American History Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 76
Which Chief Justice chaired and gave his name to the commission that investigated JFK's assassination?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
earl warren
In 1917, all citizens of which island became naturalized citizens of the U.S.?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
puerto rico
In which city, known for its historical significance, did Betsy Ross develop her needlework skills during her school years?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
philadelphia
Who, a cousin of John Adams, represents Massachusetts in the National Statuary Hall collection?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
samuel adams
Who was the first lady whose great-granddaughter, Mary Ann Randolph Custis, married Robert E. Lee in 1831?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
martha washington
Which street did traders start meeting under a tree in 1792, leading to the establishment of the NYSE?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
wall street
What bell, first hung in the Pennsylvania state house in 1753, became a symbol of American independence?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
liberty bell
Which naturalist was arrested in 1846 for refusing to pay his poll tax while living by Walden Pond?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
henry david thoreau
What item did Nancy Reagan choose the design for, which was ivory edged in red and donated to the White House?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
china
Which state capital was the site of a surprise attack on December 7, 1941?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
honolulu
What is the name of the oldest existing third party in the United States, founded in 1869 to prevent the manufacture and sale of liquor?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
prohibition party
What did New Jerseyites disguised as Indians burn during the American Revolution, unlike Bostonians who dumped it in the harbor?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
tea
Who lay in state in 1972 in tribute to his 48 years as FBI director?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
j. edgar hoover
Which general, born into an aristocratic Virginia family and married to Martha Washington's great-granddaughter, played a significant role in the Civil War?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
robert e. lee
Which historical American symbol is said to have cracked in 1835 while tolling the death of John Marshall?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
liberty bell
Which document, issued after the Battle of Antietam, took effect on January 1, 1863?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
emancipation proclamation
During World War II, at which Kentucky military base was the Declaration of Independence stored for safekeeping?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
fort knox
What religious group turned right at Utah in 1860 to establish Idaho's first permanent settlement?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
mormons
Who was the father of William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, who led a division through the Petersburg Campaign during the Civil War?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
robert e. lee
What is the name of the Pilgrim document dated November 11, 1620 that begins, 'In the name of God, amen'?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
mayflower compact
Who held the position of Attorney General under both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
robert f. kennedy
In which city did Peyton Randolph bring the meetings of the Continental Congress to order when he served as the first president?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
philadelphia
In 1896, which state was admitted to the Union after renouncing polygamy, becoming the 45th state?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
utah
What crop's export from the South was shut down during the Civil War, causing massive unemployment in northern New England?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
cotton
Which historical figure is the subject of the museum on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
john f. kennedy
What 1848 discovery in California did Edward Beale bring news of to the east coast?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
gold
Which holiday was first observed nationally on the last Thursday in November 1863, during the Civil War?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
thanksgiving
Which U.S. state was a republic with Stephen Austin serving as Secretary of State, and its current capital is named after him?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
texas
Which famous street in Lower Manhattan got its name from a stockade built to protect the colony?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
wall street
Whose birth anniversary, on February 12, was made a holiday by the Illinois legislature in 1892?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
abraham lincoln
What was the name of the 1803 territorial acquisition that granted the United States free navigation of the Mississippi River?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
louisiana purchase
Who was the pamphleteer that Benjamin Franklin encouraged to move from England to America in 1774?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
thomas paine
What foundational document begins with the phrase, 'We the people of the United States, in order to form...'?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
constitution
Which pioneering American blazed the Wilderness Road in 1775?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
daniel boone
Who was the first Secretary of the Treasury who created the first Bank of the U.S. which opened in 1791?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
alexander hamilton
When Abraham Lincoln became President, the Union held three forts in Florida and which other fort in South Carolina?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
fort sumter
Which patriot was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
john hancock
Which first lady, overwhelmed by grief, did not attend her husband's burial on May 4, 1865?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
mary todd lincoln
In which event on December 16, 1773, did approximately 60 members of the Sons of Liberty dress as Indians?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
boston tea party
What was 'Publick Occurrences', the first of its kind, published in the American colonies in 1690 that lasted only one issue?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
newspaper
Which city in Louisiana was known as the 'Paris of America' during the 1800s?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
new orleans
Which state had the highest desertion rate in the Union Army during the Civil War, often referred to as 'bleeding' for its pre-war conflicts?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
kansas
Which state did the territory of Orleans become on April 30, 1812?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
louisiana
Which Pennsylvania city served as both the state capital and the national capital in 1779?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
philadelphia
In which state did the Gold Rush begin in 1858, about 10 years after it started in California?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
colorado
What valuable metal was discovered by James Marshall on the American River on January 24, 1848?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
gold
What animal raced the locomotive Tom Thumb in 1830 and won?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
horse
Who became the youngest governor in the U.S. in 1979 after serving as Arkansas attorney general?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
bill clinton
In which Pennsylvania city was the American Weekly Mercury, the first colonial newspaper outside Boston, established in 1719?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
philadelphia
What is the middle name of LBJ's daughter Lynda?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
bird
Which supremacist group did Confederate general Nathan Forrest lead as its first head after the Civil War?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
ku klux klan
In which state did the town of Leadville have 350 bartenders in 1879, roughly 1 for every 15 residents?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
colorado
In which city did John Adams defend British troops involved in the 1770 'Massacre'?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
boston
In 20th century America, how many days long was the work week that became generally accepted in the 1930s?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
5
Who told his Confederate troops to go home and resume their occupations after signing the surrender in the Civil War?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
robert e. lee
Which U.S. president's middle initial, 'S', was chosen to honor both of his grandfathers?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
harry s. truman
Which state's Dry Tortugas Islands, discovered by Ponce de Leon in 1513, are now a bird sanctuary?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
florida
What were the volunteers called who were ready to fight within 60 seconds during the Revolutionary War?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
minutemen
What $15 million purchase in the 19th century doubled the size of the United States?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
louisiana purchase
In which city did Andrew Jackson achieve a heroic defense that occurred after the signing of the War of 1812 peace treaty?
Very Easy
Click to reveal answer
new orleans
Page 1 of 2Next