This explorer was seeking a more direct trade route to the East Indies when he made his big discovery.
Who was Christopher Columbus?
100
Complete this phrase from the Declaration of Independence: "Life, liberty, and _________."
What is the "pursuit of happiness?" (Property!)
100
He was an abolitionist that was to some a prophet, others a martyr, and many even considered him a terrorist.
Who was John Brown?
100
This was the first state to secede from the Union and where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
What is South Carolina?
100
This is the Constitutional Amendment that gave African-Americans citizenship and all others born in the United States.
What is the 14th Amendment?
200
This religious group left the Church of England for the New World in order to practice their faith.
Who were the Puritans / Pilgrims?
200
This event just before the Revolution started as a snowball fight, then a shouting match, and wound up with British soldiers firing on a crowd, killing several people.
What is the Boston Massacre?
200
This conflict earned the US territory from Texas to California and set the stage for the debate about whether this new land was going to be slave or free.
What was the Mexican-American War? (1846-1848)
200
Unpopular in the North and South, the only way to avoid this was to hire a replacement, pay $300, or have 20+ slaves.
What is the draft / conscription?
200
Known for their fierce desire for racial equality, these politicians gave their name to one of the major reconstruction plans.
Who were the "Radical" Republicans?
300
This immense "swap" of plants, animals, and diseases between the New World and the Old World changed the face of the Earth.
What was the Columbian Exchange?
300
He is most famous for writing the Declaration of Independence, but he was also our third president.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
300
As part of this court ruling, African-Americans were not only prevented from petitioning the courts for their rights, but were now not even considered citizens!
What is the Dred Scott Decision?
300
This advantage, along with a much stronger industrial base of factories and railroads, was one of the major reasons that the North had an edge at the beginning of the Civil War.
What is a larger population? (Over twice as many people in the North!)
300
Designed to lure the South back into the Union during the war, this reconstruction plan was considered far too easy on the South at the time.
What is Lincoln's "10 Percent" Plan?
400
Fought between England and France just before American independence, this is often considered the real "first world war" and left the British in control of most of North America.
What is the Seven Years' War? (1756 - 1763) (French & Indian War)
400
This "first draft" of the Constitution was later replaced because of all of its major flaws, including the inability to raise taxes or maintain a standing army.
What were the Articles of Confederation?
400
Part of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, this idea let each state decide for themselves whether or not they were slave or free.
What is popular sovereignty?
400
General Sherman waged this kind of war in the deep South, destroying cities, factories, and railroads on his famous "March to the Sea."
What is total war?
400
He was president after Lincoln and Johnson, though his administration was better known for corruption than for helping to further the cause of Reconstruction.
Who is Ulysses S. Grant?
500
Considered the main example of the system known as "mercantilism," these ensured that the colonists could only trade their goods with the British and no one else.
What were the Navigation Acts?
500
This system of governance allows for the sharing of power between local and national governments.
What is "federalism" / "federal" government?
500
One of the many compromises of this era, it allowed California to enter the Union as a free state, and included a clause known as the "Fugitive Slave Act."
What is the Compromise of 1850?
500
This "Border State" was famous for its southern boundary, which had been used previously to separate free states from slave states.
What is Missouri?
500
This legal case was decided after the end of Reconstruction and set the stage for "separate but equal" schools, railcars, and other public places in the South.