Month by Month: American Edition Quiz

It was on March 2, 1807, that President Thomas Jefferson signed a law banning the slave trade. However, it did not go into effect until January 1, 1808. This was due to a provision in the United States Constitution that stated the migration or importation of people shall not be prohibited by Congress prior to 1808. Even though the law was signed in 1807, if it had gone into effect then it would have been unconstitutional, but by delaying the effect date until 1808, the law was constitutional.

The word "person" was implied to mean slaves, even though the word slave did not appear by design so as not imply the Constitution was pro-slavery. Slavery was a hot button issue during the formation of the Constitution, so it was decided to hold off on the issue for 20 years, with the anti-slavery delegates hoping the issue would die down and slavery could eventually become abolished.

The United States would thus become the first nation to sign a law to ban the slave trade, although Great Britain would be the first to have the ban take place. The Parliament in Great Britain enacted a ban on the slave trade after the United States, but there was nothing preventing it from immediately going into effect. In essence, Great Britain had a law signed second but enacted first, while the United States had a law signed first but enacted second.

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart and exploded as it attempted to reenter Earth's atmosphere. This disintegration (and later explosion) was due to the insulating foam on the external tank. The foam was to prevent ice from forming on the tank and potentially causing danger if the ice and the temperature within the tank interacted with each other.

When the Columbia reentered the atmosphere, the hot and the cold temperature mixed, causing the explosion. The reason the foam broke off was due to pressure fluctuations and temperature changes, causing the gas to expand.

The cause of death of the seven astronauts was due to lack of oxygen as a result of depressurization; this process unexpectedly began when the Columbia jolted as a result of debris being shed. The fact that the astronauts did not activate the visors which would, at least for a while, would have protected them from depressurization indicates there was not enough time for the visors to be activated. Likewise, there was not enough time to send another space craft up to rescue them. The seven astronauts who perished were Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon.

President Herbet Hoover signed a bill on March 4, 1931, that made "The Star-Spangled Banner" the national anthem of the United States. The song, however, dated back to the War of 1812, and, more specifically, the Battle of Fort McHenry.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was originally called "The Defense of Fort McHenry", and it was written by the attorney Francis Scott Key. There was a captive on a ship named William Beanes, and Key had argued for his freedom, which the British granted. However, the ship was to go into battle, so the people were detained. When the battle was over, Key was unsure whether the Americans won or the British won, so he used a telescope to discover the American flag was still flying.

He started writing the poem that would become the national anthem at the time, but finished it at a later date, and the poem was about his experience during the ordeal. "O! say can you see by the dawn's early light" describes wanting to see if the flag was waving. "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" meant that the flag was still there, since there was still fighting, and the British had wanted to continue the fighting until they won. Since there was still fighting, the British had not won and replaced the American flag with its own.

"The Defense of Fort McHenry" was renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner" around the
1890s, which was also around the time it was first used for official purposes (in this case, by the navy). In 1916, Woodrow Wilson ordered it be played at military occasions, such as the raising and lowering of the flag. However, it wasn't until 1931 that it become the official national anthem. Prior to that, there were unofficial anthems, but no official anthem.

The Battle of Fort Sumter occurred near Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12 and 13, 1861. Prior to this, seven states had already seceded from the Union due to their stance on slavery. When South Carolina seceded, its citizens thought they should also have control of Fort Sumter, since it was in their state. Those in the Union believed the fort belonged to them, since the fort was federally owned, meaning South Carolina had no claim to it.

The fort was running out of supplies, so President Abraham Lincoln decided to send basic provisions, but no troops or weapons unless attacked, and he also let Governor Pickens know this. The Confederate soldiers refused to allow the provisions to come, and they fired on the Union soldiers. These were the first shots of the American Civil War. In the end, the Confederates won the battle.
Two years later, there would be a second battle of Fort Sumter where Union soldiers attempted once again, but failed to regain the fort.

Segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on May 17, 1954, in the case of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka". Oliver Brown's daughter was denied the ability to go to the school nearest to her home, since it was a school for whites. He sued the school board, not only on his daughter's behalf, but on the behalf of five black students. Arguing on Brown's behalf was the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Thurgood Marshall, who himself sat on the court about thirteen years afterwards.

The decision was unanimous; in fact, Chief Justice Earl Warren made it his mission to make the decision unanimous, even though only a majority of votes was needed. This is because Warren believed anything less than a unanimous vote would cause massive protests in some areas of the United States, particularly in the South. This isn't to say he believed there would be no protests with a unanimous vote, just a less likely chance. A unanimous decision would also send a clear message to the country on what the position with regards to segregation should be. It is no exaggeration to call this decision a major turning point in the civil rights movement.

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that approved a national flag. The design of the flag was stated in the resolution: thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating between red and white, as well as thirteen white stars on a blue field. Later bills would allow for the addition of new stars upon the admission of new states into the Union. The stripes on the flag have always started with red, even though no resolution has specified which color to start with, only that they should be alternating.

Flag Day was first proposed at the beginning of the Civil War to show patriotism, but it wasn't until 1916 that President Wilson designated June 14th as Flag Day, and 1949 when President Truman signed a bill into law that June 14th should be celebrated as Flag Day. In 1937, Pennsylvania made Flag Day a state holiday, becoming the first state to do so.

When many federal government officials (either an incumbent or a retired official) die, a period of mourning is held, and the president issues a proclamation that the flag be flown at half-staff. The number of days depend on the position held. This proclamation, however, is not enforced, so if a flag is not flown at half-staff, no penalty occurs.

American Independence was declared on July 4, 1776, so any time America celebrates its independence, it will be on July 4th. That being said, the festivities associated with an anniversary can last longer, as was the case on its bicentennial in 1976. There were fireworks over major cities, a parade in Washington D.C., a recreation of George Washington crossing the Delaware River, and Washington being posthumously appointed to General of the Armies of the United States. It was at this time that Washington, by law, would always be the highest ranked military officer.

Gerald Ford was president during the bicentennial, and this celebration helped Americans through a period of time when they distrusted the government. The Watergate scandal had become public in 1974, Congressional committees, such as the Church Committee, revealed shady activities done by the government. For example, MKUltra, a program that involved using drugs to force confessions and which had been described as a form of brainwashing was made public, along with the so-called heart attack gun, which could be silently fired and the poison from the gun would enter the victim, leaving him/her dead with no trace of the poison.

Ford insisted that the Bicentennial should occur, so that faith could be restored. Indeed, Ford said that the theme would be renewal and rebirth.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Germany had surrendered in May of 1945, and Italy even earlier, but Japan wished to prolong the war.

When Harry Truman become president, he learned of the development of the atomic bomb and decided that the lives saved by using the atomic bomb would be greater than the lives saved by continuing the war with Japan. Even so, the Allied Forces wished to minimize the loss of innocent lives. They sent planes over Japan, dropping leaflets with a warning of the damage an atomic bomb could do and telling the Japanese citizens to flee the cities if they wanted to leave. The leaflets were dropped on Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and other cities.

When Japan refused to surrender after what happened in Hiroshima, more leaflets were dropped in Japan, to ensure that the Japanese people would know what happened, with the understanding that the Japanese government would either mislead or withhold what truly happened.

Allied Forces had previously captured the island of Saipan, and it was on this island that a radio station was used by them to talk directly with the Japanese citizens. When the Allied Forces requested Japan's surrender and Japan refused, the Allied Forces broadcasted this on the radio. Japan official surrendered on August 10, and the terms of the surrender were also broadcasted by the Allied Forces to the Japanese people.

Charles Guiteau shot President Garfield on July 2, 1881, although Garfield did not die until September 19. Guiteau shot Garfield because Guiteau felt that the president owed him a government job, a diplomatic position in Europe. The reason Guiteau felt this way was because he believed he helped swing the vote in Garfield's favor due to a letter he wrote in support of Garfield. In fact, Guiteau had wandered around Washington D.C. hoping to find someone who could convince Garfield to give him a job.

The doctors tried to remove the bullet from Garfield but were unsuccessful. In fact, had the doctors left the bullets in, it is probable Garfield would have survived. One of the people involved in trying to save Garfield's life was Alexander Graham Bell. He used an early prototype of a metal detector, but he was unsuccessful in detecting the bullet, since Garfield was put on a metal table. Although Guiteau tried to argue that the doctors, not he, were responsible for Garfield's death, he was unsuccessful, and was hanged on June 30, 1882.

Although the Battle of Yorktown began in September 1781, it didn't end until October 19, 1781. Even though it was the final major battle of the American Revolution, a peace treaty was not signed until 1783.

In this battle, the American troops were led by George Washington, and the British troops were led by Charles Cornwallis. Prior to the battle, Cornwallis had been waiting for a British fleet to assist him, but the French fleet, who had sided with the Americans, stopped the British fleet. Upon learning this, Cornwallis attempted to have his troops retreat across the York River. Several boats crossed the river, but several others didn't. This was due to the weather going from being calm to being a violent storm. Because of this split, Cornwallis's troops couldn't win against Washington's troops.

Considering he was surrounded and under constant bombardment, Cornwallis believed that his only solution was to surrender, losing the war, rather than just losing the battle. When it came time to surrender, Cornwallis said he was ill, so he had to send Charles O'Hara, his second-in-command, to officially surrender. O'Hara tried to surrender (by presenting his sword) to French General Rochambeau. However, Rochambeau refused, since Washington was the one in charge. Upon learning Cornwallis's second-in-command was doing the surrendering, Washington had Benjamin Lincoln, his second-in-command meet O'Hara and accept surrender, since Washington wouldn't personally accept surrender from anyone but Cornwallis. O'Hara presented his sword to Lincoln thus officially surrendering.

The first Armistice Day was celebrated on November 11, 1919, as established by President Woodrow Wilson. The event was a cause to celebrate the end of the First World War and the veterans who fought in that war. The event was celebrated with a parade, public meetings, a moment of silence, and a part of the day with no business being conducted.

The name of the holiday would be changed to Veterans' Day in 1954 by President Dwight Eisenhower. It was changed so that all veterans would be celebrated rather than just the veterans of one specific war. In 1971, Congress changed Veterans' Day from November 11 to the fourth Monday in October in order to have a three-day weekend. (Other holidays affected by this 1971 law include Columbus Day, Washington's Birthday, and Memorial Day.) Public outcry was so great that it was changed back to November 11 starting in 1978, although the other holidays remained on a Monday.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese military bombed Pearl Harbor. The Japanese leader who not only planned this mission but also led it (a rare thing to do both) was Commander Mitsuo Fuchida.

There were a few reasons for this bombing. One was due to Japan's lack of oil and America being the number one producing of oil in the 1940s. Oil was necessary, because their ships depended on the oil trade. When the United States placed an embargo on oil, in order to stop Japan's aggression as well as to limit its access to oil, it caused the Japanese government to take action.

Japan also believed the United States would be a military threat and could be the only country to stop Japan. By bombing Pearl Harbor, it would cripple America's military. Ironically, America may have stayed out of World War II if it had not been for the bombing, meaning there was no reason for Japan to fear America. Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is believed to have said or wrote in a letter, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant". Regardless of whether this true or apocryphal, this statement was factual.

It was the bombing of Pearl Harbor that President Roosevelt referred to as "a date which will live in infamy" in a speech before Congress, when he asked for the United States Congress to declare war on Japan.