How much U.S. history is on the GED?

About 20 percent of the Social Studies test.

Which dates should I actually memorize?

1776 for the Declaration, 1787 for the Constitution, 1791 for the Bill of Rights, 1863 for the Emancipation Proclamation, and 1964 for the Civil Rights Act.

GED U.S. History Practice

U.S. history is about 20 percent of the GED Social Studies test. Questions favor turning points and the documents attached to them over long chronologies.

Question 1 of 5

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The Declaration of Independence was adopted in what year?

Founding and expansion

The colonial grievances that led to 1776, the failure of the Articles of Confederation, and the constitutional compromises of 1787 form a single connected story, and the test treats it that way. Understand why the Articles failed — no power to tax, no executive, no national court — and the Constitution's design stops looking arbitrary.

Westward expansion, the Louisiana Purchase, and industrial growth in the nineteenth century supply context for questions about migration, labor, and the changing role of the federal government.

Civil War and Reconstruction

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 applied to enslaved people in states in rebellion, not nationwide. Full abolition came with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, followed by the Fourteenth granting citizenship and equal protection and the Fifteenth protecting voting rights regardless of race.

Reconstruction and its rollback set up questions about the long gap between constitutional guarantees and their enforcement — a theme the test returns to in the civil rights era.

Depression, war, and civil rights

The New Deal answered the Great Depression with relief programs, public works employment, financial regulation, and Social Security, permanently expanding the federal role in the economy. Questions often ask you to compare that expansion with earlier limited-government norms.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 barred discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 addressed barriers to the ballot. Both frequently appear alongside excerpts from speeches or court decisions.

Frequently asked questions

How much U.S. history is on the GED?: About 20 percent of the Social Studies test.
Which dates should I actually memorize?: 1776 for the Declaration, 1787 for the Constitution, 1791 for the Bill of Rights, 1863 for the Emancipation Proclamation, and 1964 for the Civil Rights Act.