Main Idea Worksheet 4: Students summarize three historical passages about barter, ancient money, and Continental currency, then provide appropriate titles.

Here are the solutions for the worksheet. I have broken them down by passage number so you can fill in the boxes easily.

Passage 1

Summary: Before money existed, people used a barter system to trade goods directly for other things they needed, but this was difficult because trading partners did not always want what you had to offer.

Appropriate title: The Problems with Bartering

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Passage 2

Summary: The Code of Ur-Nammu, an ancient set of laws from around 2050 BC that required fines to be paid in shekels, provides evidence that money has been used for at least 4,000 years.

Appropriate title: Ancient Evidence of Money

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Passage 3

Summary: During the American Revolution, the Continental Dollar lost almost all of its value and became worthless because Congress printed too much of it and the British counterfeited it to hurt the U.S. economy.

Appropriate title: The Failure of the Continental Dollar