The Past Is a Foreign Country Quiz | Geography

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The state of Virginia used to include two cities, Wheeling and Charleston. What happened to them?

Answer: They were included in the new state of West Virginia when it was formed in 1863

The western counties of Virginia voted to split off from the rest of the state during the Civil War and formed the new state of West Virginia. They achieved statehood in 1863, with Wheeling as the capital. In 1885, the capital was finally settled in the more centrally located city of Charleston.

2. The first capital of Indiana was Corydon, in the extreme southern part of the state. It was named after the favorite hymn of a settler's daughter, "Pastoral Elegy", which told about a shepherd name Corydon. The capital was later moved to Indianapolis. Why was it changed?

Answer: Indianapolis was centrally located and people wanted a convenient capital

Corydon served as the capital of Indiana from its statehood in 1816 until 1825, when the seat of government was moved to the newly designed city of Indianapolis, located almost exactly in the center of the state. In the state's early years, most of the population lived in the southern part of the state so Corydon was convenient for travel, but as more settlers moved north and the population became more evenly distributed, people wanted a capital centrally located to everyone.

3. Massachusetts shrank by over 30,000 square miles in 1820 and never regained the area. What happened?

Answer: Maine split off as a separate state

The people of northern Massachusetts became increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of support and representation they had in the lower part of the state. They formed the state of Maine at the same time as Missouri also gained statehood in the Missouri compromise, which allowed one slave state and one free state (Maine) to join the union.

4. Ohio's first capital (1803-1810) was named after some of the Shawnee people. As whites encroached north, they relocated the capital to the geographic center of the state and gave it a suitably European name, Columbus, after Christopher Columbus. What was the name of the first capital?

Answer: Chillicothe

While all the answers are Ohio geographical names based on Native American words, Chillicothe was named after the Chala-ka-tha division of the Shawnee people. Wherever they settled, the village was named after the people, so there were actually several places called Chillicothe.

The second most well-known, called Old Chillicothe to distinguish it, is now the Ohio town of Oldtown. It was the home of Chief Blackfish who captured Daniel Boone and brought him there in 1778.

5. If the Mason Dixon line were extended, it would cross through this state. Not usually thought of as southern, this state still had a handful of slaves, or involuntary lifelong apprentices, living in it at the start of the Civil War. Which state is it?

Answer: New Jersey

New Jersey passed a law gradually abolishing slavery in 1804. Those born before 1804 were classified as indentured servants for life, according to an 1846 law that attempted to end slavery immediately in name while keeping it in fact. In the 1860 census, twelve elderly people were marked as slaves on the US census of New Jersey.

The Mason Dixon Line might have crossed the southern part of the state, except Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were hired to settle a Maryland boundary question so their surveyed line turns south, following the Maryland-Delaware border rather than running east through New Jersey.

6. The United States increased its territory by over half a million square miles in 1867. How did it do that?

Answer: Purchased Alaska from Russia

Russia and the U.S. were in competition during westward expansion in the early 1800s, but Russia lacked the funding necessary to win control of the Pacific coast. Russia offered Alaska to the U.S. in 1859, but the American Civil War delayed the purchase until 1867. U.S. Secretary of State William Seward negotiated purchase of the territory for $7.2 million that year. Though some doubted his decision, calling it "Seward's Folly", the discovery of gold in the Yukon in 1896 vindicated Seward's decision. Alaska achieved statehood in 1959.

7. When the Dakota Territory gained statehood as North and South Dakota in 1889, North Dakota kept the old territorial capital, Bismarck, which had been chosen in 1883. What was the previous territorial capital? It was in the southern part of the territory, but it sounds northern.

Answer: Yankton

The Dakota territory had two population centers in the 1880s, in the northeast and southeast corners, so residents were glad to see the territory split into two states with two capitals in 1889. Yankton served as the capital of the Dakota Territory from 1861 to 1883, when the seat of government was moved to Bismarck.

The name comes not from Yankee but from I-hank-ton-won, a Sioux word meaning "the end village". Upon statehood, South Dakota chose Pierre as its capital, due to its location in the center of the new state.

8. The United States has a few exclaves that can only be reached from the "lower 48" by water or by crossing foreign territory. What exclave was caused by the 1846 Treaty of Oregon, which drew the boundary between the U.S. and Canada straight across the 49th parallel? One nickname for the exclave includes the word "Bob".

Answer: Point Roberts

The U.S. and Canada had quibbled about the U.S. northwest boundary for a while, but they finally agreed on the 49th parallel to the sea, while giving all of Vancouver Island to Canada. It seemed an elegant solution, but they didn't realize a little part of a south-reaching peninsula would be part of Canada at the top and part of the U.S. at the bottom. Point Roberts, nicknamed Point Bob, has had a generally friendly relationship with Canada, with only a few tense moments over the years.

9. This U.S. state is over 5,000 miles from the Philippines, but its location made the U.S. want it as a refueling stop for ships headed there. Sugar profits were involved too. What U.S. state was it?

Answer: Hawaii

The U.S. annexed Hawaii as a territory in 1898, due to the crisis of the Spanish American War and the need to refuel U.S. Navy ships. There had long been controversy over white sugar growers on the island who wanted annexation with its lower taxes, and native Hawaiians who were happy with their queen, but annexation won out during the war.

The most infamous event connected with the naval bases in Hawaii came years later when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, one of the original refueling bases, in 1941, leading to U.S. involvement in World War II. Hawaii became a state in 1959.

10. Over a thousand miles from the U.S. mainland and more than 4,000 miles from Germany, the fate of these islands depended on both countries. The U.S. purchased them from Denmark for fear that Germany would use them as a submarine base, and they became U.S. territory in 1917. They were not named after Queen Elizabeth I, despite their name. What are they?

Answer: United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands were named by Christopher Columbus after the legendary virgin followers of St. Ursula. Denmark had owned them steadily since 1815. During World War I, the U.S. offered to purchase them from Denmark for $25 million in gold. A U.S. territory, the islands remained under close mainland control until 1968, when the citizens were first allowed to elect their own governor.

Source: Author littlepup

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The Past Is a Foreign Country Trivia Quiz

The U.S. has had many changes over the years. These geography-themed questions relate to its past.

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