• 42 questions

8th Grade Social Studies Milestones Practice Test

Georgia Studies in the four categories of the state blueprint, each answer tied to a public page.

People of the Mississippian Period built large earthen mounds in towns such as Etowah. What were the mounds used for?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

Print covers the next 42 questions. Share this set copies a link to the same questions in the same order.

Exam mode: 42 questions, no time limit.

More options

Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Georgia Department of Education. Bank checked October 13, 2026.

The real test: Georgia Milestones social studies, grade 8

Questions
42
Items and points
42 items. 38 count toward the score, for 46 points: 30 one-point items and 8 two-point technology-enhanced items. 4 are field test items.
Time
Two sections of up to 35 minutes each. The manual gives 15 to 25 minutes as typical for a section.
History
About 23 points, half of the test: standards SS8H1 to SS8H12.
Other categories
Government and Civics about 9 points (20%), Geography about 7 (15%), Economics about 7 (15%).
Content
Georgia Studies: the state's history, geography, government and economy.
Scores
Four achievement levels: Beginning Learner, Developing Learner, Proficient Learner and Distinguished Learner.

Checked October 13, 2026 against the Georgia Milestones Grade 8 Social Studies Assessment Blueprint (July 2025), the End-of-Grade Test Administration Manual for Spring and Retest 2026 and Understanding the Georgia Milestones Achievement Levels, Georgia Department of Education. Rules change, so confirm with the agency itself before your test.

The state's practice site, with its study guides

Next step Grade 8 Milestones, all four subjectsMore U.S. history questions

All 42 questions

History 21

  • Alonzo Herndon began his working life as a farmhand and then a barber. Which business did he found? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H7.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Alonzo Herndon
  • As a congressman in the early 1890s, Tom Watson, later the Populist candidate for vice president, backed which program for farm families? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H7.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Thomas E. Watson
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt first came to Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1924. Why? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H8.d; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Franklin D. Roosevelt in Georgia
  • The General Assembly chartered the University of Georgia in 1785. What made that charter a first? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H4.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, University of Georgia
  • Georgia congressman Carl Vinson served twenty-five terms in the U.S. House. What is he known as the father of? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H9.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Carl Vinson
  • Georgia’s first Black legislators took their seats in Atlanta in July 1868. What happened two months later? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H6.d; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Original 33
Show all 42 questions (36 more)

History, continued

  • Governor-elect Eugene Talmadge died before taking office, and in early 1947 three men claimed to be governor of Georgia. Who settled the dispute? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H10.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Three Governors Controversy
  • Hernando de Soto’s army crossed Georgia in 1540. Within a few years the powerful chiefdoms he had met began to collapse. What do archaeologists name as one cause? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H1.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Hernando de Soto in Georgia
  • In 1736 James Oglethorpe recruited Scottish Highlanders, who founded Darien on the Altamaha River. Why did he want them in Georgia? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H2.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Darien
  • In 1838 and 1839 U.S. troops forced the Cherokee out of their homeland in north Georgia. Where were they sent? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H4.e; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Cherokee Removal
  • In 1960 the Sibley Commission held hearings across Georgia on school desegregation. Which idea did its chairman work to build support for? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H11.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Sibley Commission
  • The Malcontents were colonists who complained to the Trustees. What did they object to? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H2.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Malcontents
  • Maynard Jackson was elected in 1973. Which office did he win? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H12.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Maynard Jackson
  • People of the Mississippian Period built large earthen mounds in towns such as Etowah. What were the mounds used for? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H1.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Mississippian Period
  • What did Georgia’s legislature do in the Yazoo Act of 1795? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H4.b; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Yazoo Land Fraud
  • What happened at Kettle Creek, in Georgia, on February 14, 1779? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H3.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Battle of Kettle Creek
  • What position did the Georgia Platform of 1850 take? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H5.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Georgia Platform
  • Which battle of September 1863 was the biggest ever fought in Georgia? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H5.b; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Battle of Chickamauga
  • Which Reconstruction amendment, ratified in 1870, gave African American men the right to vote? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H6.a; National Archives, Milestone Documents: 15th Amendment
  • Which weakness of the Articles of Confederation left Congress with an empty treasury? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H3.d; National Archives, Milestone Documents: Articles of Confederation
  • William McIntosh was a chief of the Lower Muscogee (Creek). What led other Muscogee to execute him in 1825? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8H4.d; New Georgia Encyclopedia, William McIntosh

Geography 6

  • Brasstown Bald, at 4,784 feet, is the highest point in Georgia. Which region is it in? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8G1.b; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Geographic Regions of Georgia
  • The core of Georgia’s peanut, cotton and vegetable farming is in which region? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8G1.b; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Geographic Regions of Georgia
  • The Fall Line divides Georgia’s sources of water. Where does the northern part of the state get almost all of its water? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8G1.d; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Geographic Regions of Georgia
  • Georgia’s Sea Islands are also called barrier islands. Why? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8G1.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Lower Coastal Plain and Coastal Islands
  • The Okefenokee Swamp covers roughly 700 square miles. In which part of Georgia is it? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8G1.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Natural History of the Okefenokee Swamp
  • Which region lies in the far northwestern corner of Georgia and includes Lookout Mountain? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8G1.b; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Geographic Regions of Georgia

Government and Civics 9

  • A bill is introduced in the General Assembly. What must happen before the full house can consider it? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG2.b; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Legislative Process
  • The governor vetoes a bill. How can the bill still become law? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG2.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Governor
  • How do superior court judges in Georgia get their office? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG4.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Judicial Branch
  • How old must a person be to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG2.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Georgia General Assembly
  • The Pledge of Allegiance to the Georgia Flag names four principles. Three are wisdom, justice and moderation. What is the fourth? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG1.e
  • What gives a Georgia city the legal authority to exist and to govern? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG6.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Georgia’s City Governments
  • Which of these is a qualification to register to vote in Georgia? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG1.d; Georgia.gov, Register to Vote
  • Which part of Georgia’s 1983 constitution is the Georgia Bill of Rights? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG1.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Georgia Bill of Rights
  • Which set of qualifications does Georgia set for its governor? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8CG3.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Governor

Economics 6

  • A family borrows money to buy a car. What is interest? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8E3.d; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Financial terms glossary
  • Atlanta began as Terminus, the southern end of the state-owned Western and Atlantic Railroad. What did that railroad open to Georgia? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8E1.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Railroads
  • In the 1930s Jesse Jewell sold baby chicks and feed to north Georgia farmers on credit and agreed to buy back the grown chickens. What risk did he take as an entrepreneur? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8E2.b; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Poultry
  • What did the state legislature pass in 2008 that solidified Georgia’s film industry? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8E2.c; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Film Industry in Georgia
  • Which describes savings? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8E3.c; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Financial terms glossary
  • Which mix of transportation systems helped make Georgia, and Atlanta above all, a transportation hub for the Southeast? Georgia’s social studies standards, SS8E1.a; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Interstate Highway System

How this list was compiled: Outline: Georgia Milestones Assessment System, Grade 8 Social Studies Assessment Blueprint (Georgia Department of Education, July 2025), https://lor2.gadoe.org/gadoe/file/4feebd77-4a21-4788-a3ba-b6f50a71c876/1/GM_Gr8_SS_Blueprint.pdf, read 2026-10-13. Each question names the element it practices in Georgia's social studies standards for grade 8, read 2026-10-13 on the department's standards site, https://case.georgiastandards.org/a446e74c-463e-11e7-94f5-b49cee8b2d8c. Each fact rests on the public page named under its answer, opened 2026-10-13: the New Georgia Encyclopedia (a project of Georgia Humanities and the University of Georgia Press), the National Archives, Georgia.gov or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Licence: Own work. Questions, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a Georgia Milestones test, a released or sample item, an item of the state's study guide or assessment guide, or another practice test.

How it works

Unofficial practice for the grade 8 social studies test of the Georgia Milestones, which covers Georgia Studies. The 42 questions are our own and none is a state sample item. Not affiliated with the Georgia Department of Education.

Read the full guide

What the 8th grade social studies Milestones covers

The state blueprint has four reporting categories. History is half the test, from the Mississippian mound builders and the Trustee colony through the Civil War, the New South and the civil rights movement to Atlanta's mayors. Government and Civics is a fifth: the state constitution, the General Assembly, the governor, the courts and local government. Geography and Economics are about 15 percent each: the five regions, water, transportation, business and personal money.

A source under every answer

Each answer names the standard it practices, such as SS8H4.b, and the public page its fact was read on: the New Georgia Encyclopedia for most, the National Archives for founding documents and amendments.

  • Learn people with the event they belong to: McIntosh with the Treaty of Indian Springs, Vinson with the navy, Maynard Jackson with Atlanta.

Questions and answers

How long is the 8th grade social studies Milestones test?

Two sections of up to 35 minutes each; the state's manual gives 15 to 25 minutes as typical for a section. There are 42 items, and 38 count toward the score, for 46 points.

Is there a Georgia Milestones study guide for 8th grade social studies?

Yes. The state posts study guides and assessment guides by grade, with practice items, on its practice site, Experience Online Testing Georgia. This page is separate and unofficial.

Do other grades take a social studies Milestones test?

No. Among the End-of-Grade tests, social studies is given in grade 8 only. English language arts and mathematics are given in grades 3 to 8, and science in grades 5 and 8.

Where is the full GA Milestones practice for 8th grade?

This page is social studies only, with a longer set. Our 8th grade Georgia Milestones page has shorter sets in all four subjects, and none of its questions is repeated here.

More tests

Show 7 more

Browse Civics and Law