Don't remember much about history? Here's a chance to quiz yourself on general American history.
CHUCK BLYSTONE / The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.) | Posted: Friday, July 3, 2009 12:00 am
As Americans, especially on important days in our country like today, we are often humbled by how many details of our history we've lost since we studied the Magna Carta and the Stamp Act. For example, an Intercollegiate Studies Institute survey found fewer than half of us can name the three branches of the federal government. Ouch.
Here's a chance to break that streak and get your holiday flag-waving off to a bold start.
The questions below are all covered in U.S. history classes - no obscure trivia or tricky questions to trip you up.
So sharpen your No. 2 pencils, stir some dormant brain cells, and let the fireworks begin.
(Answers are at the bottom.)
1. Who said, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death"?
2. Francis Scott Key wrote the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing a battle during what war?
3. We all know that Abraham Lincoln was our nation's 16th president. But after Lincoln was assassinated, who became the 17th president?
4. Which U.S. president ordered the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
5. Who was the commander in chief of the Continental Army that fought for American independence from Britain?
6. The proclamation that the Americas should be free from European interference and colonization attempts, delivered in 1823, was called what?
7. Who published "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1852 in response to the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act?
8. What famous speech begins with the words, "Four score and seven years ago…"?
9. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are known as what?
10. The Constitution was adopted at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in what year?
11. What are the five freedoms spelled out in the First Amendment?
12. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed government programs in 1933 that came to be known as what?
13. "Remember the Maine" refers to what?
14. The Scopes "Monkey Trial" focused on what topic?
15. The Dust Bowl, brought on by severe drought and questionable farming procedures, occurred in what decade?
16. What branch of government has the power to declare war?
17. The bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., was sparked by what woman's refusal to give up her bus seat for a white man?
18. The Civil War was fought during what decade?
19. Who is the only president to have written these words: "I hereby resign the office of president of the United States."
20. Which president declared a "War on Poverty"?
21. Finish this sentence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are…"
22. The preceding statement on truths is found in what document?
23. Which state became the nation's 50th in 1959?
24. Who was president of the Confederate States of America?
25. In 1803, the United States paid 60 million francs for land in a deal that provided for westward expansion. What was that called?
ANSWERS:
Answers
to July 4 quiz
From page D1
1. Patrick Henry
2. The War of 1812
3. Andrew Johnson
4. Harry Truman
5. George Washington
6. The Monroe Doctrine
7. Harriet Beecher Stowe
8. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
9. Bill of Rights
10. 1787
11. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to petition, freedom of assembly
12. The New Deal
13. The sinking of the U.S. Navy ship in 1898 that precipitated the Spanish-American War
14. Teaching evolution in the schools
15. The 1930s
16. Congress
17. Rosa Parks
18. 1860s
19. Richard Nixon
20. Lyndon Johnson
21. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
22. The Declaration of Independence
23. Hawaii
24. Jefferson Davis
25. The Louisiana Purchase