TExES 903 History

Competency 002 of the Core Subjects EC–6: Social Studies (903). The competencies TEA lists, how they are tested and practice questions with explanations.

Take a full timed TExES 903 practice test

40 questions on the real 50-minute clock, with a score by competency group and an explanation for every answer.

Or start the free History drill

What the TEA framework lists

  • Texas, United States and world history: Native American peoples and European contact, the Revolutionary era, westward expansion, the Civil War and Reconstruction, reform movements and the 20th and 21st centuries
  • Historical research methods and chronology

Summarized from the TExES Core Subjects EC–6 (391) preparation manual, Section 3: exam framework, Competency 002. The grouping of competencies into drill sets is ours.

Line drawing of a Spanish colonial mission church facade beside a quill pen and a rolled parchment

How History is tested

Expect Texas history (missions, the Texas Revolution, the Republic, statehood) alongside U.S. and world history, and questions on cause and effect and primary sources. TEA lists the competencies without weights, so our practice test spreads its questions evenly across them.

Start the free History drill

TExES 903 History practice questions

Answer each question, then open the explanation.

Question 1

What was a major result of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803?

  1. A.Spain gave Florida to the United States.
  2. B.Texas became part of the United States.
  3. C.The United States ended the War of 1812 and gained Canada’s western provinces.
  4. D.The size of the United States roughly doubled.
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D: The size of the United States roughly doubled.

The Louisiana Purchase from France added about 828,000 square miles, roughly doubling the country’s size. Texas was annexed in 1845 and Florida was acquired from Spain in 1819.

Question 2

Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery?

  1. A.The Thirteenth Amendment
  2. B.The Fifteenth Amendment
  3. C.The First Amendment
  4. D.The Nineteenth Amendment
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A: The Thirteenth Amendment

The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) abolished slavery. The Fifteenth protects voting rights regardless of race, and the Nineteenth gave women the right to vote.

Question 3

Who was the first president of the Republic of Texas under its constitution?

  1. A.Mirabeau B. Lamar
  2. B.Anson Jones
  3. C.Stephen F. Austin
  4. D.Sam Houston
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D: Sam Houston

Sam Houston was elected the first constitutional president of the Republic of Texas in 1836. Mirabeau B. Lamar was the second, and Anson Jones the last.

Question 4

June 19, 1865, celebrated as Juneteenth, marks the day when

  1. A.the Civil War officially began with the attack on Fort Sumter.
  2. B.the Emancipation Proclamation was first signed by President Lincoln.
  3. C.Union troops in Galveston announced that enslaved people in Texas were free.
  4. D.Texas joined the Confederacy at the start of the Civil War.
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: C: Union troops in Galveston announced that enslaved people in Texas were free.

On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and announced that enslaved people in Texas were free, about two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Take the full test under the real clock

Take a full timed TExES 903 practice test

40 questions on the real 50-minute clock, with a score by competency group and an explanation for every answer.

Or start the free History drill

Common questions

How many History questions are on the TExES 903?

TEA lists the competencies of the TExES 903 without weights or question counts. Our 40-question practice test spreads its questions evenly across the competencies, which gives History 8 questions.

What does History cover on the TExES 903?

Texas, United States and world history: Native American peoples and European contact, the Revolutionary era, westward expansion, the Civil War and Reconstruction, reform movements and the 20th and 21st centuries; Historical research methods and chronology.

How should I study History for the TExES 903?

Expect Texas history (missions, the Texas Revolution, the Republic, statehood) alongside U.S. and world history, and questions on cause and effect and primary sources. TEA lists the competencies without weights, so our practice test spreads its questions evenly across them.

TExES is a trademark of the Texas Education Agency. Original independent practice questions written to the published TExES exam frameworks; not affiliated with or endorsed by the Texas Education Agency or Pearson.