An "A" in U.S. History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alligator Bridge

The Battle of Alligator Bridge took place on the southern front during the American Revolution. It took place in what is now Florida and was an attempt to capture the British part of Florida. The Georgia Minutemen were led by General James Screven and took on the British led by Thomas Brown. The British began to circle around the minutemen but the Americans were able to chase the British away. However, the Americans were led right into a larger British camp and were forced to retreat. It was a British win but did not lead to any substantial changes in territory, power or momentum.

Aquia Creek and Averasborough were both Civil War battles and Ambos Nogales was part of the Border Campaign of the 1910s between Mexico and the United States.

Answer: Apache

The U.S. and the Apache fought in various conflicts between 1849-1886 (though some skirmishes occurred as late as 1924) in what is known as the Apache Wars. The battles were mainly over American expansionism into western and native lands, including lands that once belonged to Mexico.

Cochise led his people during the Battle of Apache Pass. During what was supposed to be a peaceful meeting between the Americans and the Apache following the battle, American General James Carleton captured Apache leader Mangas Coloradas, Cochise's father-in-law. This led to Cochise leading various raids on American camps and settlers.

Geronimo was one of the Apache leaders who carried out many of the raids on both the Americans and Mexicans. He was captured and escaped American custody a few times during his life. He was sent to various reservations as a prisoner of war. By the time he died in 1909, Geronimo was something of a celebrity among the American people and often made public appearances at events such as the 1904 World's Fair.

Answer: Chester Alan Arthur

Arthur took officer after President James Garfield died from a gunshot wound on September 19, 1881. Arthur was from the branch of Stalwart Republicans, Republicans who were largely indebted to and supported the various political machines of the day. The so-called "half-breed" Republicans were the ones in favor of civil service reform. Garfield's assassin, Charles Guiteau, was an open Stalwart and his slaying of Garfield so Arthur could become president left a strong public mistrust in Arthur. However, Arthur signed the Pendelton Act which basically did away with large parts of the spoils system in which people would receive government positions in exchange for favors.

The signing of that law was a major turning point in the public's perception of Arthur.

Answer: Andover

The witch hunts in Andover occurred at the same time as the ones in Salem. The hunts in Andover were started by Joseph Ballard who believed his wife Elizabeth had been bewitched after several girls in the town told him his wife was possessed. Ultimately more than 40 people were tried and convicted but only 3 were hanged.

However, by 1693 most of the convictions were overturned and the accused were freed. They were not officially pardoned until 1713.

Answer: Alabama

Alabama was seen as one of the hubs of the Civil Rights Movement. It was home of the year long Montgomery Bus Boycott, in which African-Americans boycotted the public transit system in Alabama after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat on the bus to a white man in December 1955. The city of Birmingham also saw its share of civil rights fights for African-Americans. It is where Martin Luther King Jr. and others led the Birmingham campaign for racial integration and where King was arrested and wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail". The Gaston Motel in Birmingham, which served as a headquarters of the movement in the city, is now a national historic monument.

John Lewis, though a congressman from Georgia, was born in Troy, Alabama and served as Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was nearly killed by Alabama state troopers on Bloody Sunday during a march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. Sammy Younge Jr. was the first known African-American student to be killed during the Civil Rights Movement after he attempted to use the whites-only bathroom at a gas station in Tuskegee, Alabama. Tuskegee was also the birthplace of Rosa Parks whose refusal to give up her seat on the bus to a white man sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. When Parks boarded the bus, she did take a seat in the blacks-only section but was asked to sit further back to accommodate more white passengers. She refused and was arrested.

Answer: George Atzerodt

George Atzerodt was supposed to shoot Vice President Andrew Johnson at Kirkwood House. Instead, Atzerodt chickened out and drank all night. He made a crucial error by talking to people in the bar about Andrew Johnson, which raised suspicion when Lincoln was killed. He was ultimately captured and executed by hanging with other co-conspirators on July 7, 1865.

Samuel Arnold was another conspirator. He was supposed to kidnap Lincoln earlier in 1865 and hold him ransom for Confederate prisoners. He abandoned the group when Confederate and Union prisoners were being swapped already. Nonetheless, he was arrested and convicted for conspiracy after the Lincoln assassination but was later pardoned by Andrew Johnson.

Answer: Alsace-Lorraine should remain under German control

Wilson's point for Alsace-Lorraine was that it should be returned to France, not be kept under German control.

Wilson was the U.S. president during World War I and was a key player in worldwide and European peace after the war ended. His point about forming "an association of nations" led to the League of Nations, which the U.S. refused to join. The League of Nations was formed in the hopes that a group of nations could diplomatically resolve issues without having to go to war.

Wilson saw the absolute freedom of the seas a key to lasting peace since restricting sea navigation and trade often led to economic hardships that caused was and unrest.

Austria-Hungary, which had been one of the key antagonists during the war, was given autonomy over its own affairs, known as self-determination. Wilson believed that if Austria-Hungary was not given this autonomy, there could be another war of it among any of the European nations involved.

Answer: Agricultural Adjustment Act

The New Deal was a series of legislation during the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency aimed to improve the U.S. economy after the Great Depression. The Agricultural Adjustment Act allowed farmers to not plant crops on certain parts of their land in exchange for subsidies. Ranchers were allowed to kill and not sell certain percentages of their animals in exchange for subsidies as well.

The purpose was to reduce crop and animal surpluses and thus raise the values of the products. Prior to this law, farmers and ranchers could not afford to do this without the government subsidies.

The law was declared unconstitutional in 1936 because it violated states' rights over their agricultural sector. The law was revamped in 1938 to address those issues.

Answer: Atkins v. Virginia

The Supreme Court ruled that the mentally ill could not be executed as such an action would constitute a cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Court left it up to the individual states to decide what it meant to be mentally ill. In the case of Daryl Atkins, who was sentenced to death, he was found to be "mentally retarded" because his IQ was too low. Years later, the state of Virginia would try to execute Atkins again claiming that his intelligence had improved and he was no longer mentally ill.

His execution was stayed and eventually his sentence was commuted from death to life in prison. The Supreme Court would later more narrowly define "mentally ill" in 2014.

Answer: Affordable Care Act

The long form name of the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act but it commonly called just ACA or Obamacare. The name Obamacare was initially used derogatorily by the law's opponents but has since been used by Obama and the law's supporters as the approval for the law increased. One of the main goals of the law was to see the uninsured rate fall through a system of subsidies to buy healthcare through an online exchange and by expanding the Medicaid program.

The law was initially unpopular and caused huge Democratic losses in Congress during the 2010 Congressional Elections and was the victim of several conspiracy theories including the infamous death panels. Since the law's passage, support for the law has steadily increased from the high 30s when it was passed to the high 40s and low 50s by 2016 and 2017, according to various independent polling firms.