Physical Geography and Virginia's Indigenous Peoples 8
Archaeologists have recovered artifacts at Werowocomoco, which was Powhatan's capital in 1607. Beside which river did the town stand?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard", and its Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies (VS.2f of 2015); SOL VS.2a
Around 1600 the Monacan people lived mainly in the Piedmont. Which language group did they belong to?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.2d of 2015); SOL VS.2b
Around 1600, why did many of Virginia's Indigenous people live near rivers?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.2d
The Eastern Shore is a peninsula. Which body of water separates it from the mainland of Virginia?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.2c of 2015); SOL VS.1c
How many tribes does the Commonwealth of Virginia recognize today?Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, "Virginia Indians"; SOL VS.2e
What is the Fall Line?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.2b and VS.2c of 2015); SOL VS.1b
Which of these states borders Virginia?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.2a of 2015); SOL VS.1a
Which of Virginia's five regions, also called Tidewater, is flat land east of the Fall Line beside the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.2b of 2015); SOL VS.1b
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1607 Through the American Revolution; Political Growth and Westward Expansion 16
A colonial farmer takes cloth from a merchant in spring and pays for it after the tobacco harvest. What is this way of buying called?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.4d of 2015); SOL VS.4f
During the American Revolution, Virginia's capital moved from Williamsburg to Richmond. Which was a reason?Encyclopedia Virginia, "Thomas Jefferson as Governor of Virginia", and Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies (VS.5d of 2015); SOL VS.5c
How did James Lafayette, an enslaved Virginian, serve the American side in 1781?Encyclopedia Virginia, "James Lafayette (ca. 1748–1830)"; SOL VS.5b
In 1607 the English chose a site on the James River for Jamestown. Which was a reason for the choice?National Park Service, Historic Jamestowne, "A Short History of Jamestown"; SOL VS.3b
In 1619, people captured in the Angolan region of West Central Africa were brought against their will to the Virginia colony. Where did they arrive?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.3f
Nat Turner, an enslaved man, organized a rebellion in Southampton County. What did Virginia do afterward?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.6e
Virginia is called the "Mother of Presidents." How many U.S. presidents were born in Virginia?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.12
What did a series of laws passed in the Virginia colony in 1705 establish?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.4d
What happened at Yorktown in October 1781?National Park Service, Yorktown Battlefield, "History of the Siege", and Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies (VS.5c of 2015); SOL VS.5d
What met for the first time at Jamestown in 1619, with two burgesses from each division of the colony?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.3g
Which crop, grown from seeds John Rolfe brought to Jamestown, became the colony's cash crop?National Park Service, Historic Jamestowne, "A Short History of Jamestown"; SOL VS.3e
Which founding document of Virginia did George Mason write?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.6b of 2015); SOL VS.6b
Who granted the charter of April 10, 1606, that allowed the Virginia Company of London to start a colony?Encyclopedia Virginia, "Virginia Company of London", and National Park Service, "A Short History of Jamestown"; SOL VS.3c
Why did England want a colony in North America in the early 1600s?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.3a of 2015); SOL VS.3a
Why is James Madison called the "Father of the Constitution"?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.6a of 2015); SOL VS.6a
Why was Virginia's capital moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg in 1699?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.4e
Civil War and Postwar Eras 12
After the Civil War, what did the Freedmen's Bureau provide to freed African Americans in Virginia?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.8c
How did railroads change Virginia in the late 1800s?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.9a
John Brown led a raid on the United States armory at Harpers Ferry. What did he hope the raid would begin?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.7a
John Mercer Langston, born free in Louisa County, took his seat in 1890 as the first African American to do what?U.S. House of Representatives, History, Art & Archives, "LANGSTON, John Mercer"; SOL VS.8d
Southern states began to secede from the United States after which event of 1860?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.7b
What are Elizabeth Van Lew and Mary Bowser remembered for during the Civil War?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.7g
What did 50 western counties of Virginia do in 1863?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.7d
What did the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution do?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.8a
What did the U.S. Supreme Court rule in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.8e
What was the Underground Railroad?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.7c
Where did Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrender his army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.7e
Which battle, fought in Virginia, was the first major clash of the Civil War?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.7e
Virginia: 1900 to Present 8
During World War II, why did many Virginia families grow Victory Gardens and preserve food?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.10a
In 1951, 16-year-old Barbara Johns led a student strike at the all-Black Moton High School in Farmville. What did the strike lead to?Encyclopedia Virginia, "Barbara Rose Johns Powell"; SOL VS.11b
L. Douglas Wilder became governor of Virginia in 1990. Why was his election a first for the whole country?Encyclopedia Virginia, "L. Douglas Wilder (1931– )"; SOL VS.11b
Maggie L. Walker of Richmond was the first African American woman in the United States to do what?Encyclopedia Virginia, "Maggie Lena Walker (1864–1934)"; SOL VS.11b
What is the Medal of Honor?Virginia Department of Education, Instructional Guide, Grade Four: Virginia Studies (2023 standards), "Understanding the Standard"; SOL VS.10b
What makes shipbuilding, fishing, crabbing and oyster harvesting possible in Virginia?Virginia Department of Education, Curriculum Framework 2015: Virginia Studies, Essential Knowledge (VS.10b and VS.10c of 2015); SOL VS.13a
What was Massive Resistance?Encyclopedia Virginia, "Massive Resistance", and National Archives, "Brown v. Board of Education (1954)"; SOL VS.11a
Which is Virginia's largest private industry, according to the state government?Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, "Virginia Agriculture Facts & Figures"; SOL VS.13a
Forty-four of our own questions on Virginia Studies, the grade 4 history course with an SOL test. Unofficial and not affiliated with the Virginia Department of Education; no question is a released or state practice item.
Read the full guide
What the Virginia Studies SOL covers
The state blueprint sorts 40 scored items into four reporting categories, and the questions here keep to its ranges. Physical Geography and Virginia's Indigenous Peoples has 6 to 8 items: borders, the five regions, rivers, language groups. The largest, 14 to 16, runs from Jamestown through the Revolution and the new nation. Civil War and Postwar Eras has 10 to 12. Virginia: 1900 to Present has 6 to 8, from the world wars to Massive Resistance and today's economy.
Where the answers come from
Each answer names its standard, such as VS.3g for the General Assembly of 1619, and the public page the fact was read on, most often the Department of Education's own guide, the National Park Service or Encyclopedia Virginia.
Learn the two capital moves with their reasons: Jamestown to Williamsburg in 1699, then Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the Virginia Studies SOL test?
50 items: 40 count toward the score and 10 are field-test items that do not. Up to 15% of the items on an online form are technology-enhanced, and the rest are multiple choice.
What is on the 4th grade social studies SOL in Virginia?
Virginia Studies: the state's geography and Indigenous peoples, Jamestown and the colony, the Revolution and the new nation, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and Virginia from 1900 to the present. The 2023 standards number these VS.1 to VS.13.
Which standards do these Virginia Studies SOL practice tests follow?
The 2023 History and Social Science Standards of Learning. The state blueprint written for them took effect with the spring 2026 tests, and every question here names the 2023 standard it practices.
What is a passing score on the Virginia Studies SOL?
The state reports a scaled score from 0 to 600. A history test is passed at 400 (Pass/Proficient), 500 is Pass/Advanced, and anything lower is Fail/Does Not Meet. The percent shown here is not that score.
Where are more Virginia Studies SOL practice questions?
The Virginia Department of Education posts practice items for the test on its SOL Practice Items page, linked in the box under the questions. They include technology-enhanced item types that this page's multiple-choice questions cannot show.