American Revolution Pop Quiz

Click the correct letter (A, B, C, or D)

$ 100

Which incident on December 16, 1773 helped spark the American Revolution?

A: The Boston Tea Party

B: The Jamestown Wine Celebration

C: The Miami Coke Festival

D: The New York Coffee Ball

The ›Boston Tea Party‹ (Dec. 17, 1773)

On that night, a group of men went to Griffin‘s Wharf where, disguised as Mohawk Indians, they boarded

three British ships and threw 342 chests of tea overboard (worth £ 15,000).

Protest against the horrendous tax policy of the British government in the colonies (Tea Act, May 1773). The revolt was preceded by the Boston Massacre in 1770.

$ 200

Complete the famous slogan:

No taxation without…

A: incarceration B: King George III

C: relaxation D: representation

Used mainly between 1763 and 1776 to utter the criticism of the American colonists. The phrase was coined by Boston Reverend Jonathan Mayhew in a 1750 sermon.

Later also: “Taxation without representation is tyranny."

$ 300

The U.S. Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, on …

A: the 4th of July B: the 14th of July

C: October 3 D: October 25

July 4, 1776, Independence DayThe Second Continental Congress (representing the legislatures of the British colonies) adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4 (mainly written by Thomas Jefferson).

Painting by John Trumbull. Shows the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence (1776) -- John Adams, Robert Sherman, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin--

standing before John Hancock, President of the Second Continental Congress.

$ 500

Which iconic image from 1776 has made it to the history books?

A: Hamilton crossing the Atlantic

B: Jefferson crossing the Appalachian Mountains

C: Madison crossing the French lines

D: Washington crossing the Delaware

»Washington Crossing the Delaware« - 1851 oil painting by Emanuel Leutze.

Commemorates George Washington’s crossing of the river Delaware on December 25, 1776, during the Revolutionary War (surprise attack against the

British troops at Trenton, New Jersey - Battle of Trenton).

$ 1,000

Which contract ended the American Revolution (1775-1783) and formally recognized the USA as an independent nation?

A: The Agreement of New York City

B: The Pact of London

C: The Treaty of Paris D: The Truce of Amsterdam

Signed on September 3, 1783, and ratified by the Congress of the Confederation in January 1784.

Formally ended the war between Great Britain and the U.S.A.

(Following victories of the allied French and American troops at Chesapeake Bay and Yorktown in 1781).

The Treaty of Paris

»The Treaty of Paris (1783)« - Painting by Benjamin West (undated).

Depicting John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Frankin. The painting was never finished since the British

commissioners refused to pose.

$ 2,000

What are the first words of the U.S. Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787?

A: »I the King…« B: »You the Citizens…«

C: »We the People…«

D: »Us versus Them…«

»We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.« (Preamble to Constitution)

»Scene at the Signing of the Constitution (Sept. 17, 1787)«

Painting by Howard Chandler Christy

$ 4,000

How many states belonged to the U.S.A. when the nation was founded in 1787?

A: 3 B: 13

C: 36 D: 50

Original U.S. flag, allegedly sewn in 1776 by Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia quaker.

13 stars and 13 stripes, symbolizing the founding states of the U.S.A. (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island)

$ 8,000

Which famous revolutionary published The American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828?

A: Walter Merriam B: James Oxford

C: Noah Webster D: Advanced Learner

Noah Webster (1758-1843)

Lexicographer, spelling reformer, political writer, and editor.

$ 16,000

The novel usually considered to be the ›first American Novel‹ is …

A: The Adventures of

Huckleberry FinnB: The Pioneers

C: The Power of Sympathy

D: Uncle Tom‘s Cabin

William Hill Brown, The Power of Sympathy , or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth (1789)

$ 32,000

Which colony stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada?

A: California B: Florida

C: Louisiana D: Texas

The French colony of Louisiana claimed the land on both sides of the Mississippi River and in parts of Canada. It encompassed the following States: Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota.

On April 30, 1803, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson bought Louisiana from Napoleon I for 15 Million U.S. dollar, thus doubling the size of the U.S. territory.

Louisiana became the 1 8th state of the Union in 1812.

$ 64,000

Which group of mercenaries fought on the side of the British against the American revolutionaries?

A: The Bavarians B: The Berliners

C: The Hessians D: The Knights of Hannover

The Hessians – auxiliary troops fighting against American patriots on the side of the British (1775-1783), comprising 30,000 soldiers, half of them from Hesse-Kassel.

Mainly conscripts, debtors, some of them petty criminals. Although commonly called »the best armies money could buy«, they did not earn a lot, sometimes only their daily food.

$ 125,000

Which popular movement culminated in an insurrection in 1794 against the U.S. government in Pennsylvania and West Virginia?

A: The Bourbon Revolt

B: The Rum Skirmish

C: The Scotch Insurrection

D: The Whiskey Rebellion

The Whiskey Rebellion – began in 1791 and culminated in an insurrection in 1794 in Washington, Pennsylvania, and the Monongahela Valley.

Reaction towards rising taxes in 1789 under the U.S. Constitution (the taxes being a result of high debts of the U.S. Government after the War of Independence).

$ 250,000

Which city was the U.S. Capital from December 6, 1790 to May 14, 1800?

A: Boston B: New York City

C: Philadelphia D: Washington, D.C.

Philadelphia, U.S. Capital from 1790 to 1800, following New York and preceding Washington, D.C.

$ 500,000

Which diplomatic episode led to an undeclared war between the USA and France in 1798?

A: The ABC Murders B: The Phi Beta Kappa Event

C: The QVC Issue D: The XYZ Affair

»The XYZ Affair (1797) – Refusing the Paris Monster« - Contemporary caricature.

The XYZ Affair – Named after an episode in which three French agents (named X, Y, and Z in media reports) demanded a cash bribe to negotiate with the French foreign minister.

The American diplomats felt offended by the demand and furiously ended the talks. The result was a wave of anti-French sentiment. A quasi-war (never officially declared) followed from 1798 to 1800.

$ 1,000,000

Which revolutionary of Irish descent was Governor of New York (1777-1795) and U.S. Vice President (1805-1812)?

A: Clinton B: Obama

C: Huckabee D: McCain

George Clinton (1733-1812)

Affiliation: Democratic- Republican Party.

The longest-serving Governor of New York (1777-1795) and U.S. Vice President under Jefferson and Madison (1805-1812)