TExES Exam Social Studies 7-12 6

Question 1

Which economic principle holds that a country should export more than it imports in order to accumulate national wealth, and was the dominant trade policy of European powers in the 16th–18th centuries?

Accepted Answer

Mercantilism

Answer

Mercantilism held that national wealth depended on accumulating precious metals and maintaining a favorable balance of trade (more exports than imports). European colonial powers used this doctrine to justify extracting resources from colonies and restricting colonial trade to benefit the mother country.

Question 2

The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln in 1863 applied to enslaved people in:

Accepted Answer

Only Confederate states still in rebellion against the Union

Answer

The Emancipation Proclamation declared enslaved people free only in Confederate states that were still in rebellion. It deliberately excluded border states loyal to the Union (such as Kentucky and Missouri) and areas already under Union control, making it primarily a war measure and political strategy rather than a universal abolition decree.

Question 3

In geography, the term 'push-pull theory' is used to explain:

Accepted Answer

The factors that drive people to leave one place and attract them to another during migration

Answer

Push-pull theory describes human migration by identifying 'push' factors that drive people away from a place (poverty, war, famine) and 'pull' factors that attract them to a destination (economic opportunity, safety, family ties). It is a foundational concept in human geography.

Question 4

The principle of 'popular sovereignty' as applied to U.S. territories in the 1850s meant that:

Accepted Answer

Residents of a territory would vote to decide whether to allow slavery

Answer

Popular sovereignty, championed by Senator Stephen Douglas, held that the settlers of each new territory should decide for themselves whether to permit slavery rather than having Congress impose a decision. It was embedded in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and led directly to the violent conflict known as 'Bleeding Kansas.'

Question 5

Which event most directly caused the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991?

Accepted Answer

The failed coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev combined with declarations of independence by Soviet republics

Answer

The August 1991 coup attempt against Gorbachev by hardline Communist officials backfired, discrediting the Communist Party. In its aftermath, Soviet republics rapidly declared independence. By December 1991, the Commonwealth of Independent States had replaced the USSR, and Gorbachev resigned, formally ending the Soviet Union.

TExES Exam Practice Test

TExES Exam Practice Test

TExES Exam Social Studies 7-12 6