Intro to United States History Trivia

Multiple Choice

The earliest Americans are thought to have come to North America via what land bridge?

• Bering Land Bridge

• Bear Land Bridge

• Alaskan Land Bridge

• Pacific Land Bridge

Multiple Choice

Who were the first Europeans in North America?

• British colonists
• Spanish conquistadors
• The Vikings

• French settlers

Multiple Choice

Who was the Italian explorer who thought he’d landed in “the Indies,” which launched hundreds of years of exploration to the Americas?

• Vasco da Gama
• Christopher Columbus
• Marco Polo
• Ferdinand Magellan

Multiple Choice

Who were the first Europeans to set up permanent colonies in the Americas?

• English
• Dutch
• French
• Spanish

Multiple Choice

What was the first permanent English settlement in North America?

• Roanoke
• Jamestown
• Savannah
• Plymouth

Multiple Choice

What was the separatist group called that landed on Plymouth Rock and celebrated the first Thanksgiving?

• Quakers
• Loyalists
• Pilgrims
• Puritans

Multiple Choice

Who was the main founder of Georgia?

• Thomas Jefferson
• George Washington
• James Oglethorpe
• Benjamin Franklin

Multiple Choice

What was the protest called in which a group of colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, becoming the first major defiance against the British?

• Boston Tea Party
• Colonial Tea Strike
• Boston Harbor Incident
• Tea Tax Rebellion

Multiple Choice

What was written by Thomas Jefferson and signed and ratified by the 13 colonies in the summer of 1776?

• Articles of Confederation
• Bill of Rights
• Constitution of the United States
• Declaration of Independence

Multiple Choice

What is the system called in which all three branches of government are accountable to one another to keep each from taking too much power?

• Judicial review
• Checks and balances
• Separation of powers
• Executive privilege

Multiple Choice

Who was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and became the nation’s first president?

• Thomas Jefferson
• Benjamin Franklin
• John Adams
• George Washington

Multiple Choice

What was the predecessor to the Constitution called that established a weak central government?

• Constitutional Convention
• Federalist Papers
• Bill of Rights
• Articles of Confederation

Multiple Choice

Which amendment protects freedom of speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly?

• Second Amendment
• Fourth Amendment
• Eighth Amendment
• First Amendment

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the war in which France and Britain (with help from Native Americans) fought for land in North America, and the policies of the British after the war helped to contribute to the discontent of the colonists?

• American Revolutionary War
• War of 1812
• Seven Years' War
• French and Indian War

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the war that took place shortly after the U.S. gained independence and involved the British and the Americans facing off again due to British seizure of U.S. ships and sailors?

• French and Indian War
• War of 1812A
• War of 1812
• Revolutionary War

Multiple Choice

What was the 800-mile march that forced the Cherokees from their homeland in Georgia to Indian territory and resulted in the death of almost ¼ of the Cherokee people?

• Trail of Sorrow
• Trail of Tears
• Path of Regret
• Journey of Despair

Multiple Choice

What 1803 agreement between the United States and France doubled the size of the U.S.?

• Treaty of Paris
• Missouri Compromise
• Northwest Ordinance
• Louisiana Purchase

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the former mission that became an important battle in the Texas Revolution against Mexico?

• The Heights

• The Goliad
• The San Jacinto
• The Alamo

Multiple Choice

With the discovery of this precious metal in California in the mid-1800s, migrants were drawn further west hoping to become rich.

• gold
• copper
• platinum
• silver

Multiple Choice

What was the journey called in which enslaved Africans had to endure horrible conditions in route to the Americas?

• Colonial Expedition
• African Trail
• Middle Passage
• Transatlantic Voyage

Multiple Choice

What was the network of people called who arranged transportation and hiding places for people escaping slavery in the Southern United States?

• Safe Haven Network
• Freedom Trail
• Liberty Line
• Underground Railroad

Multiple Choice

Where did the Civil War start?

• Richmond, Virginia
• Fort Sumter, South Carolina
• Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• Antietam, Maryland

Multiple Choice

Leading up to the Civil War, which major region of the United States wanted to end slavery?

• Southern states
• Western territories
• Northern states
• Border states

Multiple Choice

Who commanded the Confederate Army during the Civil War?

• Robert E. Lee
• Stonewall Jackson
• Ulysses S. Grant
• William Tecumseh Sherman

Multiple Choice

What is the U.S. Constitution’s basic principle in which power is separated between the state governments and the national government?

• Confederation
• Unitary System
• Federalism
• Monarchy

Multiple Choice

Who was the president that led the United States during the Civil War and signed the Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery in the South?

• Abraham Lincoln
• Ulysses S. Grant
• Thomas Jefferson
• George Washington

Multiple Choice

What was the period and process called to readmit the former Confederate states to the Union, that lasted from 1865-1877?

• Rebellion
• Reconstruction
• Civil War
• Emancipation

Poll

How did you do?! Honestly select the range of questions you got correct.

Don't worry if you didn't get many. That is what you are here for!

• I got less than 5.

• I got 5 or more.

• I got 10 or more.

• I got 15 or more.

• I got 20 or more!

Open Ended

After answering all of these questions, which topics interested you the MOST?

(Please identify at least one topic from the questions you would like to learn more about.)