Last week, the “Short Rows” was devoted to questions about American government. They were samples of questions asked of applicants for U.S. citizenship and were offered to see how well we native Americans might fare in a civics test.

This week, the test continues. This time, it’s American history. Enjoy.

 

A: Colonial Period and Independence

1. What is one reason colonists came to America?

2. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?

3. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?

4. Why did the colonists fight the British?

5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

6. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?

7. There were 13 original states. Name three.

8. What happened at the Constitutional Convention?

9. When was the Constitution written?

10. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.

11. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?

12. Who is the “Father of Our Country”?

13. Who was the first President?

B: 1800s

14. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?

15. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.

16. Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.

17. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.

18. What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?

19. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

20. What did Susan B. Anthony do?

C: Recent History

21. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.

22. Who was President during World War I?

23. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?

24. Who did the United States fight in World War II?

25. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?

26. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?

27. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?

28. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?

29. What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States?

30. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.

 

Answers

A: Colonial Period and Independence

1. ▪ freedom

▪ political liberty

▪ religious freedom

▪ economic opportunity

▪ practice their religion

▪ escape persecution

2. ▪ American Indians

▪ Native Americans

3. ▪ Africans

▪ people from Africa

4. ▪ because of high taxes (taxation without representation)

▪ because the British army stayed in their houses (boarding, quartering)

▪ because they didn’t have self-government

5. ▪ (Thomas) Jefferson

6. ▪ July 4, 1776

7. ▪ New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

8. ▪ The Constitution was written.

▪ The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution.

9. ▪ 1787

10. ▪ (James) Madison

▪ (Alexander) Hamilton

▪ (John) Jay

▪ Publius

11. ▪ U.S. diplomat

▪ oldest member of the Constitutional Convention

▪ first Postmaster General of the United States

▪ writer of “Poor Richard’s Almanac”

▪ started the first free libraries

12. ▪ (George) Washington

13. ▪ (George) Washington

B: 1800s

14. ▪ the Louisiana Territory

▪ Louisiana

15. ▪ War of 1812

▪ Mexican-American War

▪ Civil War

▪ Spanish-American War

16. ▪ the Civil War

▪ the War between the States

17. ▪ slavery

▪ economic reasons

▪ states’ rights

18. ▪ freed the slaves (Emancipation Proclamation)

▪ saved (or preserved) the Union

▪ led the United States during the Civil War

19. ▪ freed the slaves

▪ freed slaves in the Confederacy

▪ freed slaves in the Confederate states

▪ freed slaves in most Southern states

20. ▪ fought for women’s rights

▪ fought for civil rights

C: Recent History

21. ▪ World War I

▪ World War II

▪ Korean War

▪ Vietnam War

▪ (Persian) Gulf War

22. ▪ (Woodrow) Wilson

23. ▪ (Franklin) Roosevelt

24. ▪ Japan, Germany, and Italy

25▪ World War II

26. ▪ Communism

27. ▪ civil rights (movement)

28. ▪ fought for civil rights

▪ worked for equality for all Americans

29. ▪ Terrorists attacked the United States.

30. ▪ Cherokee, Navajo, Sioux, Chippewa, Choctaw, Pueblo, Apache, Iroquois, Creek, Blackfeet, Seminole, Cheyenne, Arawak, Shawnee, Mohegan, Huron, Oneida, Lakota, Crow, Teton, Hopi, Inuit