A NEW NATION
What year was the Declaration of Independence signed?
1776
In 1775, who did the second Continental Congress choose as the new military General of the Continental Army?
George Washington
Many politicians thought that the newly-written US constitution did not focus enough on the rights of the regular citizens. In response, James Madison composed 10 amendments to the Constitution which became known as what?
The Bill of Rights
As American settlers continued their western expansion in search of gold, silver, or furs to trade, they encountered large herds of what animal, which was sacred to many Native American tribes for its many useful resources?
American Bison (not actually buffalo but I'll give you credit anyway)
What was the major cause of the US Civil War?
Southern states seceding from the Union (also acceptable: Slavery)
What did they call the large Southern farms where enslaved Africans were forced to do work such as picking cotton?
Plantations
Which American forefather wrote the Declaration of Independence?
Thomas Jefferson
The United States most likely would have lost the Revolutionary War without essential help from this foreign country and their army?
France
To ensure that no one division of government wielded too much power, the political leaders decided that there should be three branches of government to provide a system of checks and balances. What are those 3 branches?
Legislative, Executive, Judicial
What contributed to more Native American deaths than any other factor?
Disease
In the midst of the Civil War, President Lincoln issued an executive order that freed slaves in the Confederate States. What is that executive order commonly known as?
The Emancipation Proclamation
What was England’s first permanent settlement in North America called? (hint: it was in modern-day Virginia)
Jamestown
Name one right that the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees all US citizens.
Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press, Right to Peaceably Assemble, Right to Petition the Government
Despite numerous treaties that the US signed with Native Americans, the US military eventually forced many native tribes to relocate to a designated Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma on a journey that would become to be known as this.
The Trail of Tears
The United States congress has two chambers (legislative bodies). Name them.
The House of Representatives, The Senate
What all-important animal did Europeans introduce to Native Americans?
The Horse
Name one of the two Generals, one from the Union and one from the Confederacy, who finally agreed to terms of surrender, thus ending the Civil War?
Robert E. Lee (Confederacy), Ulysses S. Grant (Union)
Before the British seized Manhattan Island and the surrounding area, which European nation was in control of New York?
The Netherlands (Holland)
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase, which effectively doubled the size of the United States. He selected two Army veterans to explore and chart the new land. What were the names of the pair of explorers?
Meriwether Lewis & William Clark (Lewis & Clark)
Only a few decades after the American Revolution, the US was back at war with Great Britain. What was the name of this war in which British troops set fire to the White House?
The War of 1812
Which branch of government interprets the laws and decides whether laws are constitutional?
The Judicial Branch (The Supreme Court)
Name a staple food item or crop that Europeans never encountered prior to crossing the Atlantic.
Potato, Tomato, Corn (maize), most Beans, Chocolate (cocoa), Tobacco, etc.
To the nearest hundred thousand, how many people died in the Civil War?
700,000
Which one of the following was NOT one of the original 13 US colonies: New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire?
Vermont
The number of representatives a state gets is directly proportional to that state’s population. Southern slave states wanted their slaves to be included in that count so they could get more representatives. A compromise was reached. What fraction of a person was each slave counted as for the purposes of calculating a state’s population?
Three-fifths
In 1783, representatives from the United States met in Europe with British leaders who finally recognized the USA’s independence. What was the name of the treaty that the two parties signed?
The Treaty of Paris
Which branch of government creates federal laws?
The Legislative Branch
Name any three Native American tribes which occupied America prior to European settlement.
Too many to write...some of the most well-known include:
Sioux, Comanche, Cherokee, Navajo, Apache, Pueblo, Hopi, Zuni, Cree, Creek, Dakota/Lakota, Canarsie, Shoshone, Wampanoag, Algonquian, Iroquois, Lanape, Winnebago, Inca, Aztec, Maya, Choctaw, Pawnee, Blackfeet, Nez Perce, etc...
What imaginary line that was created by surveyors in order to define the borders of two states, became symbolic of the division between the anti-slavery North, and the pro-slavery South in the lead-up to the Civil War?
The Mason-Dixon Line
Nicknamed the “Black Moses”, this woman and former slave was one of the main “conductors” on the Underground Railroad, which was a secret network of people who helped guide escaped slaves to freedom in the North.
Harriet Tubman