US History Trivia Questions and Answers

⛵What was the first permanent English settlement in North America?

Choices: Jamestown · Boston · Salem · Plymouth

Answer: Jamestown

It began in Virginia in 1607, thirteen years before the Pilgrims came. It was named for King James I. Source

🚢Which ship carried the Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620?

Choices: The Godspeed · The Santa Maria · The Half Moon · The Mayflower

Answer: The Mayflower

The trip across the Atlantic took about ten weeks. About 100 passengers were on board. Source

🌽Which Native nation shared the 1621 harvest feast with the Pilgrims?

Choices: The Wampanoag · The Lakota · The Cherokee · The Apache

Answer: The Wampanoag

About 90 Wampanoag men came with their leader, Massasoit. They brought deer meat to the meal. Source

🌷What was New York City called when it was a Dutch town?

Choices: New Sweden · Fort Orange · New Amsterdam · New Haven

Answer: New Amsterdam

The English took it in 1664. They renamed it New York, after the Duke of York. Source

🍂Which crop finally made money for the Jamestown colony?

Choices: Wheat · Rice · Cotton · Tobacco

Answer: Tobacco

John Rolfe began growing it around 1612. It sold well in England and kept the colony going. Source

👑Pocahontas was the daughter of which leader?

Choices: Powhatan · Massasoit · Pontiac · Tecumseh

Answer: Powhatan

Her father led many tribes in what is now Virginia. Her birth name was Amonute. Source

🌲Who founded the colony of Pennsylvania?

Choices: James Oglethorpe · Roger Williams · William Penn · John Winthrop

Answer: William Penn

The king gave him the land in 1681. Penn wanted a safe home for Quakers and freedom of religion. Source

❓Which English colony disappeared and is called the Lost Colony?

Choices: New Haven · Plymouth · Roanoke · Massachusetts Bay

Answer: Roanoke

When John White came back in 1590, the colonists were gone. No one knows for sure what happened. Source

🏰What is the oldest European-founded city in the continental US?

Choices: Plymouth, Massachusetts · Santa Fe, New Mexico · St. Augustine, Florida · Jamestown, Virginia

Answer: St. Augustine, Florida

Spain founded it in 1565, 42 years before Jamestown. People have lived there ever since. Source

🤝How many nations first formed the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy?

Choices: Seven · Three · Five · Twelve

Answer: Five

They were the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. The Tuscarora joined in 1722. Source

☕What did colonists dump into Boston Harbor in December 1773?

Choices: Tea · Coffee · Sugar · Molasses

Answer: Tea

They threw 342 chests into the water. It was a protest against a British tax and the Tea Act. Source

🐎A famous Longfellow poem tells about whose midnight ride in 1775?

Choices: Ethan Allen · John Hancock · Nathan Hale · Paul Revere

Answer: Paul Revere

He rode to Lexington to warn that British troops were coming. Other riders went that night too. Source

🎖️Who became commander of the Continental Army in 1775?

Choices: Benedict Arnold · John Adams · George Washington · Nathanael Greene

Answer: George Washington

The Continental Congress chose him by a vote of all members. He led the army for the whole war. Source

💥Where did the first fighting of the Revolution happen in April 1775?

Choices: Yorktown, Virginia · Lexington, Massachusetts · Saratoga, New York · Trenton, New Jersey

Answer: Lexington, Massachusetts

Local militia met British soldiers on the town green on April 19. Fighting at Concord came later that day. Source

🏳️Where did British General Cornwallis surrender in 1781?

Choices: Yorktown · Saratoga · Brandywine · Trenton

Answer: Yorktown

American and French forces trapped his army in Virginia. After that, the big battles of the war ended. Source

🤝Which country signed a treaty of alliance with the US in 1778?

Choices: Prussia · Spain · France · Portugal

Answer: France

Benjamin Franklin helped sign it in Paris. French ships and soldiers later helped win at Yorktown. Source

📄Who wrote the 1776 pamphlet Common Sense?

Choices: Thomas Paine · Benjamin Franklin · Samuel Adams · Patrick Henry

Answer: Thomas Paine

It argued for breaking away from the king. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies in its first year. Source

✍️Which treaty ended the Revolutionary War in 1783?

Choices: The Treaty of Paris · The Treaty of Versailles · The Treaty of Ghent · The Treaty of Utrecht

Answer: The Treaty of Paris

In it, Britain accepted American independence. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay made the deal. Source

❄️Where did Washington's army camp in the winter of 1777–78?

Choices: Yorktown · Morristown · Valley Forge · West Point

Answer: Valley Forge

Soldiers built log huts near Philadelphia. Baron von Steuben trained them there, and they left a stronger army. Source

🥁Which woman served in the Continental Army dressed as a man?

Choices: Abigail Adams · Mercy Otis Warren · Martha Washington · Deborah Sampson

Answer: Deborah Sampson

She joined under the name Robert Shurtleff. Her secret came out when she fell ill with a fever. Source

💵Which founder's face is on the $100 bill?

Choices: Alexander Hamilton · John Adams · Benjamin Franklin · Thomas Jefferson

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

His picture has been on the $100 note since 1914. He was never president. Source

🗽In which city did George Washington first take the oath as president?

Choices: Philadelphia · Boston · Baltimore · New York City

Answer: New York City

It was April 30, 1789, on a balcony of Federal Hall. Washington, D.C. did not exist yet. Source

🏛️Whose home was Monticello in Virginia?

Choices: James Monroe · George Washington · Thomas Jefferson · James Madison

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

He designed it himself and kept changing it for more than 40 years. It is now a World Heritage Site. Source

📜Where can you see the original Constitution today?

Choices: The Smithsonian · Independence Hall · The National Archives · The Library of Congress

Answer: The National Archives

It is in the Rotunda in Washington, D.C., next to the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Source

🥇Which state was the first to approve the Constitution?

Choices: Pennsylvania · Delaware · Massachusetts · Virginia

Answer: Delaware

It voted yes on December 7, 1787. That is why it is called the First State. Source

🕊️Which two founders died on the same day, July 4, 1826?

Choices: Washington and Franklin · Hamilton and Burr · Adams and Jefferson · Madison and Jay

Answer: Adams and Jefferson

It was exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted. They died only hours apart. Source

📃What was the first constitution of the United States called?

Choices: The Federalist Papers · The Articles of Confederation · The Bill of Rights · The Mayflower Compact

Answer: The Articles of Confederation

It made a weak national government with no president. The Constitution replaced it in 1789. Source

🏠Who was the first president to live in the White House?

Choices: James Madison · George Washington · John Adams · Thomas Jefferson

Answer: John Adams

He moved in during November 1800, before the house was finished. Washington never lived there. Source

🔢How many states had to approve the Constitution for it to start?

Choices: Thirteen · Nine · Eleven · Seven

Answer: Nine

New Hampshire was number nine, in June 1788. The new government started in 1789. Source

🚫Which state sent no delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention?

Choices: Rhode Island · Georgia · Connecticut · Maryland

Answer: Rhode Island

It wanted a weak central government. It was also the last of the 13 states to approve the Constitution, in 1790. Source

🧭Who led the 1804 expedition west together with William Clark?

Choices: Kit Carson · Meriwether Lewis · Zebulon Pike · Daniel Boone

Answer: Meriwether Lewis

President Jefferson sent them to map the Missouri River and find a way to the Pacific. Source

⛏️Gold found at Sutter's Mill in 1848 started a rush to where?

Choices: California · Alaska · Nevada · Colorado

Answer: California

James Marshall found it while building a sawmill. Hundreds of thousands of people came looking for gold. Source

🏔️From which country did the US buy Alaska in 1867?

Choices: Britain · France · Spain · Russia

Answer: Russia

The price was $7.2 million. Many people laughed and called it Seward's Folly, after the Secretary of State. Source

⭐Which state was an independent republic before joining the US in 1845?

Choices: Kansas · Utah · Oregon · Texas

Answer: Texas

It declared independence from Mexico in 1836. For nine years it had its own president and flag. Source

🚂In what year was the first transcontinental railroad finished?

Choices: 1859 · 1849 · 1869 · 1889

Answer: 1869

Two lines met at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10. A telegraph sent one word across the country: DONE. Source

📜Which president signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830?

Choices: Andrew Jackson · Thomas Jefferson · James Monroe · John Quincy Adams

Answer: Andrew Jackson

The law pushed Native nations to leave their homelands for land west of the Mississippi. It led to the Trail of Tears. Source

🌾How much land did the 1862 Homestead Act offer a settler?

Choices: 160 acres · 1,000 acres · 40 acres · 640 acres

Answer: 160 acres

Settlers paid a small fee and had to live on the land and farm it for five years. Source

🛶The Erie Canal linked Lake Erie to which river?

Choices: The Hudson River · The Potomac River · The Mississippi River · The Ohio River

Answer: The Hudson River

It opened in 1825 and ran from Buffalo to Albany. Boats could then carry goods from the Great Lakes to New York City. Source

🎆Francis Scott Key's 1814 poem was about the attack on which fort?

Choices: Fort McHenry · Fort Knox · Fort Niagara · Fort Ticonderoga

Answer: Fort McHenry

He saw the flag still flying over the fort in Baltimore at dawn. His poem became The Star-Spangled Banner. Source

🏇About how long did the Pony Express carry mail?

Choices: About 10 years · About 5 years · About 3 months · About 18 months

Answer: About 18 months

It ran from April 1860 to October 1861. The new telegraph line across the country made it unneeded. Source

🏛️Who was the president of the Confederate States?

Choices: Stonewall Jackson · Jefferson Davis · John C. Calhoun · Robert E. Lee

Answer: Jefferson Davis

He had been a US senator from Mississippi. He was the only president the Confederacy ever had. Source

💥Where were the first shots of the Civil War fired in April 1861?

Choices: Fort Monroe · Fort Ticonderoga · Fort Sumter · Fort McHenry

Answer: Fort Sumter

Confederate guns fired on the fort in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The Union soldiers gave up the next day. Source

🎩Which Lincoln speech begins with "Four score and seven years ago"?

Choices: The Gettysburg Address · The House Divided speech · The Cooper Union speech · The Second Inaugural Address

Answer: The Gettysburg Address

He gave it in November 1863 at a new national cemetery. The main speaker talked for two hours; Lincoln spoke for a few minutes. Source

⭐Which Union general later became the 18th president?

Choices: George McClellan · Ulysses S. Grant · William T. Sherman · George Meade

Answer: Ulysses S. Grant

Lincoln put him in charge of all Union armies in 1864. He served two terms as president, from 1869 to 1877. Source

🏳️Where did Robert E. Lee surrender to Grant in April 1865?

Choices: Gettysburg · Appomattox Court House · Richmond · Petersburg

Answer: Appomattox Court House

They met in the parlor of the McLean family's house in Virginia. Lee's soldiers were allowed to go home. Source

🌟Which Underground Railroad leader was called "Moses"?

Choices: Frederick Douglass · Harriet Tubman · Ida B. Wells · Sojourner Truth

Answer: Harriet Tubman

She escaped slavery herself, then went back about 13 times to lead others to freedom. Source

📖Who wrote the 1852 antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin?

Choices: Emily Dickinson · Harriet Beecher Stowe · Louisa May Alcott · Mark Twain

Answer: Harriet Beecher Stowe

It became a best seller in the US and Britain. It turned many Northern readers against slavery. Source

🎉Juneteenth remembers a freedom order read in which city in 1865?

Choices: Charleston, South Carolina · Savannah, Georgia · Galveston, Texas · Richmond, Virginia

Answer: Galveston, Texas

On June 19, General Gordon Granger announced that all enslaved people in Texas were free. Source

⛰️Which state was formed from part of Virginia during the war?

Choices: West Virginia · Maryland · Tennessee · Kentucky

Answer: West Virginia

Its people stayed loyal to the Union. It became the 35th state on June 20, 1863. Source

🩹Which Civil War nurse founded the American Red Cross in 1881?

Choices: Clara Barton · Louisa May Alcott · Dorothea Dix · Mary Todd Lincoln

Answer: Clara Barton

During the war she brought supplies to the battlefield and cared for wounded soldiers. She led the Red Cross until 1904. Source

✈️Who made the first controlled, powered airplane flights in 1903?

Choices: The Dodge brothers · The Mayo brothers · The Wright brothers · The Lumière brothers

Answer: The Wright brothers

Orville flew first, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. That flight lasted about 12 seconds. Source

☎️Who got the first US patent for the telephone, in 1876?

Choices: Samuel Morse · Alexander Graham Bell · Nikola Tesla · Thomas Edison

Answer: Alexander Graham Bell

The patent was granted on March 7. Three days later he made his famous call to his helper, Watson. Source

🚗Which carmaker sold the Model T, starting in 1908?

Choices: Cadillac · Dodge · Ford · Chevrolet

Answer: Ford

Henry Ford wanted a car that ordinary families could buy. Over 15 million were made. Source

🧸The teddy bear is named after which president?

Choices: William Howard Taft · William McKinley · Theodore Roosevelt · Woodrow Wilson

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

In 1902 he refused to shoot a tied-up bear. A newspaper cartoon about it inspired a toy maker. Source

🧳Which island in New York Harbor became an immigration station in 1892?

Choices: Angel Island · Governors Island · Ellis Island · Staten Island

Answer: Ellis Island

The first person checked in was Annie Moore, 17, from Ireland. Over 12 million people came through. Source

📡Who sent the telegraph message "What hath God wrought" in 1844?

Choices: Cyrus Field · Alexander Graham Bell · Samuel Morse · Thomas Edison

Answer: Samuel Morse

He sent it from the US Capitol in Washington to Baltimore. The words come from the Bible. Source

🌊Which canal opened in 1914, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans?

Choices: The Panama Canal · The Kiel Canal · The Erie Canal · The Suez Canal

Answer: The Panama Canal

The US built it over about ten years. Ships no longer had to sail around South America. Source

🕊️Who was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize?

Choices: Helen Keller · Jane Addams · Eleanor Roosevelt · Clara Barton

Answer: Jane Addams

She won in 1931. She started Hull House in Chicago, a center that helped poor families and immigrants. Source

⏱️Ford's 1913 assembly line cut a 12-hour job to about how long?

Choices: About 6 hours · About 9 hours · About 10 minutes · About 90 minutes

Answer: About 90 minutes

Work that took 12.5 hours now took 93 minutes. Cars got much cheaper. Source

🗳️Who was the first woman elected to the US Congress?

Choices: Alice Paul · Carrie Chapman Catt · Susan B. Anthony · Jeannette Rankin

Answer: Jeannette Rankin

Montana elected her in 1916, four years before women everywhere in the US could vote. Source

🏗️Which president's programs were called the New Deal?

Choices: Harry Truman · Herbert Hoover · Franklin D. Roosevelt · Woodrow Wilson

Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt

It began in 1933 with relief, jobs and new bank rules. The aim was to fight the Great Depression. Source

⚓Pearl Harbor is in which present-day state?

Choices: California · Hawaii · Washington · Alaska

Answer: Hawaii

It is on the island of Oahu. Hawaii was still a US territory when Japan attacked on December 7, 1941. Source

💪Which wartime symbol stood for women working in factories?

Choices: Lady Liberty · Betty Crocker · Rosie the Riveter · Uncle Sam

Answer: Rosie the Riveter

She started as a 1942 song. Millions of real women built ships, planes and weapons during World War II. Source

🍺From 1920 to 1933, Prohibition banned the sale of what?

Choices: Alcohol · Sugar · Tobacco · Coffee

Answer: Alcohol

The 18th Amendment started it. The 21st Amendment ended it, the only amendment ever fully undone. Source

🌪️What name was given to the Great Plains area hit by 1930s dust storms?

Choices: The Corn Belt · The Rust Belt · The Sun Belt · The Dust Bowl

Answer: The Dust Bowl

Drought and too much plowing let the wind carry the soil away. About 2.5 million people left the area. Source

📻What were President Roosevelt's radio talks to the nation called?

Choices: Front porch talks · Fireside chats · Town hall meetings · Morning briefings

Answer: Fireside chats

The first one, in March 1933, was about the banks. He spoke as if he were sitting in people's homes. Source

🎖️Which American general led the D-Day invasion in 1944?

Choices: George Patton · Douglas MacArthur · George Marshall · Dwight D. Eisenhower

Answer: Dwight D. Eisenhower

He was the Supreme Allied Commander. He decided to go ahead even though the weather was uncertain. Source

📅In what year did the US enter World War I?

Choices: 1917 · 1918 · 1915 · 1914

Answer: 1917

Congress declared war on Germany on April 6. The war in Europe had started in 1914. Source

📻The Marines' famous World War II code talkers spoke which language?

Choices: Navajo · Cherokee · Mohawk · Seminole

Answer: Navajo

The Marines first recruited 29 Navajo men. The enemy never broke their code. Source

👩‍💼Who was the first woman in a president's Cabinet?

Choices: Frances Perkins · Jeannette Rankin · Edith Wilson · Eleanor Roosevelt

Answer: Frances Perkins

She became Secretary of Labor in 1933 and served 12 years. She helped create Social Security. Source

🚌Who refused to give up her Montgomery bus seat in December 1955?

Choices: Sojourner Truth · Ruby Bridges · Rosa Parks · Coretta Scott King

Answer: Rosa Parks

Her arrest started the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted over a year. She was a longtime activist. Source

🌕In what year did Neil Armstrong first walk on the Moon?

Choices: 1961 · 1965 · 1972 · 1969

Answer: 1969

It was July 20, on the Apollo 11 mission. Buzz Aldrin joined him on the surface soon after. Source

🎤Where did Martin Luther King Jr. give his "I Have a Dream" speech?

Choices: The Jefferson Memorial · The Lincoln Memorial · The Washington Monument · The U.S. Capitol

Answer: The Lincoln Memorial

He spoke from its steps at the 1963 March on Washington. The spot where he stood is marked in the stone. Source

🚀Who was the first American woman in space, in 1983?

Choices: Eileen Collins · Mae Jemison · Amelia Earhart · Sally Ride

Answer: Sally Ride

She flew on the space shuttle Challenger. She used the shuttle's robot arm to release and catch a satellite. Source

⚾Who broke baseball's color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947?

Choices: Willie Mays · Hank Aaron · Roberto Clemente · Jackie Robinson

Answer: Jackie Robinson

He wore number 42 and won Rookie of the Year. In 1997 all of Major League Baseball retired that number. Source

🏫Which 1954 Supreme Court case ruled school segregation unconstitutional?

Choices: Marbury v. Madison · Brown v. Board of Education · Miranda v. Arizona · Plessy v. Ferguson

Answer: Brown v. Board of Education

All nine justices agreed. They said separate schools for Black and white children can never be equal. Source

🗳️Which 1965 law stopped unfair voting tests in many Southern states?

Choices: The Social Security Act · The Voting Rights Act · The Fair Housing Act · The Equal Pay Act

Answer: The Voting Rights Act

President Lyndon Johnson signed it in August 1965. It stopped reading tests for voters in states that used them to keep Black citizens from voting. Source

⚖️Who was the first woman on the US Supreme Court?

Choices: Geraldine Ferraro · Shirley Chisholm · Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Sandra Day O'Connor

Answer: Sandra Day O'Connor

The Senate approved her in 1981 with no votes against. She served for almost 25 years. Source

🌺Which two states joined the US in 1959?

Choices: Oklahoma and Utah · Washington and Montana · Alaska and Hawaii · Arizona and New Mexico

Answer: Alaska and Hawaii

Alaska became the 49th state in January, and Hawaii became the 50th in August. Source

👨‍⚖️Who was the first African American justice on the Supreme Court?

Choices: Thurgood Marshall · John Lewis · Charles Hamilton Houston · Ralph Bunche

Answer: Thurgood Marshall

He joined the Court in 1967. Years before, he won Brown v. Board of Education as a lawyer. Source