Franklin Pierce Trivia Quiz

Answer: lieutenant

Benjamin Pierce fought at Bunker Hill and Saratoga and spent the infamous winter with the troops at Valley Forge. He left the army in 1784 as a company commander.

Answer: Hillsborough

Pierce was born on November 23, 1804 in Hillsborough, New Hampshire on the banks of the Contoocook River.

Answer: Bowdoin

In 1824, Pierce graduated from Bowdoin College 5th in a class of 14.

Answer: Contreras

Pierce was injuried during the battle of Contreras when his horse paniced, driving Pierce against the pommel of his saddle. Pierce passed out due to the pain.

Answer: 49th

Pierce did not even record any votes for president during the 1852 Democratic Convention in Baltimore till the 35th ballot when Virginia casts their votes for him as a compromise candidate. Support increased for him on every ballot after until he won the nomination on the 49th ballot.

Answer: Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott was the commander of US forces during the Mexican War. He won the Whig nomination on the 53rd ballot, defeating President Millard Fillmore.

Answer: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hawthorne and Pierce met each other while attending Bowdoin College and remain friends the rest of their lives. In fact, Pierce had taken Hawthorne to the White Mountains in 1864 in an effort to help Hawthorne regain his health. Pierce was, in fact, in the bedroom next door when Hawthorne died.

Answer: 4

Scott won Kentucky, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Vermont in the election, losing to Pierce in the electoral college 252-42.

Answer: Havana, Cuba

At the time of the election, King was terminally ill with tuberculosis and travelled to Havana to seek treatment. Congress passed special legislation allowing King to take the oath of office in Havana, which he did. He then returned to his home in Alabama, where he died one month after being sworn in.

Answer: death of his only remaining son

Pierce's only remaining son, Benjamin, was the only victim of a train wreck that occured on January 6, 1853, shortly after the train had left Andover, Massachusetts for Concord, New Hampshire, where the Pierces were going to attend a funeral for a family friend.

Answer: no one

Davis served as war secretary during the entirety of the Pierce administration. Matter of fact, there was not one change in any cabinet position throughout Pierce's entire term in office.

Answer: US minister to Mexico

Gadsden was the president of the South Carolina Railroad Company from 1840 to 1850 and promoted the construction of a transcontinental railroad by a southern route. Gadsden was appointed US minister to Mexico in 1853 by Pierce to acquire the neccessary land. Gadsden died in 1858.

Answer: Stephen Douglas

Douglas was the Illinois senator famous for his debates with Abraham Lincoln in 1858. He was the Democratic nominee for president in 1860, losing in a rematch to Lincoln. Douglas died in 1861 and is buried in Chicago.

Answer: Nicaragua

Walker served as president of Nicaragua from 1856 to 1857. Eventually, he fell out of favor with the US and the US navy arranged his removal from office in 1857. Walker's dream was to unite all the nations of Central America under one government. After one more attempt to acheive his goal in 1860, in Honduras, he was captured by the British Navy who turned him over to Honduras, who then executed him by firing squad.

Answer: Ulysses S. Grant

Pierce grew unpopular in the north because of his anti-war stance during the Civil War. Pierce died October 8, 1869 in Concord, New Hampshire. He was given a funeral accorded a former president of the United States. It wasn't until 1914 that the state of New Hampshire erected a statue to Pierce on the capital grounds and it wasn't until 1946 that a granite marker was placed on his grave in the Old North Cemetary in Concord.