American History Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 59
Which Indian tribe's 2nd war continued for nearly 6 years after the 1837 capture of Osceola?
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seminole
Which general became the president of Washington College in Virginia in 1865?
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robert e. lee
Which American colony was governed by the Calvert family for much of the time between 1632 and the Revolutionary War?
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maryland
Which country did the United States purchase the Virgin Islands from 50 years after acquiring Alaska from Russia?
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denmark
In which town did Wild Bill Hickok play cards for the last time?
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deadwood, south dakota
Which late California governor and U.S. Chief Justice was honored on a postage stamp in 1992?
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earl warren
Who graduated from the University of Texas in 1934 and later became a First Lady of the United States?
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lady bird johnson
Which present-day state capital was founded by Dutch settlers as Fort Orange in 1624?
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albany, new york
What body of water did fur trapper and scout Jim Bridger discover in late 1824?
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great salt lake
What did the initials 'N.E.' stand for on the first American coins made in 1652?
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new england
Which program did U.S. Army General Leslie Groves oversee that was focused on building the atom bomb?
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manhattan project
Who was rejected as a nominee to the Supreme Court in 1987, leading to Anthony Kennedy filling Powell's seat?
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robert bork
What institution was abolished by the 13th Amendment, commemorated by National Freedom Day observed on February 1?
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slavery
In which U.S. state did a violent ghost called the Bell Witch allegedly murder John Bell in 1820?
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tennessee
Which Native American tribe agreed to move west in exchange for $5 million and 7 million acres as part of the Treaty of New Echota?
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cherokee
Which American scientist, known as the 'Father of the Atomic Bomb,' had his security clearance revoked in 1954?
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j. robert oppenheimer
In which U.S. state can you visit the museum and home of Alex Haley, known as the 'Volunteer State'?
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tennessee
In which U.S. state did the Penobscot Indians, who first encountered Europeans in the early 1500s, reside?
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maine
In which state can you visit Red Hill, the final home and burial site of Patrick Henry, located near Brookneal?
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virginia
Which commodity's destruction on December 16, 1773, led the Massachusetts Bay Colony government to relocate to Salem?
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tea
From which colony did Nathan Hale originate?
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connecticut
What state had its eastern part formed into a separate state called Franklin from 1784 to 1788?
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tennessee
Which Apache leader died at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on February 17, 1909?
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geronimo
Who was the Virginia-born chief justice that presided over the treason trial of Aaron Burr?
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john marshall
Despite her first name, Virginia Dare was born on Roanoke Island, which is now part of what state?
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north carolina
Who led the 1786 rebellion that highlighted the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation due to a lack of a strong central government?
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daniel shays
Which area, that became a national historical park under President Ford, is known for the Continental army's cold reception?
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valley forge
Who famously refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955, helping to launch the civil rights movement?
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rosa parks
On what date did the previous change to the American flag occur prior to the update on July 4, 1960?
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1959
In which city was the first library to circulate books in what is now the United States founded in 1731?
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philadelphia
What historical agreement, signed in 1803, is now commemorated in a cabildo that is part of the Louisiana State Museum?
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louisiana purchase
From which region did the Cajuns migrate to Louisiana?
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nova scotia
What 1820 compromise involved the term 'Mason & Dixon's Line' during its debate?
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missouri compromise
Which U.S. state first ceded Tennessee to the U.S. in 1784, then reclaimed it and ceded it again in 1789?
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north carolina
In the 1870s, 19 members of which Irish-American terrorist society active in Pennsylvania were hanged?
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molly maguires
Which renowned sharpshooter is the focus of the musical 'Annie Get Your Gun'?
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annie oakley
What is the name of the 'Swamp Fox' who fought the British in the area and has a South Carolina national forest named after him?
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francis marion
Who was the second cousin of the United States' second president and helped found the Sons of Liberty?
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samuel adams
Which U.S. state was nicknamed 'Bleeding' before the Civil War due to the violent clashes over slavery?
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kansas
How many stars did the flag of the Confederacy have despite only 11 states actually joining it?
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13
What 1857 Supreme Court decision did Lincoln denounce as part of a pro-slavery conspiracy?
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dred scott
Which soldier and frontiersman secured significant victories over the British in the Northwest Territory?
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george rogers clark
Who was elected the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629?
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john winthrop
Who was the oldest of the Younger brothers and first rode with Frank James in Quantrill's Raiders during the Civil War?
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cole younger
In which territory did George Rogers Clark help the U.S. gain that included present-day Michigan and Ohio during the Revolutionary War?
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northwest territory
In which capital city were the Confederate States of America founded on February 4, 1861?
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montgomery, alabama
What is the name of the series of 85 essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay that urged the ratification of the Constitution?
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federalist papers
Who was the founder of both Savannah and the colony of Georgia?
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james oglethorpe
Which Civil War general stated, 'War is cruelty and you cannot refine it'?
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william tecumseh sherman
In which islands did an insurrection occur after the U.S. purchased them from Spain in 1898?
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philippines
Who was the first English child born in the Americas, whose grandfather was Gov. John White of North Carolina?
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virginia dare
Which New England state's constitution, adopted in 1777 when it was a republic, became the first in the United States to prohibit slavery?
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vermont
In which city did John Carroll become the first American Roman Catholic bishop in 1790?
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baltimore
How many amendments does the U.S. Constitution have?
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26
Who was the New Yorker responsible for writing at least 50 of the 85 'Federalist Papers'?
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alexander hamilton
Which university in Providence is named for a son of a merchant family that profited from supplies and shipping during the Revolutionary War?
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brown
Who was the head of intelligence under Gen. McClellan and later returned to his detective agency after the Civil War?
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allan pinkerton
In 1798, Robert Goodloe Harper declared, 'Millions for defense, but not one cent for' what?
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tribute
Which state, known as the 'Nutmeg State', became the last of the original 13 states to ratify the Bill of Rights on April 19, 1939?
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connecticut
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