Many students get nervous about what's on the GED Social Studies Test. They believe they need to review and study all of US History in order to be prepared. However, this is not true. The GED Social Studies Test is actually a reading skills test using Social Studies as the subject matter.
What do I mean by that?
On the GED Social Studies Test you will not be asked in what year did George Washington and his troops cross the Potomac. Nor will you be asked who was the Secretary of the list the Bill of Rights. Instead, you will be given a reading on the Bill of Rights and asked a reading skill based question about what you read.
With the above in mind, it is a good idea to be familiar with major historical events and major systems.
For example you should be aware the following events (list below is not chronological nor exhaustive):
Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, Louisiana Purchase, War of 1812, Civil War, WWI, WWII, Vietnam War, Emancipation Proclamation
You should be aware of following systems, defining ideas, court cases and movements (list below is not in order of importance nor exhaustive):
democracy, federalism, monarchy, socialism, communism, natural rights, manifest destiny, separation of powers, three branches of government, women's suffrage, Brown vs. The Board of Education, Dred vs. Sandford, Plessy vs. Ferguson, civil rights, equal rights
The above topic are not an exhaustive list but are major themes or which you should be aware.
Now, again, "awareness" and "familiarity" mean you should know a general sentence or two about the topics above so that when you read about them on the test, it is not the first time you've seen these topics since high school!
Below is a video that I posted to my You Tube channel about the War of 1812.
CLICK HERE to watch or click on the video player below.