• Fourteenth Amendment: All persons born in the United States were citizens.
• Fifteenth Amendment: All men could vote, regardless of race.

Although former Confederate states had to ratify these amendments to rejoin the Union, state governments quickly suppressed African Americans’ right to vote through Jim Crow laws. These laws and measures segregating African Americans from white society remained in place for a century.

America on the World Stage

The late 19th century was known as the Gilded Age in the United States. Industrialists created massive corporations, growing the economy. Some rich industrialists, also known as Robber Barons, started universities and gave to charity. However, most people who worked for these rich men lived in poverty.

Industrialization also let the United States step onto the world stage, meaning that, for the first time, it had a prominent role in international affairs. By the end of the 19th century, the United States had created a vast empire.

The World I and the Great Depression

Although the United States had created an empire, it was wary of involving itself in other nations’ conflicts. When war in Europe erupted in the summer of 1914, the United States adopted a policy of neutrality – not taking a side. Despite this policy, most Americans supported England and France over their rivals Germany and Austria.

President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war in 1917 due to Germany’s use of submarine warfare and attempt to convince Mexico to attack the United States. For the next year and a half, nearly five million American soldiers contributed to the war effort, which led to Germany’s defeat in November 1918.

The following year, President Wilson attended the Paris Peace Conference to pitch his idea for a League of Nations. The League would help the world settle disputes without the need for war. However, opposition in Congress prevented the United States from joining the League. Most Americans still believed that interfering in world affairs would drag them into more disastrous wars. These Americans were known as isolationists.

The United States experienced an economic boom in the 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties. People believed that betting on the stock market and other risky investments would make them rich. The bubble finally burst in 1929, leading to the Great Depression. Many banks failed, and nearly a quarter of Americans found themselves jobless.

Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt promised a New Deal when he took office in 1933. The New Deal was a series of laws and programs meant to put people back to work and fix the problems that had caused the Great Depression.

Although the New Deal did not solve all the nation’s woes, it gave hope to many Americans. Americans would need that hope if they were to overcome their next challenge, World War II.

World War II

As with World War I, America did not join the conflict immediately after Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. However, President Roosevelt offered materials and supplies to Great Britain and the Soviet Union, two nations at war with Nazi Germany. British leader Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin urged the United States to enter the war, but Roosevelt knew that American public opinion would not allow it.

That changed in December 1941, when the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Japan saw the United States as its rival in the Pacific and hoped to take out the U.S. Navy in one devastating blow. The attack galvanized the United States, which declared war on Japan. Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, declared war on the United States. The United States found itself fighting a two-front war.

American soldiers played a significant role in liberating Europe from Nazi Germany. Germany surrendered in May 1945. Although battered, the Japanese Empire continued fighting.

American military leaders thought that the Manhattan Project – the development of the world’s first atomic bomb – might produce a weapon that would convince Japan to surrender. The first successful nuclear test occurred in July 1945. Just three weeks later, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, the country dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. These events and the Soviet declaration of war on Japan convinced the Japanese Empire to surrender in August 1945, ending World War II.

The Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement

The temporary alliance between the capitalist (i.e. free market) United States and communist (i.e. state-controlled economy) Soviet Union during World War II did not last. From 1945-91, both sides attempted to influence world affairs. This conflict was responsible for the Korean War (1950-53) and Vietnam War (1964-75), two wars that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of American soldiers and millions of innocent civilians.

The threat of nuclear war put people worldwide on edge, as the United States and the Soviet Union had tens of thousands of atomic bombs between them. The Soviet Union’s attempt to put nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962 led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Communication between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev helped the world narrowly avoid disaster.

The Soviet Union and the United States competed in non-militaristic ways, such as through the Space Race. Although the Soviet Union accomplished many “firsts” in space, such as the first satellite, animal, and person in orbit, the United States landed the first men on the Moon in July 1969.

The Cold War ended due to the collapse of communism in Europe between 1989-91. In December 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist, becoming 15 independent nations.

The Civil Rights Movement also defined the American experience in the decades following World War II. African Americans fought for rights that were long denied to them.

Civil rights leaders differed in opinion on how to achieve racial equality. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for civil disobedience, such as peaceful protests and sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. Other leaders, such as Malcom X, criticized this approach as ineffective. Both men died in assassinations.

From the 1950s to the 1990s, other groups that included women, Native Americans, and LGBTQ+ Americans used protests and other forms of civil disobedience to gain greater acceptance and equality. Victories for women included greater employment opportunities, while many states repealed laws incriminating LGBTQ+ relationships.

The United States in the Modern Era

When the Cold War ended in 1991, the United States found itself the world’s sole superpower – the nation with the greatest sway over world affairs. The decade was marked by prosperity and technological innovation, such as the wide adoption of the internet.

The United States entered a new era on September 11, 2001, when Middle Eastern terrorists used commercial airliners to kill thousands in New York City and Washington, D.C. These events led the United States into a 20-year War on Terror, a broad military operation including the invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003).

In 2008, the Great Recession battered the U.S. housing industry and wiped away the economic gains many Americans had made in the previous two decades. Americans criticized the government for bailing out banks and large corporations at the expense of average people.

The United States faced further economic and social challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic that began in 2020. Millions of people lost their jobs during lockdown, businesses shuttered, and over 1.2 million Americans died of the disease within three years of the initial outbreak.

U.S. History Review Quiz