US History Quiz

In which year was the Declaration of Independence adopted?

• 1776
• 1783
• 1787
• 1791

Answer: 1776. The Continental Congress adopted it on 4 July 1776, now Independence Day. The war with Britain ended by treaty in 1783, and the Constitution was written in 1787.

Who wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence?

• Benjamin Franklin
• Thomas Jefferson
• John Adams
• James Madison

Answer: Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson drafted it for a committee of five that included Franklin and Adams, who suggested edits. Madison is known as the 'Father of the Constitution'.

From which country did the US buy the Louisiana Territory in 1803?

• Spain
• Britain
• France
• Mexico

Answer: France. Napoleon's France sold it for about 15 million dollars, roughly doubling the size of the US. President Jefferson then sent Lewis and Clark to explore the new land.

The US bought Alaska in 1867 from which country?

• Canada
• Britain
• Denmark
• Russia

Answer: Russia. Secretary of State William Seward paid Russia 7.2 million dollars. Critics mocked it as 'Seward's Folly', but gold and oil later proved its value.

Which of these was NOT one of the original Thirteen Colonies?

• Georgia
• New Hampshire
• Vermont
• Rhode Island

Answer: Vermont. Vermont joined the Union in 1791 as the 14th state. Georgia, New Hampshire and Rhode Island were all among the thirteen colonies that declared independence.

What was the first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607?

• Plymouth
• Jamestown
• Roanoke
• Boston

Answer: Jamestown. Jamestown, Virginia, survived despite famine and disease. Roanoke, settled in the 1580s, became the 'Lost Colony', and the Pilgrims reached Plymouth in 1620.

The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was a protest against which British law?

• The Stamp Act
• The Sugar Act
• The Quartering Act
• The Tea Act

Answer: The Tea Act. Colonists dumped 342 chests of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor, angry at taxation without representation. Britain hit back with harsh laws the colonists called the Intolerable Acts.

Which state was the first to ratify the US Constitution, in December 1787?

• Delaware
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia
• Massachusetts

Answer: Delaware. Delaware ratified on 7 December 1787, which is why it is nicknamed 'The First State'. Pennsylvania followed five days later.

Which city was the first capital of the US under the Constitution?

• Philadelphia
• Boston
• New York City
• Baltimore

Answer: New York City. George Washington was sworn in at Federal Hall in New York in 1789. The capital moved to Philadelphia in 1790 and to Washington, D.C. in 1800.

Which amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery in the United States?

• 13th
• 14th
• 15th
• 19th

Answer: 13th. The 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865, after the Civil War. The 14th guaranteed citizenship and equal protection, and the 15th banned denying the vote on grounds of race.

During which war did Abraham Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address?

• The War of 1812
• The Civil War
• The Mexican-American War
• The Spanish-American War

Answer: The Civil War. Lincoln spoke in November 1863 at a cemetery for soldiers killed at Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. The speech is only about 270 words long.

Where was the 'golden spike' driven to complete the first transcontinental railroad in 1869?

• Omaha, Nebraska
• Promontory Summit, Utah
• Sacramento, California
• Denver, Colorado

Answer: Promontory Summit, Utah. The Union Pacific and Central Pacific lines met at Promontory Summit on 10 May 1869. A coast-to-coast journey that took months by wagon now took about a week.

In 1920, the 19th Amendment gave American women which right?

• To own property
• To serve in Congress
• To vote
• To attend university

Answer: To vote. The 19th Amendment barred states from denying the vote on account of sex. Jeannette Rankin had already been elected to Congress in 1916, before women could vote nationwide.

What did the Supreme Court rule in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?

• Segregated public schools are unconstitutional
• Women may serve on juries
• Arrested people must be read their rights
• States must recognise each other's laws

Answer: Segregated public schools are unconstitutional. The court unanimously ruled that 'separate but equal' schools violate the 14th Amendment, rejecting the doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) in public education. It became a turning point for the civil rights movement.

Which President resigned in 1974 because of the Watergate scandal?

• Lyndon B. Johnson
• Gerald Ford
• Jimmy Carter
• Richard Nixon

Answer: Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974, the only US President ever to do so. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, took over and later pardoned him.