Inventions that changed how goods and people moved

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Two economies on the eve of the Civil War (cards A to E; summaries in our words from the National Park Service and the U.S. Senate Historical Office). Card A, NPS Civil War facts: the Union had a population of 18.5 million; the Confederacy had 5.5 million free and 3.5 million enslaved people; the Border States had 2.5 million free and 500,000 enslaved people. The Union had 101,000 factories, the Confederacy 21,000 and the Border States 9,000. The Union had 20,000 miles of railroad, the Confederacy 9,000 and the Border States 1,700. Card B, NPS, Industry and Economy during the Civil War: in 1860 the South was predominantly agricultural; it produced two-thirds of the world's cotton but had little manufacturing, about 29 percent of the railroad tracks, and 13 percent of the nation's banks. By 1860, 26 percent of the Northern population lived in urban areas, compared with about a tenth of the Southern population. The Southern lag did not result from any inherent economic disadvantage: there was great wealth in the South, but it was primarily tied up in the slave economy, and in 1860 the economic value of enslaved people exceeded the invested value of all the nation's railroads, factories and banks combined. Confederate leaders, with cotton prices at an all-time high, were confident that cotton's importance to England and France would bring help. Card C, U.S. Senate Historical Office on the telegraph: Congress appropriated $30,000 in 1843 for a test line, and Samuel Morse sent "What hath God wrought" over a 38-mile line to Baltimore on May 24, 1844. Congress added only $8,000 to keep it running a year, and in 1847 the Post Office leased the line to private investors. The Senate page says accounts decades later placed the first message in the Old Supreme Court Chamber, where a plaque was placed in 1944, but researchers have found no documentation that Morse left the room in the Senate wing where his equipment was set up. Two decades after the demonstration, 100,000 miles of telegraph wire connected towns and cities, mostly through private investment. Card D, a summary in our words from the U.S. House of Representatives' history office: it lists May 24, 1844 as the day Morse sent the first official message from the Supreme Court Chamber, then in the Capitol, to Alfred Vail in Baltimore, and says Congress appropriated $30,000 on March 3, 1843. Card E, NPS: the Pacific Railway Act, approved July 1, 1862, was long debated before the war; Southerners wanted a transcontinental railroad on a southern route, and Northerners a northern route. Once Southerners left Congress, Republicans passed a law setting a middle route, from Omaha to Sacramento.

2. 1.

   Card A gives railroad miles for the Union, Confederacy and Border States. What share was in the Confederacy, and does it match card B, Noah asks?

   • No share can be found, since the cards use different words
   • About 29 percent (9,000 of 30,700), which matches card B
   • About 45 percent, because 9,000 of 20,000 is 45 percent
   • About 3 percent, so it does not match card B
3. 2.

   Card A: the Confederacy had 5.5 million free and 3.5 million enslaved people. What share was enslaved, and why does card B stress it, Ari asks?

   • About 4 percent, a small share of the Confederacy's people
   • About 19 percent, since 3.5 is compared with the Union's 18.5 million
   • About 64 percent, since 3.5 is compared with the 5.5 million free people alone
   • About 39 percent, and card B ties the South's wealth to that slave economy
4. 3.

   A student says: "The South had too little money to build railroads." How strong is that claim, given card B, Luz asks?

   • Strong: card A shows just 9,000 miles of track in the whole Confederacy
   • Weak: card B says the South had more track and more factories than the North
   • Strong: card B says the South lagged in industry, so it had no money
   • Weak: card B says the South had great wealth, but it was tied up in slavery
5. 4.

   Which chain from cards A and B best explains the Confederacy's weaker industrial base, Tala asks?

   • Cotton prices were low, so planters had no money left to invest in factories
   • Losing the war in 1865 reduced Southern factories, so industry stayed small
   • Wealth was tied up in slavery, so less was invested in factories and track
   • Fewer railroads came first, and that is what tied the Southern wealth up in slavery
6. 5.

   In card E, how do Southern and Northern positions on the railroad route differ, and what happened, Jun asks?

   • Southerners wanted a northern route and Northerners a southern one; in the end a middle route passed
   • Each side wanted its own region's route; a middle route passed once Southerners left Congress
   • Both sides agreed on the route, so the law followed it with no debate from the start
   • The law chose a southern route after Southerners left Congress
7. 6.

   Card E says the route was debated before the war and decided in 1862. What does the change show about the debate, Pia asks?

   • Northerners proved their northern route was better, and the law chose it
   • The war began mainly because of the long debate over the railroad route
   • The deadlock broke after Southerners left Congress, so the law passed
   • A debate that is settled by absence rather than argument shows nothing useful
8. 7.

   Cards C and D disagree on where Morse sent the first message. What should a careful student say, Bo asks?

   • Say it was sent from the Capitol; the room is uncertain since the cards disagree
   • Both cards are wrong about the room, so say nothing about the first message
   • Whichever card is newer, since newer pages correct the errors of older ones
   • Card D is right, since a plaque in the old chamber marks the exact room where it was sent
9. 8.

   Which source would best show how Southern leaders explained their region's lag in factories in the 1850s, Zee asks?

   • Card E, since it names Southern positions on the railroad route
   • Speeches, letters and newspapers by Southerners from the 1850s
   • NPS counts of factories and track from the start of the war in 1861
   • Card B, since the National Park Service wrote it as an expert summary
10. 9.

    A student says: "Railroads and factories explain why the North won." How strong is that claim, given card A, Kira asks?

    • Proven: card A lists the North's advantages, so they decided the war
    • Weak: card A shows the South had more factories and more track than the North did
    • Weak: a page from a park service cannot speak about a war it did not fight
    • Partly: card A shows big Northern advantages, but not how they decided the war
11. 10.

    Card A gives 101,000 factories for the Union, 21,000 for the Confederacy and 9,000 for the Border States. What share were in the Union, Ren asks?

    • About 7.7 percent
    • About 83 percent, using just the Union and Confederacy
    • About 77 percent
    • About 48 percent, because 101 is compared with 21