Colonial America & the Founding

40 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which amendment reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states?
- A. the Ninth Amendment
- B. the First Amendment
- C. the Tenth Amendment
- D. the Fifth Amendment
Show answer
the Tenth Amendment
Did you know? The Tenth Amendment anchors the federal structure of the Union.
2.Which early battle, on June 17, 1775, proved colonial militia could stand against British regulars?
- A. the Battle of Bunker Hill
- B. the Battle of Cowpens
- C. the Battle of Saratoga
- D. the Battle of Trenton
Show answer
the Battle of Bunker Hill
Did you know? At Bunker Hill the British won, but at a cost of over a thousand casualties.
3.Which colonial militia members were pledged to be ready "in a minute's notice"?
- A. redcoats
- B. minutemen
- C. loyalists
- D. border ruffians
Show answer
minutemen
Did you know? Minutemen were colonial militia ready to fight at a minute's notice.
4.Which delegate is called the "Father of the Constitution" for his convention notes and plan?
- A. James Wilson
- B. George Washington
- C. James Madison
- D. Gouverneur Morris
Show answer
James Madison
Did you know? Madison kept the fullest record of the Convention's debates.
5.Which Virginian is credited as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence?
- A. Thomas Jefferson
- B. John Adams
- C. Patrick Henry
- D. James Madison
Show answer
Thomas Jefferson
Did you know? Jefferson drafted the Declaration at age 33 in June 1776.
6.Which crop, introduced by John Rolfe, made Jamestown economically viable?
- A. sugarcane
- B. cotton
- C. indigo
- D. tobacco
Show answer
tobacco
Did you know? Tobacco became Virginia's cash crop and saved the Jamestown colony.
7.Which article of the Constitution establishes the legislative branch?
- A. Article III
- B. Article II
- C. Article IV
- D. Article I
Show answer
Article I
Did you know? Article I vests legislative power in the Congress.
8.Which site served as the Continental Army's winter camp in 1777-1778?
- A. White Plains
- B. West Point
- C. Valley Forge
- D. Morristown
Show answer
Valley Forge
Did you know? About 2,000 soldiers died at Valley Forge, mostly of disease.
9.Which city, whose name means "brotherly love," did William Penn plan as his colony's capital?
- A. Boston
- B. Charleston
- C. Savannah
- D. Philadelphia
Show answer
Philadelphia
Did you know? Penn planned Philadelphia as the capital of Pennsylvania.
10.Which group supported the Constitution's ratification in 1787-1788?
- A. the Democratic-Republicans
- B. the Anti-Federalists
- C. the Whigs
- D. the Federalists
Show answer
the Federalists
Did you know? Federalists argued for a stronger national government.
11.Which European country allied with the United States after Saratoga, in 1778?
- A. Prussia
- B. Spain
- C. France
- D. the Netherlands
Show answer
France
Did you know? The French alliance of 1778 brought fleets, troops and loans to the American cause.
12.Which colony did William Penn found as a home for Quakers?
- A. Pennsylvania
- B. Virginia
- C. New Jersey
- D. Delaware
Show answer
Pennsylvania
Did you know? William Penn founded Pennsylvania on principles of Quaker tolerance.
13.Which article of the Constitution establishes the executive branch?
- A. Article III
- B. Article II
- C. Article I
- D. Article V
Show answer
Article II
Did you know? Article II vests executive power in the President.
14.Under the Articles of Confederation, which essential power did Congress lack?
- A. the power to run a postal service
- B. the power to sign treaties
- C. the power to tax
- D. the power to declare war
Show answer
the power to tax
Did you know? Congress under the Articles could request money from states but not tax.
15.Which amendment protects against self-incrimination and double jeopardy?
- A. the Sixth Amendment
- B. the First Amendment
- C. the Eighth Amendment
- D. the Fifth Amendment
Show answer
the Fifth Amendment
Did you know? "Pleading the Fifth" invokes protection against self-incrimination.
16.Who did the Second Continental Congress appoint as commander in chief in June 1775?
- A. Nathanael Greene
- B. Israel Putnam
- C. George Washington
- D. Horatio Gates
Show answer
George Washington
Did you know? Washington took command of the army besieging Boston in July 1775.
17.Which three words open the Preamble of the Constitution?
- A. "We the People"
- B. "Four score and seven"
- C. "E pluribus unum"
- D. "All men are created"
Show answer
"We the People"
Did you know? The Preamble opens with "We the People of the United States."
18.In which building was the Declaration of Independence adopted on July 4, 1776?
- A. Faneuil Hall
- B. Independence Hall
- C. Mount Vernon
- D. Carpenters' Hall
Show answer
Independence Hall
Did you know? Independence Hall in Philadelphia saw both the Declaration and the Constitution.
19.Which compromise created a two-house Congress with equal state votes in the Senate?
- A. the Three-Fifths Compromise
- B. the Connecticut Compromise
- C. the Missouri Compromise
- D. the Commerce Compromise
Show answer
the Connecticut Compromise
Did you know? Roger Sherman's Connecticut Compromise blended both representation plans.
20.Which patriot made the midnight ride of April 18, 1775 to warn Lexington?
- A. Paul Revere
- B. John Hancock
- C. Nathan Hale
- D. Samuel Adams
Show answer
Paul Revere
Did you know? Revere rode to warn that British regulars were marching to Concord.
21.Which victory followed Washington's crossing of the Delaware and revived the American cause?
- A. the Battle of Saratoga
- B. the Battle of Bunker Hill
- C. the Battle of Camden
- D. the Battle of Trenton
Show answer
the Battle of Trenton
Did you know? Trenton, on December 26, 1776, took nearly a thousand Hessian prisoners.
22.Which 1770 clash in Boston left five colonists dead?
- A. the Battle of Bunker Hill
- B. the Boston Tea Party
- C. Lexington and Concord
- D. the Boston Massacre
Show answer
the Boston Massacre
Did you know? British soldiers fired on colonists in the Boston Massacre of March 1770.
23.Which protest group, led in Boston by Samuel Adams, organized resistance to British taxation?
- A. the Sons of Liberty
- B. the Green Mountain Boys
- C. the Minutemen
- D. the Loyalists
Show answer
the Sons of Liberty
Did you know? The Sons of Liberty organized boycotts and protests against British taxes.
24.Where was the "shot heard round the world" fired on April 19, 1775?
- A. Yorktown
- B. Lexington
- C. Saratoga
- D. Bunker Hill
Show answer
Lexington
Did you know? The first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts.
25.On which December night in 1776 did Washington cross the ice-choked Delaware River?
- A. January 1, 1777
- B. October 11, 1776
- C. December 25, 1776
- D. December 4, 1776
Show answer
December 25, 1776
Did you know? Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas night 1776 to strike Trenton.
26.Which federal agency, created in March 1865, aided formerly enslaved people with schools and labor contracts?
- A. the Sanitary Commission
- B. the Reconstruction Treasury
- C. the Freedmen's Bureau
- D. the Homestead Bureau
Show answer
the Freedmen's Bureau
Did you know? The Freedmen's Bureau built thousands of schools for freed families.
27.Which settlement is remembered as the "Lost Colony" because its settlers vanished?
- A. Plymouth
- B. Jamestown
- C. Roanoke
- D. Salem
Show answer
Roanoke
Did you know? The settlers of Roanoke vanished around 1590, leaving only the word "CROATOAN".
28.Under the original Constitution, what fraction of the enslaved population counted toward a state's representation and taxes?
- A. three-fifths
- B. one-half
- C. one-quarter
- D. two-thirds
Show answer
three-fifths
Did you know? The Three-Fifths Compromise counted enslaved people at three-fifths for apportionment.
29.Which national bank did Hamilton's financial plan create in 1791?
- A. the Federal Reserve
- B. the Second Bank of the United States
- C. the First Bank of the United States
- D. the Bank of New York
Show answer
the First Bank of the United States
Did you know? The First Bank held federal deposits and stabilized the currency.
30.Who was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence, at age 70?
- A. John Hancock
- B. Benjamin Franklin
- C. George Washington
- D. Samuel Adams
Show answer
Benjamin Franklin
Did you know? Franklin, then 70, joined Adams and Jefferson in editing the Declaration.
31.In which month of 1865 did Congress pass the Thirteenth Amendment?
- A. January
- B. March
- C. December
- D. June
Show answer
January
Did you know? Congress passed the amendment on January 31, 1865.
32.Which college, founded in 1636, was the first institution of higher learning in the colonies?
- A. William and Mary
- B. Princeton
- C. Yale
- D. Harvard
Show answer
Harvard
Did you know? Harvard College was founded in Massachusetts in 1636.
33.Which article of the Constitution establishes the judicial branch?
- A. Article VI
- B. Article I
- C. Article II
- D. Article III
Show answer
Article III
Did you know? Article III created the Supreme Court.
34.Which 1803 Supreme Court decision established the principle of judicial review?
- A. Dred Scott v. Sandford
- B. Marbury v. Madison
- C. McCulloch v. Maryland
- D. Gibbons v. Ogden
Show answer
Marbury v. Madison
Did you know? Chief Justice John Marshall's opinion let courts strike unconstitutional laws.
35.Which 1786-1787 uprising of indebted Massachusetts farmers spurred calls for a stronger government?
- A. Shays' Rebellion
- B. the Regulator Movement
- C. the Whiskey Rebellion
- D. Bacon's Rebellion
Show answer
Shays' Rebellion
Did you know? Shays' Rebellion alarmed leaders and pushed the call for the Constitutional Convention.
36.Which almanac, filled with proverbs, did Benjamin Franklin publish from 1732?
- A. The Liberty Song
- B. Poor Richard's Almanack
- C. The Federalist Papers
- D. Common Sense
Show answer
Poor Richard's Almanack
Did you know? Franklin wrote Poor Richard's Almanack under the name Richard Saunders.
37.Which plan countered the Virginia Plan by proposing one vote per state?
- A. the Great Compromise
- B. the Virginia Plan
- C. the New Jersey Plan
- D. the Three-Fifths Compromise
Show answer
the New Jersey Plan
Did you know? Paterson's New Jersey Plan defended the equal voice of small states.
38.Which French-born engineer drew the baroque plan of Washington, D.C.?
- A. the Comte de Rochambeau
- B. Pierre L'Enfant
- C. Baron von Steuben
- D. the Marquis de Lafayette
Show answer
Pierre L'Enfant
Did you know? L'Enfant's 1791 plan laid out the federal city's grand avenues.
39.Which British general surrendered his army to end the siege at Yorktown?
- A. William Howe
- B. John Burgoyne
- C. Henry Clinton
- D. Charles Cornwallis
Show answer
Charles Cornwallis
Did you know? Cornwallis surrendered about 8,000 troops at Yorktown in 1781.
40.Which colonial region was known as the "breadbasket colonies" for its grain farms?
- A. New England
- B. the Chesapeake colonies
- C. the Middle Colonies
- D. the Deep South
Show answer
the Middle Colonies
Did you know? The Middle Colonies grew so much grain that they were called the breadbasket colonies.

Questions are for entertainment — difficulty ratings are a guide, and you know your crowd best. Always follow the rules of your venue or event.