Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Christopher Columbus' voyage to the Americas in 1492 opened up a new era in world history. What country sponsored his expedition?
2. The coming of Columbus and other Europeans to the Americas brought many changes to the Americas, some of them positive and others negative. What affected the native population of North America most severely?
3. The first English settlements were failures--it was not until tobacco was discovered as a cash crop and strong administrators took advantage of the economics. This man established an order that Virginia become a viable colony.
4. In the eighteenth century, the American colonies became much more a part of the world economic system. Their local economies had matured, and were now producing crops and goods that were in demand in Europe and elsewhere. To cope with this demand for goods, especially for labor intensive agricultural products, these colonies increasingly turned to slave labor.
5. In the late 1730s and the 1740s, a religious revival swept across the land. It was in part a response to the loosening of colonial religious controls, but also a response to the uncertainty of the times. This period of American history is referred to as:
6. In order to avoid or limit potential problems with Native Americans, England had also closed much of the West to settlement, angering many colonists who were anxious to move into the rich and fertile Ohio Valley. This, and another thorny issue caused anger and resentment to grow in the colonies. Name this other issue.
7. In the few years preceding the American Revolution, the city of Boston was a powder keg just waiting to explode. In March of 1770, some British troops responded to a snowball attack by local young men by firing back, killing five colonists. What was the name given to this historical event?
8. In April 1775, British forces under General Thomas Gage attempted to march from Boston to these nearby villages in order to seize supplies that the colonials had stored there for their local militiamen, known as Minutemen. The American Revolution was underway.
9. Violent action having begun, the Second Continental Congress debated what steps to take against Britain. They drafted this document.
10. The overwhelming superiority of the British army forced the American forces out of the major cities during the brutal winters of the Revolutionary War. The tide of the war changed, however, when this nation threw its support behind the colonies.
11. One interesting story is that of women who fought in the Revolutionary War as men. This woman is probably the most famous.
12. The revolution behind the colonies, ties with France became strained, and England's naval superiority grew. Which new war with England broke out early in the next century?
13. Conflicts turned inward. As the North became increasingly industrialized after 1840, the differences between the North and the South became more and more apparent. The south produced this product, and was becoming more dependent on the north financially.
14. This political Party was formed in Wisconsin in the 1850s and was largely supported by Northerners who favored its anti-slavery policies.
15. Literary sources can be useful and interesting in discovering the history of a particular era. This novel, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was one of the most influential novels of the 1850s.
16. With the election of this anti-slavery Republican candidate for President, the Southern states decided they had to take drastic action in order to protect their own interests.
17. The first battle of the Civil War occurred when Brigadier General Pierre G. T. Beauregard formally requested that this fort be surrendered.
18. Although the location and timing of the Battle of Gettysburg was almost an accident, the fact that a huge battle took place in Pennsylvania in July 1863 was certainly no accident. The commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had chosen a course that meant a major battle was almost unavoidable. Who was this commander?
19. By late 1864, the South was exhausted and bleeding, and victory was near for Union troops, and in April 1865 the Confederacy surrendered. Unfortunately, Lincoln never had time to appreciate his victory. He was assassinated by this man, just five days after Lee surrendered at Appomattox.
20. Upon the assassination of Lincoln, the Presidency fell upon an old-fashioned southern Jacksonian Democrat of pronounced states' rights views. Who was this man?
Source: Author
Terry
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