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Great American Speeches Trivia Quiz

See if you recognize these quotes from ten very well known American speeches of the 20th century.

A multiple-choice quiz by pugslyandpolly. Estimated time: 7 mins.

Author
pugslyandpolly

Time
7 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
234,771

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
805

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. From which speech is this?

"It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'" Hint

Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream"

Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet"

Martin Luther King, "I've Been to the Mountaintop"

Barbara Jordan, "Speech at the Democratic National Convention"

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." Hint

Mario Cuomo, "Keynote Speech at the Democratic National Convention"

Ronald Reagan, "1981 Inaugural Address"

John F. Kennedy, "Inaugural Address"

Franklin D. Roosevelt, "1933 Inaugural Address"

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. "So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Hint

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "Arsenal of Democracy"

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "First Fireside Chat"

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "First Inaugural Address"

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "War Message"

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Question 4 of 10

4. "Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces-with the unbounding determination of our people-we will gain the inevitable triumph-so help us God." Hint

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "War Address"

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "The Four Freedoms"

Woodrow Wilson, "War Address"

Ronald Reagan, "Speech to the National Evangelical Association"

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. "One hundred and forty-four years ago, members of the Democratic Party first met in convention to select a Presidential candidate. Since that time, Democrats have continued to convene once every four years and draft a party platform and nominate a Presidential candidate. And our meeting this week is a continuation of that tradition. But there is something different about tonight. There is something special about tonight. What is different? What is special?" Hint

Geraldine Ferraro, "Acceptance Speech at the Democratic National Convention"

Jesse Jackson, "'The Rainbow Coalition' Speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention"

Mario Cuomo, "Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention"

Barbara Jordan, "Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention"

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. "And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it." Hint

Richard M. Nixon, "My Side of the Story"

Barbara Bush, "Commencement Speech at Wellesley College"

Barry Goldwater, "Acceptance Speech at the Republican National Convention"

Barbara Bush, "A Tribute to Millie"

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Question 7 of 10

7. "This is part of what's wrong with you -- you do too much singing. Today it's time to stop singing and start swinging. You can't sing up on freedom, but you can swing up on some freedom. Cassius Clay can sing, but singing didn't help him to become the heavy-weight champion of the world -- swinging helped him become the heavy-weight champion." Hint

Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet"

Louis Farrakhan, "Speech at the Million Man March"

Jesse Jackson, "Speech at the 1988 Democratic National Convention"

Stokely Carmichael, "Black Power"

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'" Hint

Bill Clinton, "Speech at the Prayer Service for the Victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing"

Richard Nixon, "Speech to the Nation on the Cambodian Incursion"

Ronald Reagan, "Address to the Nation after the Challenger Disaster"

Douglas MacArthur, "Farewell Address to U.S. Military Academy"

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. "I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish - where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source - where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials - and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all." Hint

Ronald Reagan, "Speech to the National Association of Evangelicals"

Mario Cuomo, "Religious Beliefs and Public Morality"

Adlai Stevenson, "Acceptance Speech at Democratic National Convention"

John F. Kennedy, "Speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association"

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. "What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of American negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause too. Because it's not just negroes but really it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice." Hint

John F. Kennedy, "Address to the Nation on Civil Rights"

Robert F. Kennedy, "Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr."

Richard M. Nixon, "The Great Silent Majority"

Lyndon B. Johnson, "Address to Congress on the Civil Rights Act"

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. From which speech is this? "It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'"

Answer: Martin Luther King, "I Have a Dream"

Did you recognize one of the most famous metaphors in American public address? Yes, it's from Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963 at a civil rights demonstration in Washington, D.C. Of course, other more familiar passages from the speech include the "let freedom ring" and "free at last" passages from the ending of the speech, and of course, the "I have a dream" portions of the speech.

Answer: John F. Kennedy, "Inaugural Address"

This passage is from John F. Kennedy's "Inaugural Address," delivered on January 20, 1961. Of course, the speech is best known for the challenge, "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." These passages beautifully illustrate President Kennedy's trademark rhetorical device, parallelism.

Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "First Inaugural Address"

Almost everyone associates this famous line with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but some may be less certain in which of his speeches the line appears. Was he challenging Americans to conquer their fear of economic depression? Hitler's advances? Japan's attack? This well-known passage is from FDR's first inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1933.

As one writer noted of the speech: "In a few minutes, he [FDR] achieved what had eluded [former President] Hoover for four wearying years: he gave back to his country men their hope and energy". (Brian MacArthur, "The Penguin Book of Twentieth-Century Speeches", p. 124).

Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "War Address"

It was difficult to select a passage from this speech that didn't give away the identity of the speech; almost every line refers to the attack of Japanese forces in 1941. Certainly, the opening line of the speech is one of the most well known in American history: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." The speech is FDR's "War Message," delivered on December 8, 1941 before the U.S. Congress and broadcast by radio to the American public.

Answer: Barbara Jordan, "Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention"

Many of you probably knew the response to the speaker's question, "What is special?" The answer: "I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker." Jordan (1936-1996) did make history that night as the first black female to deliver the keynote address at a major political convention. The speech was presented at the Democratic National Convention in New York City on July 12, 1976.

6. "And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it."

Answer: Richard M. Nixon, "My Side of the Story"

Richard Nixon was Dwight Eisenhower's vice presidential candidate in 1952. When his credibility was challenged (imagine that!) for accepting inappropriate gifts and mismanaging finances, Nixon delivered an emotional speech of self-defense ("My Side of the Story") that is sometimes colloquially known as "The Checkers Speech." Of course, Checkers was the name of the cocker spaniel puppy given to the Nixon family.

The Bush tribute speech is fictional, although Millie always seemed like a nice dog deserving of a tribute.

Answer: Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet"

Malcolm X (1925-1965), spokesman for the Nation of Islam, gave his infamous "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech on April 4, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio. Near the closing of the speech, he expressed the strength of his conviction: "It'll be the -- the ballot or it'll be the bullet.

It'll be liberty or it'll be death. And if you're not ready to pay that price don't use the word freedom in your vocabulary."

8. "We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

Answer: Ronald Reagan, "Address to the Nation after the Challenger Disaster"

Many of us remember where we were when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986. That evening, President Ronald Reagan delivered this speech to a shocked and grieving American public. White House speechwriter Peggy Noonan incorporated several lines from the poem "High Flight," written by World War II pilot John Gillespie Magee into the closing of Reagan's speech (B. MacArthur, Penguin Book, p. 449).

Answer: John F. Kennedy, "Speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association"

Kennedy's "Speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association" was delivered on September 12, 1960. As one writer observed, "Kennedy's speech had more than one audience and one purpose. He tried to persuade Catholics to consider his religion while trying to persuade Protestants to overlook it" (Ronald F. Reid, "Three Centuries of American Rhetorical Discourse", p. 706).

Answer: Lyndon B. Johnson, "Address to Congress on the Civil Rights Act"

The next line of the speech is its most famous: "And we shall overcome." President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered this address to the full U.S. Congress on March 15, 1965, just one week after race riots in Selma, Alabama. As one writer noted, the speech is a "perfect example of using what Theodore Roosevelt had called the 'bully pulpit,' the moral authority of the presidency as a platform for leading the American democracy" (http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/40.htm; accessed 7/6/06). In 1999, American public address scholars were surveyed to determine which speeches they believed to be the best speeches of the 20th century. Speeches were evaluated based on rhetorical artistry and their impact.

The ten questions in this quiz pertain to the speeches ranked 1-10 on the list. To see the complete list of "Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century," visit www.news.wisc.edu/misc/view.php?get=speeches/index

Source: Author pugslyandpolly

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