Everything from Columbus to the Constitution: study cards, the traps to dodge, a practice quiz at three levels — Foundation, On-Level, and Challenge — and a lab where you put 1492 to 1791 in order, label the thirteen colonies, sort causes from effects, and read the Declaration line by line. Work here, or print it and use a pencil — both count.
1776. The Declaration of Independence. Its job is to explain WHY the colonies are leaving.
Declaration = 1776 = WHY we left. Constitution = 1787 = HOW we run. Eleven years and two different jobs. If a question is about rights and complaints against a king, it is the first; if it is about branches and elections, it is the second.
Two things people get wrong
⚠️People often think…
The Pilgrims at Plymouth were the first English colony.
Jamestown came first, in 1607, thirteen years earlier — and for a completely different reason. Jamestown was a business venture looking for profit; Plymouth was a group looking for a place to worship their own way.
Jamestown 1607, Plymouth 1620.
⚠️People often think…
“All men are created equal” in 1776 meant everybody.
It did not include enslaved people, Native nations or women. The sentence was written larger than the country was willing to live up to — and most of American history afterward is people holding it to its own words.
The words were bigger than the practice.
Worth knowing cold
The seven dates
One date, one event. Say these seven in order and most timeline questions answer themselves.
1492Columbus reaches the Caribbean. He did not find an empty land — millions of people already lived here.
1607Jamestown, in Virginia. A business venture, looking for profit.
1620Plymouth, in Massachusetts — thirteen years AFTER Jamestown.
1775The fighting starts.
1776The Declaration explains WHY they left.
1787The Constitution explains HOW the country runs.
1791The Bill of Rights is added — people would not ratify without it.
Why we left, how we run, who was left out
1Watch one
A document lists complaints against a king. Which one is it?
Ask what job the document is doing: it is explaining a grievance.
Explaining why you are leaving is the Declaration’s job.
The Constitution never mentions a king — it describes branches and elections.
So it is the Declaration, 1776. Match the job to the document. ✓
2Do one with me
Fill in which document and which year.
The document explaining HOW we run is the
The first English colony, in 1607, was
The Declaration of Independence was written in
💬One sentence, then you move on
Why do we need two different documents?
3Try one
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
I want a hint first
His name is on the nickel and on a memorial in Washington, and he later became the third president.
Where this goes
Where this lives
Why your school talks about rights at all, why a court can still be asked whether a law matches the Constitution, why the Fourth of July marks 1776 and not 1787.
What this feeds
Next unit is maps and regions — the land all of this happened on.
Name one right you think a country should write down.
One card at a time — tap “Show me” to check yourself, then Next. Start at Foundation; when those feel easy, climb.
Helpful Hints
🪜 From a ship to a Constitution — the ladder
Explorers reach lands already full of people (1492) → England plants colonies (1607, 1620) → thirteen colonies, three regions → taxes without a vote → protest and punishment → war (1775) → the Declaration (1776) → the Constitution (1787) → the Bill of Rights (1791).
1492 · 1607 · 1620 · 1775 · 1776 · 1787 · 1791
🤝 The whole topic in one idea
People ruled from far away by leaders they never chose decided to rule themselves — and wrote down why (the Declaration) and how (the Constitution). The promise they wrote was bigger than the people it covered at first.
No vote, no tax; why we left; how we run; who was left out.
⚠️ Traps the test loves
Declaration = 1776 = why we left. Constitution = 1787 = how we run. Don’t swap them.
Jamestown (1607) came before Plymouth (1620).
Washington led the army; Jefferson wrote the Declaration; Lincoln came 80 years later.
Columbus didn’t ‘discover’ an empty land — millions of people already lived here.
‘All men are created equal’ in 1776 left out enslaved people, Native nations and women.
Parliament is England’s lawmakers; Congress is ours.
🗺️ Three regions of colonies — the chart
Region
Land and climate
Work
Example
New England
rocky, cold, long coast
fishing, ships, small farms, towns
Massachusetts
Middle Colonies
rich soil, mild
wheat, big ports, many peoples
Pennsylvania
Southern Colonies
warm, flat, rich
tobacco and rice on plantations worked by enslaved people
Virginia
Ships, wheat, tobacco — north to south.
🎯 How the test will ask
Events to order — 1492, 1607, 1620, 1776, 1787, 1791.
A line from the Declaration — “what does it mean?” (rights, consent, the people may change a bad government).
An event — “cause or effect?” (why did it happen; what happened because of it).
A colony — “which region, and what did people do there?”
✅ Before the test, can you…
Put six events from 1492 to 1791 in order?
Explain ‘no taxation without representation’ in your own words?
Tell the Declaration from the Constitution?
Name the three colonial regions and what people did in each?
Say who was left out in 1776, and when the promise reached them?
Pick your level
Look back at anything you missed — the hint that appeared is exactly what to reread tonight.
How sure did you feel?
Workshop
Work like a historian: put 1492 to 1791 in order, label the thirteen colonies, tell a cause from an effect, then read the Declaration like a founder.
Your practice never leaves this device. There is no account and no sign-in. Your work is saved in this browser only, and you can erase it whenever you want.
Your practice record — saved on this device
This is your record of the module on screen — it stays here and goes nowhere. Independent means you got it right on the first tap; supported means you got it after the explain-and-retry, or marked ‘I had it’ on a revealed answer. Both count, and neither is a grade. If your teacher asks, copy the row or show them this screen.
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Supported
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Hints used
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Cards studied
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Lab
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Traps met
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Explained in own words
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The answer key is for a teacher: it prints only from here, for the unit on screen. Print the study packet prints the study pages and a blank quiz — never the answers.