History and Social Science
The History and Social Science subarea tests United States and Massachusetts history, geography, civics, and economics, with the state's 2018 History and Social Science Framework as the organizing reference. Questions often ask you to interpret sources and explain change over time rather than recall isolated dates.
Core concepts
- Primary sources are created at the time by participants or witnesses; secondary sources interpret later. Source them: author, date, audience, purpose, and bias.
- Chronology and cause and effect: distinguish long-term causes from immediate triggers, and avoid single-cause explanations.
- Civics: the Massachusetts Constitution (1780), drafted largely by John Adams, is the oldest functioning written constitution; the U.S. Constitution establishes federalism, separation of powers, and the Bill of Rights.
- Geography shapes settlement, economy, and regional identity; Massachusetts's port cities, rivers, and farmland illustrate this.
Worked example
A 1620 document states that the signers "combine ourselves together into a civil body politic." What principle does this express? Reasoning: the signers are creating a government by agreement, not claiming independence from England. The language points to self-government and majority rule-a social-contract idea-and it is the Mayflower Compact, not the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. The correct inference is limited to what the text says.
Traps that cost marks
- Presentism: judging past actors by today's values without context.
- Calling a textbook excerpt a primary source.
- Confusing state powers with federal powers.
- Assuming the Mayflower Compact declared independence.