American History Quiz

Question 1

In which year did the United States declare independence?

Accepted Answer

1776

Answer

1774

Answer

1778

Answer

1781

Question 2

Who was the first President of the United States?

Accepted Answer

George Washington

Answer

John Adams

Answer

Benjamin Franklin

Answer

Thomas Jefferson

Question 3

What was the main cause of the American Civil War?

Accepted Answer

Slavery and states' rights

Answer

Taxation without representation

Answer

Territorial expansion westward

Answer

Economic rivalry between states

Question 4

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

Accepted Answer

Thomas Jefferson

Answer

George Washington

Answer

Benjamin Franklin

Answer

John Adams

Question 5

What was the Louisiana Purchase?

Accepted Answer

The US acquisition of 828,000 sq miles from France in 1803

Answer

The purchase of Louisiana state from France

Answer

A trade agreement with France

Answer

The purchase of New Orleans from Spain

Question 6

Which President issued the Emancipation Proclamation?

Accepted Answer

Abraham Lincoln

Answer

Ulysses S. Grant

Answer

Andrew Johnson

Answer

James Buchanan

Question 7

What event started the Great Depression?

Accepted Answer

The stock market crash of 1929

Answer

World War I ending

Answer

The drought of the 1930s

Answer

A banking collapse in 1928

Question 8

In which year did the United States enter World War I?

Accepted Answer

1917

Answer

1914

Answer

1915

Answer

1918

Question 9

What year did American astronauts first land on the moon?

Accepted Answer

1969

Answer

1967

Answer

1968

Answer

1971

Question 10

What was the name of the 1955 civil rights act that Rosa Parks helped spark?

Accepted Answer

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Answer

Selma to Montgomery March

Answer

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Answer

Freedom Rides

Question 11

Which US President served the longest term?

Accepted Answer

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answer

Abraham Lincoln

Answer

Woodrow Wilson

Answer

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Question 12

What was the significance of the 19th Amendment (1920)?

Accepted Answer

It gave women the right to vote

Answer

It abolished slavery

Answer

It established Prohibition

Answer

It allowed direct election of senators

Question 13

Which US President was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1963?

Accepted Answer

John F. Kennedy

Answer

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Answer

Lyndon B. Johnson

Answer

Richard Nixon

Question 14

What was the name of America's policy of supplying weapons to Britain before entering WWII?

Accepted Answer

Lend-Lease Act

Answer

Marshall Plan

Answer

Monroe Doctrine

Answer

Truman Doctrine

Question 15

What was Prohibition in the United States?

Accepted Answer

The ban on alcohol production and sale (1920-1933)

Answer

The ban on slavery

Answer

The ban on immigration

Answer

The ban on child labour

Question 16

Which event triggered America's involvement in the Vietnam War?

Accepted Answer

The Gulf of Tonkin incident

Answer

The Korean War ending

Answer

The communist takeover of China

Answer

The French withdrawal from Vietnam

Question 17

What was the Marshall Plan?

Accepted Answer

The US plan to rebuild Europe after WWII

Answer

A US military strategy in WWII

Answer

A civil rights plan by Thurgood Marshall

Answer

A post-war nuclear defence policy

Question 18

Which US state was the last to join the union?

Accepted Answer

Hawaii

Answer

Alaska

Answer

New Mexico

Answer

Arizona

Question 19

Who was the first African American President of the United States?

Accepted Answer

Barack Obama

Answer

Jesse Jackson

Answer

Colin Powell

Answer

Thurgood Marshall

Question 20

What was the name of the scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation?

Accepted Answer

Watergate

Answer

Iran-Contra

Answer

Teapot Dome

Answer

Whitewater