American History and Politics Quiz Quiz Questions

1. Who was the founder of the American Red Cross?

A Elizabeth Blackwell B Clara Barton C Dorothea Dix D Florence Nightingale

2. What is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States?

A Yale University B Harvard University C College of William & Mary D Princeton University

3. Who drafted the U.S. Declaration of Independence?

A King George III B Abraham Lincoln C Thomas Jefferson D George Washington

4. Who wrote the American national anthem?

A Francis Bellamy B Francis Scott Key C Francis Drake D F. Scott Fitzgerald

5. What is the nickname for the old regulations requiring racial segregation?

A Jim Crow laws B Old Crow laws C Stone the Crows laws D Blue laws

6. Where did the U.S. Senate first meet, before moving to Philadelphia and then to Washington, D.C.?

A Trenton B New York City C Boston D Richmond

7. Which document does the Fourth of July commemorate?

A Gettysburg Address B Articles of Confederation C Declaration of Independence D Constitution

8. What is the first "self-evident truth" in the Declaration of Independence?

A that all men are created equal B that honesty is the best policy C that everyone should have the right to vote D that standing armies should not exist

9. What kind of government does the United States have?

A monarchy B republic C gerontocracy D democracy

10. How many members are there of the U.S. Senate?

A 150 B 100 C 200 D 50

11. What year was the organization known as the Daughters of the American Revolution founded?

A 1890 B 1843 C 1804 D 1792

12. What war was fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans over territory in Illinois?

A Ute Wars B Black Hawk War C Cayuse War D Arikara War

13. The Open Door policy was initiated by the United States for the protection of equal privileges among countries trading with which nation?

A India B Canada C Italy D China

14. Which site was the site of the international meeting in 1945 that established the United Nations?

A Seattle B San Francisco C Chicago D Philadelphia

15. What was Japan's first treaty with the United States?

A Treaty of Kanagawa B Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security C Security Treaty D Treaty of Peace with Japan

16. When did Baton Rouge become the capital of Louisiana?

A 1902 B 1817 C 1917 D 1849

17. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union was signed by which U.S. president?

A Richard Nixon B Jimmy Carter C John F. Kennedy D Lyndon B. Johnson

18. In the United States, PACs raise and distribute campaign funds to candidates seeking political office. What is the acronym PAC short for?

A positive action commission B political action committee C political accomplishment campaign D public action commission

19. What is the name of the sea passage through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean?

A Northeast Passage B Intracoastal Waterway C Dalco Passage D Northwest Passage

20. What policy statement, presented in 1823, promised that the U.S. would not interfere in the affairs of European states, while also stipulating that the Western Hemisphere was no longer open to further colonization?

A Monroe Doctrine B Carter Doctrine C Freeport Doctrine D Good Neighbor Policy

21. Who is remembered as the inventor of the cotton gin and for developing the concept of mass production of interchangeable parts?

A Henry Ford B Eli Whitney C Alexander Graham Bell D Guglielmo Marconi

22. Who founded Tuskegee University?

A Albion W. Tourgee B Booker T. Washington C William Hooper Councill D Andrew Carnegie

23. Who is known for having taken part in the creation of the NAACP in 1909 and for having written The Souls of Black Folk (1903), a collection of essays that became a landmark of African American literature?

A Langston Hughes B James Weldon Johnson C W.E.B. Du Bois D Alain Locke

24. Which of these Supreme Court cases established a student's right to free speech in school settings?

A Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District B School Board of Nassau County v. Arline C Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education D Abood v. Detroit Board of Education

25. Which organization, first led by Uriah Smith Stephens, was the first important national labor organization in the United States?

A American Federation of Labor B Knights of Labor C National Labor Union D American Railway Union

26. Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution imposed the federal prohibition of alcohol?

A Twenty-first Amendment B Sixteenth Amendment C Eighteenth Amendment D Fifteenth Amendment

27. Who delivered the Gettysburg Address?

A Woodrow Wilson B Martin Luther King, Jr. C George Washington D Abraham Lincoln

28. In which U.S. state is the Lost Colony of Roanoke located?

A North Carolina B Pennsylvania C Florida D California

29. Who among these is NOT traditionally considered to be a Founding Father?

A Patrick Henry B George Mason C Samuel Adams D John Trumbull

30. In what year was the Declaration of Independence approved and signed?

A 1776 B 1677 C 1767 D 1667

31. What was the name of the secret organization of coal miners supposedly responsible for acts of terrorism in the coalfields of Pennsylvania and West Virginia from 1862 to 1876?

A Molly Maguires B Mullen Gang C North Side Gang D Egan's Rats

32. Which U.S. president began the “War on Drugs”?

A Lyndon B. Johnson B Richard Nixon C Ronald Reagan D Grover Cleveland

33. Which U.S. president enacted the program known as the New Deal?

A Franklin D. Roosevelt B Woodrow Wilson C Theodore Roosevelt D Herbert Hoover

34. Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially extended the right to vote to women?

A Fifteenth Amendment B Nineteenth Amendment C Twentieth Amendment D Twelfth Amendment

35. Which U.S. president issued the executive order that established the Peace Corps?

A John F. Kennedy B Calvin Coolidge C Warren G. Harding D Dwight D. Eisenhower

36. Which of these U.S. presidents won the Nobel Prize for Peace?

A Jimmy Carter B Franklin D. Roosevelt C George W. Bush D John F. Kennedy

37. On March 21–25, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr., led a political march (now known as the Selma March) from Selma, Alabama, to which city?

A Mobile B Tuscaloosa C Montgomery D Birmingham

38. Which U.S. president first proposed the "domino theory" of foreign policy?

A Gerald R. Ford B Bill Clinton C Harry S. Truman D Dwight D. Eisenhower

39. Which 1967 Supreme Court case struck down state laws that prohibited marriage by persons of different race?

A Munn v. Illinois B Loving v. Virginia C Mapp v. Ohio D Lawrence v. Texas

40. Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution formally abolished slavery?

A Sixteenth Amendment B Thirteenth Amendment C Ninth Amendment D Twenty-first Amendment

41. Who wrote most of the Declaration of Sentiments, a document that, along with the Seneca Falls Convention, marked the start of the women's rights movement in the United States?

A Susan B. Anthony B Lucy Stone C Carrie Chapman Catt D Elizabeth Cady Stanton

42. Who is known as the founder of the birth control movement in the United States?

A Harriot Stanton Blatch B Margaret Sanger C Mary Wollstonecraft D Jane Addams

43. Which U.S. president led his country through the final stages of World War II and through the early years of the Cold War?

A John F. Kennedy B Franklin D. Roosevelt C Dwight D. Eisenhower D Harry S. Truman

44. Which U.S. presidents succeeded to the presidency under the process decreed by the Twenty-fifth Amendment, thereby becoming the country's only chief executive who had not been elected either president or vice president?

A Gerald Ford B Andrew Johnson C Millard Fillmore D Benjamin Harrison

45. Who was the second president of the United States?

A James Madison B Thomas Jefferson C James Monroe D John Adams

46. Where did the Wounded Knee Massacre take place?

A Colorado B Nevada C North Dakota D South Dakota

47. Which famous American reporter of the 19th century traveled around the world in 72 days?

A Nellie Bly B Isabella Bird C Ida Tarbell D Ida B. Wells

48. Which first lady had a leading role in drafting the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)?

A Helen Taft B Lucretia Garfield C Edith Wilson D Eleanor Roosevelt

49. When was the Supreme Court of the United States formally established?

A 1789 B 1802 C 1778 D 1798

50. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were negotiations between the United States and which other country?

A North Korea B Germany C China D Soviet Union

51. Which U.S. president's administration was associated with the Teapot Dome Scandal?

A Calvin Coolidge B Warren G. Harding C Chester A. Arthur D William McKinley