Colonial Sense: Regional History: Trivia Challenge

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Trivia Challenge
BETA VERSION 1.0

Welcome to the Colonial Sense Trivia Challenge!

There are ten categories, each dealing with a specific time period of early American history. Simply select a category from the drop-down menu and your quiz will appear.

Each quiz is comprised of ten randomly selected questions from our trivia storehouse. The questions -- and possible answers -- are randomized as well. Select your answer by clicking in the radio button. When you're finished, you can see how well you scored.

Notes:

All questions must be answered to obtain a score, which is presented with a rating and award.
Refresh the page in your browser to generate a new set of quizzes (in all categories)
Correct answers to wrongly-answered questions are not given...go do some studying and come back when you've discovered what you missed...
After you've scored yourself, you can reset the current quizzes so others can take the same quiz
A future feature we may add will be to track the correct answers (if you're logged in as a member) and only present questions you haven't answered yet.
Some categories have more or less questions than others, so you may well see the same questions popping up repeatedly in certain categories...but we're adding new questions on a weekly basis, so this issue should gradually go away.

Enjoy...and good luck!

Select Topic for Trivia Quiz:

Quiz for (1492-1618) Pre-Jamestown:

1) Founded in 1570, The Ajacan Mission failed the next year. Near what is the present day location?

Jacksonville, FL

Charleston, SC

Jamestown, VA

Raleigh, NC

2) In 1526, Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón founded the colony San Miguel de Guadalupe The colony only lasted a short while before disintegrating. It was also notable for perhaps being the first instance of African slave labor within the present boundaries of the United States. What is the approximate present day location?

Georgia or South Carolina

Florida or Alabama

Virginia or North Carolina

Georgia or Florida

3) In 1567, Fort San Juan was established but was destroyed by local American Indians 18 months later. What is the present day location?

North Carolina

Tennessee

South Carolina

Florida

4) The Pilgrims were brought together by a common belief in the ideas promoted by the parson at All Saints' Parish Church in Babworth, East Retford, Nottinghamshire, between 1586 and 1605. Who was the parson?

Charles Connors

Frederick Pilgrim

Robert Bacon

Richard Clyfton

5) Who founds the first Spanish settlement, San Juan de los Caballeros, in New Mexico on July 11, 1598?

Manuel del Toro

Richardo del Celia

Pueblo de Tesuque

Juan de Onate

6) In 1528, Pánfilo de Narváez attempted to start a colony in the New World. The Narváez expedition ended in disaster with only four members making it to Mexico in 1536. What is the present day location?

Florida

Louisiana

Tennessee

Mississippi

7) Founded in 1607, the Popham Colony was a short-lived English colonial settlement located near the mouth of the Kennebec River by the proprietary Virginia Company of Plymouth. What is the present day location?

Atlantic City, NJ

Ocean City, MD

Boston, MA

Phippsburg, ME

8) In 1562, a small group of French troops were left in the New World to build Charlesfort, but left after a year when they were not resupplied from France. What is the present day location?

Nantucket, ME

Ottawa, Ontario

Manhattan Island, NY

Parris Island, SC

9) In 1564, Fort Caroline was established. It lasted only a year before being destroyed by the Spanish from St. Augustine. What is the present day location?

Tampa, FL

Savannah, GA

Charleston, SC

Jacksonville, FL

10) In 1559, the Spanish Colony of Pensacola in West Florida was destroyed by a hurricane.

True

False

Quiz for (1619-1701) Early Colonies:

1) People of what European country first settled New York?

Spain

Sweden

Netherlands

France

2) The first accusation of witchcraft at Plymouth Colony in 1661 never went to trial. Whom was the accused?

Goodwife Minehart

Goodwife Holmes

Mary Ingram

Sally Reynolds

3) What was the largest source of wealth for Plymouth Colony?

Fur trade

Coal mining

Cattle ranching

Agriculture

4) Anne Hutchinson was a famous woman at the time when colonies in the New England area were being created. What was she known for?

Helping Pocahontas.

Founding the colony of Maine.

Expressing her opinions and saying that God spoke to her.

Being a government official in Boston.

5) Of the 13 original colonies, which was first settled as a penal colony?

Delaware

New Hampshire

Georgia

Rhode Island

6) The Pilgrim's charter was granted with the king's condition that the group's religion would not receive official recognition. When was the agreement reached?

June 19, 1619

June 29, 1619

July 4, 1620

July 4, 1619

7) The Mayflower was the famous ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from Southampton, England. When did the Mayflower leave Southampton?

September 6, 1620

September 16, 1620

September 26, 1620

September 6, 1621

8) What was the official date of the proclamation ending the existence of Plymouth Colony?

October 7, 1693

October 27, 1692

October 27, 1694

October 17, 1691

9) What was the Mayflower's original destination?

Hudson River

Jamestown

Cape Cod

Charleston

10) One of the primary founders of which of the 13 colonies was female?

Maryland

Georgia

Rhode Island

North Carolina

Quiz for (1702-13) Queen Anne's War:

1) Queen Anne's War ended in what year?

1831

1731

1713

1631

2) At the start of Queen Anne's War, in response to Spanish attacks, 500 English soldiers and militia along with 300 Indians captured and burned a town in the Spanish province of Florida. What was the town in Florida that the British attacked?

Tampa

Daytona

St. Augustine

Miami

3) During Queen Anne's War, the French were opposed to attacking the Province of New York because they were reluctant to arouse an American Indian tribe, whom they feared more than the British. Whom did the French fear?

Iroquois

Mohawk

Apache

Sioux

4) 8) When is the town of Alburquerque, named for the viceroy of New Spain, the Duke of Alburquerque, founded?

1706

1712

1708

1710

5) During Queen Anne's War, in 1709, it was reported that two thirds of the fields north of Boston were unattended and the war parties were returning without prisoners because the colonists stayed in their forts and would not come out.

True

False

6) In what year did Queen Anne's War begin?

1802

1702

1620

1720

7) During Queen Anne's War, in 1712, an armistice was declared. What was the name of the treaty?

Treaty of Berlin

Treaty of Utrecht

Treaty of Erie

Treaty of Combine

8) Early in Queen Anne's War, the Spanish attacked a British town and were repulsed. What was the British town?

Dover, DE

Bridgeport, WV

Hope, VA

Charleston, SC

9) After Queen Anne's War, what was NOT an area Britain gained?

St. Kitts

Quebec

Newfoundland

Nova Scotia

10) In February 1704, during Queen Anne's War, Hertel de Rouville destroyed a British settlement, 150 settlers were killed or taken prisoner. What was the name of the community?

Deerfield, ME

Deerfield, MA

Deerfield, PA

Deerfield, NY

Quiz for (1714-53) Later Colonies:

1) In 1732, James Oglethorpe established a colony that was designed to be a buffer between the English colonies and the French and Spanish territories. What was the name of this colony?

Ohio

South Carolina

Kentucky

Georgia

2) When Governor Spotswood and the western Virginia exploration party returned to Williamsburg, what did the Governor do for each man that rode with him?

Gave them each 100 acres of land

Freed them from taxes for the next ten years

Made them Knights of the Golden Horseshoe

Offered to be the best man at their weddings

3) The Northkill Amish Settlement was established in 1740 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. As the first identifiable Amish community in the new world, it was the foundation of Amish settlement in the Americas.

True

False

4) In 1749 the Ohio Valley Company was formed for the purpose of settlement, as well as to build a fort. What was the name of this fort?

Fort Hood

Fort Pitt

Fort Cleveland

Fort Apache

5) What was unique (at the time) about the British colony newly settled in 1733?

All of the original settlers were from British prisons

All were second sons of nobles looking for land

First experiment in a Utopian society

All were English expatriates

6) Founded in 1751 by Dr. Thomas Bond, the Pennsylvania Hospital was the first hospital in the United States. Who was the co-founder?

Dr. Benjamin Rush

Elizabeth Gardner

John Adams

Benjamin Franklin

7) In 1753 the Governor of Virginia dispatched a young militia officer to hand deliver a note to the French at Fort Duquesne demanding the withdrawal of all French influence in the region. Who was this militia officer?

George Rogers Clark

Alexander Hamilton

Daniel Boone

George Washington

8) In 1724 the English built a fort that is today the town of Brattleboro, Vermont. What was the name of the fort?

Fort Dummer

Fort George

Fort Bugle

Fort Fife

9) In 1716 Governor William Spotswood of Virginia led an expedition of fifty men into western Virginia. What did this expedition NOT accomplish?

Exploration of the western Allegheny mountains

Claimed more land for Virginia

Located the source of the James River

Fought and defeated several Indian tribes

10) In 1737, Penn Colony exchanged much of its political goodwill with the Native Lenape for more land. The colonial administrators claimed that they had a deed dating to the 1680s in which the Lenape-Delaware had promised to sell a portion of land beginning between the junction of the Delaware River and Lehigh River (near present Wrightstown, Pennsylvania) "as far west as a man could walk in a day and a half." This purchase has become known as?

The Miracle Miles

Walking Purchase

The Day-Walk Purchase

70 Mile Purchase

Quiz for (1754-63) French and Indian War:

1) When George Washington surrendered at Ft. Necessity, what "admission" in the surrender terms would later be used as propaganda against the British and nearly ruin Washington's reputation?

Building the road to Fort Necessity

Building Fort Necessity

The death of Captain James Mackay

The death of Joseph Coulon de Jumonville

2) When Captain James Mackay arrived at Ft. Necessity, he immediately got into an argument with George Washington over command of the garrison. Although Mackay was only a captain, his commission as an officer in the British army technically took precedence over Washington’s militia rank of Lt. Colonel.

True

False

3) On May 24, 1754, on their way to Ft. Necessity, Washington’s party arrived at a marshy clearing at the junction of two streams in what is now Upper Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania called the Great Meadows.

True

False

4) The Battle of Fort Necessity was primarily between the British and French over land known as the Ohio Country. Which current US state was NOT part of the Ohio Country?

Indiana

West Virginia

Pennsylvania

Delaware

5) What was the name of the fort the French built at the Forks of the Ohio River (present Pittsburgh)?

Fort Duquesne

Fort Necessity

Fort du Jumon

Fort Pitt

6) At what time did George Washington ask the French for terms of surrender at the Battle of Fort Necessity?

20:00 (8 PM)

22:00 (10 PM)

24:00 (Midnight)

18:00 (6 PM)

7) The bulk of the British garrison at Ft. Necessity had been sent to the Gist’s Plantation in Pennsylvania, which is near what present-day site?

Mount Braddock

Williamsburg

York

Millersburg

8) When in the Virginia Militia, George Washington was sent to construct a road from Wills Creek into the Ohio Country and await reinforcements. What is the present location of Wills Creek in Maryland?

Hancock

Sharpsburg

Cascade

Cumberland

9) The Battle of Fort Necessity is also know as:

The Battle of the Great Meadows

The Battle at Cowpens

The Battle of the Wilderness

The Battle of the Dark Forest

10) The Battle of Fort Necessity was George Washington's only military surrender

True

False

Quiz for (1764-74) Pre-Revolution:

1) When was the story "Little Goody Two-Shoes" first published?

1769

1771

1765

1767

2) During the Boston Tea Party, when the Colonists started dumping the tea into the harbor, the sailors fought them fiercely and the Colonists set the ships ablaze.

True

False

3) In 1773, seven ships loaded with tea were sent from England to American ports. Four went to Boston. What port did NOT have a ship sent?

Charleston

Philadelphia

Baltimore

New York

4) Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774 to punish the Province of Massachusetts for what event?

Boycott of New York

Boston Tea Party

Boston Massacre

Blockade of Boston Harbor

5) After the Boston Tea Party, who states that the destroyed tea must be repaid, all 90,000 pounds?

John Roberts

Benjamin Franklin

Alexander Hamilton

Aaron Burr

6) The Boston Tea Party was at least partially caused by the tea tax the British imposed on the American colonies. Why did the British impose said tax?

Because they could

Only in order to assert British authority

To bail out the East India Company

To pay the national debt, to bail out the East India Company, and on principle

7) Prior to the Boston Tea Party, who urges his fellow colonists to oppose the landing of the tea, because the cargo contained "the seeds of slavery?"

George Washington

Benjamin Rush

John Henry

John Morgan

8) Who wrote the pamphlet Common Sense?

Thomas Paine

Thomas Jefferson

William Penn

Benjamin Franklin

9) While it is true that the 150 men participating in the Boston Tea Party disquised themselves as Indians, they did NOT do which of the following?

Smear ashes on their faces

Smear reddish makeup on their faces and wear war bonnets

Smear burnt cork on their faces

Wear rags, old shawls, and red caps

10) During the Boston Tea Party, how many chests of tea were dumped into the harbor?

342

423

3,420

3,240

Quiz for (1775-1783) American Revolution:

1) Where did the colonists build their fortifications for the Battle of Bunker Hill?

Bunker Hill

Breeds Hill

Copp's Hill

Moulton's Hill

2) Which General was directed to set up defenses for the Battle of Bunker Hill?

Amos Morgan

Adam Irontree

Israel Putnam

George Washington

3) Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence?

George Washington

John Adams

Benjamin Franklin

Thomas Jefferson

4) During the Battle of Bunker Hill, which colonist was killed during the retreat from the Breed's Hill redoubt?

Robert Underwood

John Chancellor

Bill Pullman

Joseph Warren

5) The Tea Act (which led to the Boston Tea Party) was repealed with the Taxation of Colonies Act in what year?

1776

1781

1778

1792

6) In February, 1775, Britain passed an act that ended taxation for any colony which satisfactorily provided for the imperial defense and the upkeep of imperial officers. What is the name of that act?

The Tea Equality Act

The Apology Bill

The Conciliatory Resolution

The American Friends Pact

7) What was William Howe's order to the colonist force during the second assault at the Battle of Bunker Hill?

Halt

Retreat

Attack

Advance

8) In the Battle of Cowpens, taking the withdrawal of the first two lines as a full blown retreat, the British advanced headlong into the awaiting final line of disciplined regulars which firmly held on the hill. Who did Tarleton order to attack the Americans?

Royal Fusiliers

Hessians

Loyalist Prince of Wales' Regiment

Highlanders

9) At what meeting did delegates adopt the final draft of the Declaration of Independence?

Second Continental Congress

Second Constitutional Convention

First Constitutional Convention

First Continental Congress

10) On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed a "Committee of Five", consisting of Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, to draft a declaration. Who was the fifth member of the committee?

John Hart of New Jersey

John Adams of Massachusetts

Robert Morris of Pennsylvania

Patrick Henry of Virginia

Quiz for (1784-1800) Federalist Era:

1) The Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time on February 1, 1790 in which city?

Philadelphia

Washington, DC

Boston

New York City

2) Who was the first United States Secretary of State?

John Jay

John Quincy Adams

Aaron Burr

Thomas Jefferson

3) On July 31, 1790, inventor Samuel Hopkins became the first person to be issued a U.S. patent...for what?

New irrigation system

Improved method of making potash

Mechanical plow

Innovative wagon improvement

4) The United States Revenue Cutter Service was the forerunner of which government service?

US Navy

Internal Revenue Service

Border Patrol

Coast Guard

5) What state is the last of the original 13 to ratify the United States Constitution

Georgia

Delaware

South Carolina

Rhode Island

6) When did President George Washington gives his first State of the Union Address?

January 9, 1790

March 29, 1793

January 19, 1785

February 19, 1787

7) On March 1, 1790, what was authorized for the first time?

United States currency

United States Post Office

United States Navy

United States census

8) What did the Residence Bill do?

Formally made the colonists US citizens

Established the District of Columbia

Fully defined state lines

Separated US territories from Canada

9) On February 11, 1790, who petitions the United States Congress for the abolition of slavery?

Four Pilgrim delegates

Two Quaker delegates

One Shaker delegate

Three Jewish delegates

10) The Compromise of 1790 was hammered out by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and whom?

John Jay

John Quincy Adams

Alexander Hamilton

John Adams

Quiz for (1800-36) Early Republic:

1) Which president President believed that conquest of Canada would be easy and that economic coercion would force the British to come to terms?

Thomas Jefferson

James Monroe

John Quincy Adams

James Madison

2) When did the United States declare war on Britain to begin the War of 1812?

April 18, 1812

July 18, 1812

October 18, 1812

June 18, 1812

3) The Anglo-American Convention of 1818 provided for the joint occupation of England in America citizens in which territory?

Arcadia

Black Hills

Ottawa Territory

Oregon Country

4) On March 4, 1829, who becomes the 7th President of the United States?

Aaron Burr

Martin Van Buren

Andrew Jackson

John C. Calhoun

5) Who is sent out in 1806 to find the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers?

Col. Roger Clark

Lt. Zebulon Pike

Lt. Robert E. Lee

Capt. John C. Fremont

6) During this era, Americans enter a period of rapid social change and experimentation, as well as many new alternatives to traditional religious thought. What is the movement known as?

First Heaven Conquest

Second Wave of Christ

Rebirth of America

Second Great Awakening

7) In 1830, Congress passes an act which authorizes the President to negotiate treaties that exchange Indian tribal lands in the eastern states for lands west of the Mississippi River. What is the name of this act?

Native Exchange Treaties Act

Indian Removal Act

Land Acquisition Act

Manifest Destiny Act

8) On May 11 1812, who is the British Prime Minister that is shot and killed by an assassin, resulting in putting Lord Liverpool in power?

Spencer Perceval

Jefferson Smith

Randolph Churchill

Abraham Isaac

9) In the early 1800s, Britain was the largest trading partner of the US, receiving what percentage of all U.S. cotton?

30%

50%

93%

80%

10) In 1812, who says: "The acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us the experience for the attack on Halifax, the next and final expulsion of England from the American continent."?

Willard Scott

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

Aaron Burr

Quiz for (1837-59) Early Victorian Era:

1) The term 'Manifest Destiny' is used by which New York journalist in 1845 to call for the annexation of Texas?

Jeffrey Smith

Mark Reynolds

Marvin Blank

John L. O'Sullivan

2) In the 1840s, what route did settlers take to move into the Oregon Country?

Oregon Trail

Pacific Trade Route

Interstate Oregon

Pacific Highway

3) Where was the US and Canada geographically divided?

49th parallel

39th parallel

29th parallel

59th parallel

4) In 1848 President Polk tried to buy Cuba from Spain. What was the amount he offered?

$50 million

$150 million

$100 million

$200 million

5) In 1848, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton call for a women's rights convention in what city?

Bryn Mawr, PA

Braintree, MA

Seneca Falls, NY

Silver Spring, MD

6) What is the name of the treaty between America and England to divide the United States and Canada?

Vancouver Accords

Louisiana Treaty of 1845

Ottawa Peace Treaty of 1850

Oregon Treaty of 1846

7) During the Aroostook War, who does president Martin Van Buren send to keep the peace on the US-Canadian border?

Robert E. Lee

William Sherman

Winfield Scott

Robert Hayes

8) In 1851, who published The Conspiracy of Pontiac?

Francis Parkman

Robert W. Johannsen

Marion Morrison

Reginald Horsman

9) What year is Texas annexed into the United States?

1844

1845

1843

1846

10) Despite protests from the elected Cherokee government and many white supporters, the Cherokees are forced to make the long and cruel trek, known as the "Trail of Tears," to the Indian Territory. When is the trek?

1840

1838

1844

1848

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