The British
Who was King of Great Britain at the time of the American Revolution?
King George III
What American, whose name is synonymous with "traitor," who served in the Continental Army with distinction for five years defected to the British side in 1780?
Benedict Arnold
James Naismith wrote the original rule book for what game after first developing it in Canada and then moving to the United States and founding a program for the game at the University of Kansas in 1898?
Basketball
What French aristocrat bought his own ship to travel to America to fight with George Washington’s army, was made a major general at 19 and participated in the siege of Yorktown that essentially ended the War for Independence?
Lafayette (1757–1834)
Marquis de La Fayette
What gold rush State's motto is "Eureka" (I have found it)?
California
Who was the British general that surrendered to George Washington after the Battle of Yorktown in 1781?
Lord Charles Cornwallis
In 1782, Massachusetts woman, Deborah Sampson (1760-1827), enlisted in the Continental Army, serving for 17 months disguised as what?
A man. She was found out when she required medical attention in 1783. She was honorably discharged and is the only woman to have received a pension for her service in the Army during the Revolutionary War.
Name one sport that is a purely American invention.
Volleyball, skateboarding, snowboarding, and Ultimate Frisbee.
Volleyball was created by William G. Morgan in 1895; Skateboarding emerged in the 1950s; Snowboarding developed in the 1960s and 1970s; Ultimate Frisbee developed in the late 1960s.
In October 1779, what Polish commander of American cavalry, who was possibly intersex, was fatally wounded while trying to take Savannah, GA, from the British who occupied that city?
Kazimierz Pułaski
What western State's motto is "Equal Rights"?
Wyoming (the first territory to give women the right to vote and to hold public office in 1869 and the first state to give women the right to vote in 1890)
Who was appointed Prime Minister to lead the government of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782, covering most of the period of the Revolutionary War?
Lord Frederick North
Which of the following is true of Haym Salomon, a Polish-born merchant who moved to New York in 1775 and supported the Revolution against Great Britain:
A) worked to raise money to fund the new United States,
B) as a member of the Sons of Liberty he was arrested multiple times by the British for espionage,
D) as an advocate for religious liberty, co-founded a Philadelphia synagogue and challenged discriminatory laws,
E) donated his entire fortune to the Continental Army and several Founding Fathers of the United States, dying penniless in Philadelphia in 1785,
F) All of the above.
F) All of the above.
Name one sport that had its origin in indigenous people in what is now part of the United States?
Lacrosse originated among the Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands and the Great Lakes regions of the United States.
Surfing was practiced in what is now Hawai'i since at least the start of the 12th century.
What former Prussian officer introduced European-style drills at Valley Forge, transforming the Continental Army of George Washington into a professional fighting force, and whose “Blue Book” manual left a lasting legacy on U.S. military practices?
Baron von Steuben
What maritime State's motto is "Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine" (Masculine deeds, feminine words)?
Maryland
Lord Dunmore's Proclamation of November 7, 1775, declared martial law in Virginia and promised freedom to enslaved individuals who did what?
Join the British Army to fight against the Americans in rebellion.
During the Revolution, who was the primary American agent in France who secured an alliance with France in 1778 and played a crucial role in the final peace in 1783?
Benjamin Franklin
The first collegiate rowing competition took place in 1852 between which two universities?
Yale and Harvard
What Polish engineer and military leader strengthened American fortifications, playing a significant role in the defense of key positions such as West Point?
Tadeusz Kościuszko
"Live free or die" is the motto of what State that was one of the original 13?
New Hampshire
What did the Americans call what they perceived to be horrific punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 to collectively punish Massachusetts colonists for the Boston Tea Party?
Intolerable Acts
Insufferable Acts
Coercive Acts
Lydia Darragh (1729-1789), a woman who crossed the lines during the British occupation of Philadelphia and warned George Washington of a pending British attack, was acting in what capacity?
An American spy
What was the first major professional baseball league established in the United States in 1876?
National League
What Bavarian-born officer in Washington's army was mortally wounded at the Battle of Camden in 1780, refusing to surrender until the end? (An Illinois county is named after him.)
Baron Johann de Kalb
"Sic Semper Tyrannis" (Thus always to tyrants) is the motto of which State that was one of the original 13?
Virginia