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Plymouth, Mayflower & Founders

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  1. 1.Which nursery rhyme did Sarah Josepha Hale write?

    • A. "Row Row Row Your Boat"
    • B. "Humpty Dumpty"
    • C. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
    • D. "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
    Show answer

    "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

    Did you know? Hale's enduring verse is "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

  2. 2.In which month does Thanksgiving always fall in the United States?

    • A. October
    • B. December
    • C. September
    • D. November
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    November

    Did you know? The holiday is always the fourth Thursday of November.

  3. 3.The Mayflower's Atlantic crossing took about how many days?

    • A. 66
    • B. 21
    • C. 30
    • D. 120
    Show answer

    66

    Did you know? The 1620 crossing lasted about 66 days.

  4. 4.The colonists named their settlement after which English port city, their last departure point?

    • A. Plymouth
    • B. Southampton
    • C. Bristol
    • D. London
    Show answer

    Plymouth

    Did you know? The Mayflower's final English departure was from Plymouth.

  5. 5.Which shell beads served as currency and record-keeping in Wampanoag country?

    • A. Turquoise
    • B. Cowries
    • C. Amber
    • D. Wampum
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    Wampum

    Did you know? Purple and white wampum beads carried value and meaning.

  6. 6.For roughly how many years did Sarah Hale campaign for a national Thanksgiving?

    • A. Five
    • B. Ten
    • C. Fifty
    • D. Thirty-six
    Show answer

    Thirty-six

    Did you know? Hale pressed the cause for about 36 years, state by state.

  7. 7.Lincoln's 1863 proclamation set Thanksgiving for which day of November?

    • A. The last Thursday
    • B. November 11
    • C. The second Tuesday
    • D. The first Thursday
    Show answer

    The last Thursday

    Did you know? The last Thursday of November became the national custom.

  8. 8.Which companion ship leaked twice and turned back before the Mayflower sailed alone?

    • A. The Fortune
    • B. The Speedwell
    • C. The Discovery
    • D. The Arabella
    Show answer

    The Speedwell

    Did you know? The Speedwell's leaks forced the famous single-ship crossing.

  9. 9.Roughly what share of the Mayflower colonists died during the first winter?

    • A. Only a handful
    • B. About one in ten
    • C. About half
    • D. Nearly all
    Show answer

    About half

    Did you know? About half of the 102 colonists survived the first winter.

  10. 10.The historic Wampanoag homeland covered which region?

    • A. Southern Virginia
    • B. Western New York
    • C. Northern Maine
    • D. Southeastern Massachusetts
    Show answer

    Southeastern Massachusetts

    Did you know? Wampanoag lands spanned southeastern Massachusetts and nearby coasts.

  11. 11.Which women's magazine did Sarah Josepha Hale edit for four decades while campaigning for Thanksgiving?

    • A. Harper's Bazaar
    • B. McCall's
    • C. The Ladies' Home Journal
    • D. Godey's Lady's Book
    Show answer

    Godey's Lady's Book

    Did you know? Hale edited Godey's Lady's Book from 1837 to 1877.

  12. 12.The Continental Congress declared a national thanksgiving in 1777 after which Revolutionary victory?

    • A. Trenton
    • B. Saratoga
    • C. Yorktown
    • D. Bunker Hill
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    Saratoga

    Did you know? The surrender at Saratoga prompted the 1777 thanksgiving.

  13. 13.The Mayflower's first landfall in the New World was at which cape?

    • A. Cape Hatteras
    • B. Cape Cod
    • C. Cape May
    • D. Cape Charles
    Show answer

    Cape Cod

    Did you know? The ship first sighted land at Cape Cod on November 9, 1620.

  14. 14.How many days did the 1621 harvest celebration last?

    • A. Three
    • B. One
    • C. Ten
    • D. Seven
    Show answer

    Three

    Did you know? Winslow's letter describes a three-day celebration.

  15. 15.What are the dome-shaped bark homes of the Wampanoag called?

    • A. Tipis
    • B. Hogans
    • C. Wetus
    • D. Longhouses
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    Wetus

    Did you know? A wetu is the rounded Wampanoag dwelling.

  16. 16.Which region ignored Lincoln's 1863 holiday at first?

    • A. The New England states
    • B. The Pacific coast states
    • C. The western territories
    • D. The Confederate states
    Show answer

    The Confederate states

    Did you know? Confederate states had no part in Lincoln's 1863 proclamation.

  17. 17.How many passengers sailed on the Mayflower in 1620?

    • A. 102
    • B. 150
    • C. 66
    • D. 50
    Show answer

    102

    Did you know? The Mayflower carried 102 passengers across the Atlantic.

  18. 18.Which Abenaki visitor startled the colonists in March 1621 by greeting them in English?

    • A. Massasoit
    • B. Samoset
    • C. Squanto (Tisquantum)
    • D. Hobbamock
    Show answer

    Samoset

    Did you know? Samoset walked in saying "Welcome, Englishmen," learned from fishermen.

  19. 19.Which trio of crops, central to regional Indigenous agriculture, is known as the Three Sisters?

    • A. Rice, wheat and barley
    • B. Corn, beans and squash
    • C. Potatoes, corn and peppers
    • D. Apples, pears and plums
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    Corn, beans and squash

    Did you know? Corn, beans and squash grow together as the Three Sisters.

  20. 20.Which president issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation under the Constitution, in 1789?

    • A. George Washington
    • B. James Monroe
    • C. Thomas Jefferson
    • D. John Adams
    Show answer

    George Washington

    Did you know? Washington proclaimed November 26, 1789 a day of thanksgiving.

  21. 21.Who served as Plymouth Colony's first military leader?

    • A. John Carver
    • B. Stephen Hopkins
    • C. William Brewster
    • D. Myles Standish
    Show answer

    Myles Standish

    Did you know? Myles Standish organized the colony's defenses.

  22. 22.Massasoit's peace alliance with Plymouth lasted about how long?

    • A. Five years
    • B. More than forty years
    • C. A single season
    • D. Ten years
    Show answer

    More than forty years

    Did you know? The 1621 alliance held until Massasoit's death around 1661.

  23. 23.Which colonist wrote the 1621 letter describing the feast to a friend in England?

    • A. Edward Winslow
    • B. Myles Standish
    • C. John Alden
    • D. William Bradford
    Show answer

    Edward Winslow

    Did you know? Edward Winslow's letter to England is the only eyewitness account.

  24. 24.Who wrote "Of Plymouth Plantation", the colony's great chronicle?

    • A. Roger Williams
    • B. John Winthrop
    • C. John Smith
    • D. William Bradford
    Show answer

    William Bradford

    Did you know? Governor William Bradford wrote the colony's history.

  25. 25.In which decade did Sarah Hale begin advocating a national Thanksgiving?

    • A. The 1840s
    • B. The 1820s
    • C. The 1850s
    • D. The 1860s
    Show answer

    The 1820s

    Did you know? Hale took up the cause in the 1820s, decades before Lincoln.

  26. 26.On what date was Washington's 1789 thanksgiving observed?

    • A. December 25
    • B. November 26
    • C. July 4
    • D. October 31
    Show answer

    November 26

    Did you know? Washington set the day for Thursday, November 26, 1789.

  27. 27.In which month of 1621 did the Mayflower sail back to England?

    • A. September
    • B. April
    • C. June
    • D. January
    Show answer

    April

    Did you know? The Mayflower departed for England in April 1621.

  28. 28.Which fur trade, booming in the 1630s, paid off Plymouth's debts?

    • A. The tobacco trade
    • B. The whaling trade
    • C. The silver trade
    • D. The beaver fur trade
    Show answer

    The beaver fur trade

    Did you know? Beaver pelts became the colony's economic engine.

  29. 29.About how many Wampanoag men joined the 1621 feast?

    • A. About 500
    • B. About 250
    • C. About 20
    • D. About 90
    Show answer

    About 90

    Did you know? Winslow counted about 90 Wampanoag men at the feast.

  30. 30.Hale's Northwood is noted as one of the first American novels to depict what?

    • A. A whaling voyage
    • B. A railroad disaster
    • C. A Thanksgiving dinner
    • D. A Gold Rush camp
    Show answer

    A Thanksgiving dinner

    Did you know? Northwood's feast scene spread the Thanksgiving ideal.

  31. 31.Which president was the last to proclaim a thanksgiving before Lincoln revived the practice in 1863?

    • A. James Madison
    • B. James Monroe
    • C. John Quincy Adams
    • D. Andrew Jackson
    Show answer

    James Madison

    Did you know? Madison's 1815 proclamation was the last before Lincoln's.

  32. 32.Which baby, born aboard the Mayflower in Provincetown Harbor, was the colony's first English-born child?

    • A. Peregrine White
    • B. Resolved White
    • C. Love Brewster
    • D. Oceanus Hopkins
    Show answer

    Peregrine White

    Did you know? Peregrine White was born in the harbor before Plymouth was settled.

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