Unit Checkpoint
Unit Overview
This checkpoint assesses your understanding of the US History & Civics unit, covering the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Industrialization periods, as well as the skills of primary source analysis and claim-evidence writing.
Key Topics Covered
- Civil War and Reconstruction: Causes of the war, the Reconstruction amendments, and the end of Reconstruction
- Industrialization: Economic transformation, labor conditions, and the rise of big business
- Primary Source Analysis: SOAPS method, evaluating reliability, identifying perspectives
- Claim-Evidence Writing: CER framework, supporting arguments with historical evidence
Skills to Demonstrate
- Explain cause-and-effect relationships in history
- Analyze primary sources using the SOAPS method
- Write clear claims supported by specific evidence
- Connect historical events to their lasting impacts
Review Key Concepts
Before attempting the checkpoint, review these essential concepts.
The Reconstruction Amendments
- 13th Amendment (1865): Abolished slavery
- 14th Amendment (1868): Citizenship and equal protection
- 15th Amendment (1870): Voting rights regardless of race
Gilded Age Key Terms
- Vertical Integration: Controlling all stages of production
- Horizontal Integration: Buying out competitors
- Monopoly: Complete control of an industry
- Labor Union: Workers organized for collective bargaining
Primary Source Analysis
- S - Speaker: Who created the source?
- O - Occasion: When/where was it created?
- A - Audience: Who was it meant for?
- P - Purpose: Why was it created?
- S - Subject: What is it about?
Extended Response Practice
Practice these extended response questions before taking the checkpoint.
Practice 1: Historical Argument
Write a CER response: "To what extent was Reconstruction a success or failure for African Americans?" Include at least three pieces of specific evidence.
Practice 2: Source Analysis
Analyze this quote using SOAPS: "The public be damned! I am working for my stockholders." - William Vanderbilt, railroad magnate, 1882
Practice 3: Cause and Effect
Explain three ways that industrialization changed American society between 1870 and 1900.
Check Your Understanding
Complete this 10-question checkpoint to assess your mastery of the unit. Click each question to reveal the answer.
1. What were the three main goals of Reconstruction?
Answer: The three main goals were: (1) to reunite the nation and rebuild the South, (2) to provide rights and opportunities for formerly enslaved people, and (3) to determine how Confederate states would rejoin the Union.
2. How did sharecropping create a cycle of poverty for many African Americans after the Civil War?
Answer: Sharecroppers had to borrow money for seeds, tools, and supplies at the start of each growing season. They paid back this debt with a portion of their harvest, often leaving little profit. High interest rates and unfair terms kept sharecroppers in perpetual debt, unable to save money or buy their own land.
3. What was the significance of the Compromise of 1877 for African Americans in the South?
Answer: The Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South. This allowed Southern states to implement Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, literacy tests, and other measures that effectively disenfranchised Black voters and established legal segregation for decades.
4. Explain how Andrew Carnegie used vertical integration to build his steel empire.
Answer: Carnegie controlled every stage of steel production by owning iron ore mines, coal fields, railroad lines for transportation, and steel mills. This allowed him to reduce costs at every stage, eliminate middlemen, and undercut competitors' prices while maintaining high profits.
5. What working conditions did factory workers face during the Gilded Age, and how did they respond?
Answer: Workers faced 10-16 hour days, low wages ($1-2 daily), dangerous machinery, child labor, and no safety regulations. They responded by forming labor unions like the Knights of Labor and American Federation of Labor, organizing strikes, and advocating for reforms like the eight-hour workday.
6. Analyze this source using SOAPS: A letter from a formerly enslaved person to their former owner, written in 1865.
Answer: Speaker: A formerly enslaved person with direct experience of slavery. Occasion: 1865, immediately after the Civil War and emancipation. Audience: The former slaveholder, possibly also the public if published. Purpose: Could vary - to assert freedom, demand back wages, express feelings, or establish new terms. Subject: The changed relationship between enslaved and enslaver after emancipation.
7. Why might a newspaper article from 1885 praising factory conditions not be a reliable source about workers' actual experiences?
Answer: Potential reliability issues include: the newspaper owner might have business ties to factory owners; reporters might not have had access to actual workers; workers might fear speaking honestly; the article's purpose might be to attract investors or workers; advertisers (factories) might influence coverage.
8. Write a claim about whether industrialization was beneficial for America, and provide one piece of evidence.
Answer: Example claim: "Industrialization transformed America into an economic powerhouse but at a significant human cost." Evidence: "While U.S. manufacturing output increased 800% between 1865-1900, making America the world's leading industrial nation, over 35,000 workers died annually in industrial accidents by 1900."
9. How did the 14th Amendment change the relationship between the federal government and the states?
Answer: The 14th Amendment established that citizenship was national, not just state-based, and that states could not deprive citizens of rights without due process. It gave the federal government power to enforce equal protection, fundamentally shifting the balance of power toward national authority over individual rights.
10. Connect this unit to SAT/ACT skills: How does understanding historical arguments help with standardized test reading sections?
Answer: SAT and ACT reading sections require identifying main claims, evaluating how authors use evidence, understanding author's purpose and perspective, and analyzing how arguments are constructed. Practicing historical analysis builds these exact skills - recognizing claims, evaluating sources, understanding context, and connecting evidence to conclusions.
Next Steps
- Review any questions you found challenging
- Return to previous lessons to strengthen weak areas
- Move on to the next unit: Constitution Deep Dive
- Practice these skills with current events and other historical periods