GED Social Studies : Minorities in the United States

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GED Social Studies

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Example Questions

Example Question #4 : Civil Rights And Demographics

Rosa Parks was __________

Possible Answers:

a leader in the movement for female emancipation.

the first female to hold office in the Senate.

the first African American on the Supreme Court.

a United States Civil Rights leader.

a famous opera singer during the roaring 20s.

Correct answer:

a United States Civil Rights leader.

Explanation:

Rosa Parks was a United States Civil Rights leader who famously refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. In the majority of the South at this time blacks and whites were segregated in public, and in refusing to give up her seat Rosa Parks was violating the law. Her refusal helped spark and give momentum to the burgeoning civil rights movement. The first African American on the Supreme Court was Thurgood Marshall.

Example Question #1 : Minorities In The United States

The Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sandford __________

Possible Answers:

ruled that African Americans were not citizens of the United States.

established the precedent of separate, but equal.

forbade the extension of slavery into the territories.

ruled that African Americans could serve in public office.

found that the doctrine of separate, but equal was inherently unconstitutional.

Correct answer:

ruled that African Americans were not citizens of the United States.

Explanation:

The Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sandford took place in 1857, in the build-up to Civil War. The court ruled that Scott did not have the right to bring a case before the United States government, as he was an African American and thus not a citizen of the United States. The court also ruled that Congress could make no laws preventing the extension of slavery into the territories. Unsurprisingly, it was a controversial court case, even at the time, yet was mostly ignored by those in the North.

Example Question #1 : Minorities In The United States

The provision in the Fourteenth Amendment which forbids the states from discrimination on the grounds of race in their legal practices is called __________.

Possible Answers:

The Due Process Clause

The Equal Protection Clause

The Double Jeopardy Clause

Federalist No. 10

Federalist No. 51

Correct answer:

The Equal Protection Clause

Explanation:

The Equal Protection clause states that no state within the union can deny any person the full and equal protection of its laws, particularly on the basis of race or other "arbitrary distinctions." It was passed in 1868, as part of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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