US History Literacy Pre-Test

Name ______Date ______

  1. The first permanent English settlement in US was in
  2. Jamestown
  3. Boston
  4. New York
  5. St. Augustine
  6. The first permanent European settlement in US was in
  7. Jamestown
  8. Boston
  9. New York
  10. St. Augustine
  11. The Declaration of Independence was signed in
  12. 1492
  13. 1640
  14. 1776
  15. 1861
  16. The French and Indian War was fought between
  17. The Americans and British
  18. The English and the French
  19. The French and Indians
  20. The Americans and the English
  21. The Civil War was fought
  22. 1687 - 1691
  23. 1776 - 1780
  24. 1861 - 1865
  25. 1917 - 1921
  26. The President during the Civil War was
  27. Washington
  28. Lincoln
  29. Jefferson
  30. Jackson
  31. The general in charge of the Confederate forces was
  32. Jackson
  33. Lincoln
  34. Jefferson
  35. Lee
  36. A person who wanted to end slavery in the US was called a
  37. Nullifier
  38. Freedom Fighter
  39. Lincolner
  40. Abolitionist
  41. Women received the right to vote in federal elections in
  42. 1776
  43. 1820
  44. 1920
  45. 1963
  1. Who spoke out against taxation without representation by saying, "Give me liberty or give me death!"?
  2. King George III
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. Patrick Henry
  5. Benjamin Franklin
  6. He wrote the Declaration of Independence
  7. Thomas Jefferson
  8. Thomas Paine
  9. John Hancock
  10. George Washington
  11. The Korean War started in
  12. 1861
  13. 1914
  14. 1939
  15. 1950
  16. World War II started in
  17. 1861
  18. 1914
  19. 1939
  20. 1950
  21. What event in the early 1900's sparked a tremendous wave of Mexican immigration into the United States?
  22. An influenza outbreak in Mexico City
  23. The Mexican Revolution
  24. Famine
  25. a depression
  26. The Revolutionary War Started in
  27. 1678
  28. 1756
  29. 1775
  30. 1861
  31. 1914
  32. 22 men, including five African Americans, seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, hoping to ignite a slave rebellion. Who was their leader?
  33. Nat Turner
  34. Gabriel Prosser
  35. John Brown
  36. O.J. Simpson
  37. The Spanish American War was fought in
  38. 1497
  39. 1598
  40. 1780
  41. 1898
  42. 1935
  43. The Mormons were persecuted because they believed :
  44. There was more than one god.
  45. Everyone should be armed.
  46. Everyone should have slaves.
  47. You could have more than one wife.
  1. Who was the first Black American woman Secretary ofState, appointed in 2005?
  2. Condoleezza Rice
  3. Roberta Weaver
  4. Patricia Harris
  5. Colleen Powell
  6. The anti-slavery novel written in 1852 by Harriet Beecher Stowe was
  7. Huckleberry Finn
  8. Tom Sawyer
  9. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
  10. Gone with the Wind
  11. The Pilgrims came in
  12. 1492
  13. 1520
  14. 1620
  15. 1720
  16. The Emancipation Proclamation, freeing some of the slaves, was issued in
  17. 1776
  18. 1640
  19. 1863
  20. 1917
  21. The president of the Confederacy was
  22. Robert E. Lee
  23. Jefferson Davis
  24. Stonewall Jackson
  25. Thomas Jefferson
  26. The Union general who later became president was
  27. Robert E. Lee
  28. George Custer
  29. Benjamin Franklin
  30. Ulysses S. Grant
  31. The future American President who was a hero during the Spanish-American war was
  32. John F. Kennedy
  33. Teddy Roosevelt
  34. Herbert Hoover
  35. Dwight Eisenhower
  36. Former slave who helped lead the fight for freedom
  37. Robert E. Lee
  38. Patrick Henry
  39. Frederick Douglass
  40. Uncle Tom
  41. The invention that made slavery more profitable
  42. Steam Engine
  43. Cotton Gin
  44. Planting turbine
  45. The Reaping Machine
  46. During World War II we fought against
  47. Japan, Germany and France
  48. France, Germany and England
  49. Germany, Italy and Japan
  50. Italy, England and Japan
  1. Before the Europeans arrived there were about how many different Indian tribes in North America?
  2. 7
  3. 20
  4. 500
  5. 3000
  6. The Pilgrims came to America
  7. to hunt for gold
  8. for religious freedom
  9. to farm
  10. to escaped from wars
  11. The famous American witch trial took place in
  12. Boston
  13. Philadelphia
  14. Salem
  15. Fairfield
  16. In U.S. history, Prohibition meant
  17. the closing of U.S. borders to new immigrants
  18. the outlawing of slavery
  19. laws forbidding the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages
  20. state regulations against collective bargaining
  21. The American senator who said that there were Communists in our government was
  22. Sen. Lawrence
  23. Sen. McCarthy
  24. Sen. Einstein
  25. Sen. Lenin
  26. On what country did the US drop atomic bombs?
  27. France
  28. Korea
  29. Viet Nam
  30. Japan
  31. The Viet Nam war ended in
  32. 1937
  33. 1973
  34. 1996
  35. Famous American inventor who signed the Declaration of Independence (and is on 100 dollar bill)
  36. Jefferson
  37. Washington
  38. Franklin
  39. Lincoln
  40. First man on the moon was
  41. John Glenn
  42. Peter Shepard
  43. Neil Armstrong
  44. John Marcietta
  45. We first landed on the moon in
  46. 1917
  47. 1937
  48. 1948
  49. 1969
  1. The president who was forced to resign was
  2. Lincoln
  3. Bush
  4. Clinton
  5. Nixon
  6. The WorldTradeCenter was destroyed by terrorists in
  7. 1968
  8. 1983
  9. 1992
  10. 2001
  11. A famous American Muslim leader who was assassinated was
  12. Gandhi
  13. Malcolm X
  14. Martin Luther King
  15. Robert Kennedy
  16. A Supreme Court ruling that said separate but equal was unfair was
  17. Brown vs. the Board of Education
  18. Marbury vs. Madison
  19. Kellerman vs. State of Mississippi
  20. Lawrence vs. State of Georgia
  21. The Cuban Missile Crisis involved the US and
  22. France
  23. Iraq
  24. Russia
  25. Korea
  26. A big portion of the US fleet was sunk in WWII at
  27. Gettysburg
  28. Pearl Harbor
  29. Iowa Jima
  30. Cape Canaveral
  31. He was elected President four times
  32. Washington
  33. Lincoln
  34. Roosevelt
  35. Bush
  36. The Great Depression started in
  37. 1829
  38. 1879
  39. 1929
  40. 1959
  41. The ship on which the Pilgrims came
  42. Santa Maria
  43. Mayflower
  44. Amistad
  45. The ship on which Columbus came
  46. Santa Maria
  47. Mayflower
  48. Amistad
  49. GoodShip Hope
  1. The ship on which the slaves revolted
  2. Santa Maria
  3. Mayflower
  4. Amistad
  5. Who were the first three presidents of the United States?
  6. Washington, Adams, Jefferson
  7. Washington, Jefferson, Franklin
  8. Washington, Hamilton, Madison
  9. Washington, Madison, Jackson
  10. To pay for the French & Indian War, the British government made a law that said the colonists had to ______
  11. drink tea.
  12. close the seaport to Boston.
  13. send tax money to Great Britain.
  14. come back to Great Britain.
  15. The war between the colonies and Great Britain was called the ______
  16. American Revolution.
  17. French & Indian War.
  18. Seven Years War.
  19. Civil War.
  20. The colony of Connecticut was founded by ______
  21. William Hutchinson.
  22. King Philip.
  23. Thomas Hooker
  24. John Winthrop.
  25. To keep their people from leaving the Communists built a wall across what city?
  26. Paris
  27. Berlin
  28. Prague
  29. Quebec
  30. In colonial government, all the following groups were restricted from voting EXCEPT ______
  31. enslaved persons.
  32. Native Americans.
  33. women property owners.
  34. white male property owners over the age of 21.
  35. The Southern slave codes did all of the following EXCEPT ______
  36. forbid enslaved persons to carry weapons.
  37. prohibit enslaved persons from holding meetings
  38. require enslaved Africans to learn to read.
  39. treat enslaved people as both persons and property.
  40. The term "Middle Passage" refers to the ______
  41. banks of a number of slow-flowing rivers in Virginia.
  42. lower class Southern farmers who worked for big planters.
  43. route of slave trips between Africa and America.
  44. raids made by slave traders in Africa.
  45. We think the first Europeans to reach the New World were :
  46. Columbus and his crew
  47. Marco Polo and his camels
  48. The Vikings
  49. Vasco deGama and his mates
  50. Who was the youngest US president when his term began in 1901?
  51. John Kennedy
  52. Theodore Roosevelt
  53. Bill Clinton
  54. Ben Franklin
  55. Which famous frontiersman died at the Alamo?
  56. Daniel Boone
  57. Jerimiah Johnson
  58. Davy Crockett
  59. William Tell
  60. The Indian people of the ______built their homes out of a type of sun-dried mud bricks called adobe.
  61. Southwest
  62. Plains
  63. East
  64. North
  65. The scandal that helped bring down President Nixon was
  66. Teapot Dome
  67. Pentagon Papers
  68. Waterworld
  69. Watergate
  70. The Russian satellite that was launched in 1957 was
  71. Sputnik
  72. Apotivak
  73. Malinivik
  74. Lenin I
  75. Who made the "Midnight Ride" to alarm the country side that British troops were landing at Cambridge, Massachusetts during the American Revolution?
  76. Franklin
  77. Jefferson
  78. Revere
  79. Johnson
  80. Puerto Rico became a territory of the US because of
  81. World War I
  82. World War II
  83. The Spanish-American War
  84. The US-Mexican War
  85. About what percentage of Americans are black?
  86. 5%
  87. 12%
  88. 40%
  89. 50%
  90. The ______, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the United States' opinion that European powers should no longer colonize or interfere in the Americas.
  91. Truman Doctrine
  92. Monroe Doctrine
  93. Kennedy Doctrine
  94. Jackson Doctrine
  1. The period between 1945 and 1980 in which the US and Russia both tried to expand their influence in the world is known as
  2. The Domino War
  3. The Berlin War
  4. The Candy War
  5. The Cold War
  6. Which president was not assassinated?
  7. Lincoln
  8. McKinley
  9. Johnson
  10. Kennedy
  11. In what state is the White House located in?
  12. New York
  13. Virginia
  14. No State
  15. Washington
  16. Which of the following was an American traitor?
  17. Thomas Lawrence
  18. John Paul Jones
  19. Paul Revere
  20. Benedict Arnold
  21. What state did the Mormons finally settle in?
  22. Connecticut
  23. Utah
  24. California
  25. Montana
  26. What were the last two states added to the United States.
  27. Montana and Utah
  28. Alaska and Maine
  29. Hawaii and Alaska
  30. Hawaii and Utah
  31. How many stripes are there on the flag?
  32. 7
  33. 9
  34. 11
  35. 13
  36. In the War of 1812 we fought against?
  37. France
  38. Spain
  39. England
  40. Germany
  41. When did the foreign slave trade end in the United States?
  42. 1776
  43. 1808.
  44. 1863.
  45. 1880
  46. The United States bought Alaska from
  47. France
  48. Russia
  49. England
  50. Canada
  1. What do we call the period following the Civil War?
  2. post-War years
  3. The golden years
  4. Reconstruction
  5. the twilight years
  6. When did Chinese workers begin to build the Transcontinental Railroad?
  7. 1865
  8. 1900
  9. 1915
  10. 1935
  11. What state is home to nearly two-thirds of all Cuban Americans?
  12. New York
  13. Florida
  14. California
  15. Utah
  16. Texas
  17. Who established the National Farm Workers Association in 1962, and later led a successful nationwide boycott of grapes?
  18. Romana Acosta Banuelos
  19. Cesar Estrada Chavez
  20. Henry Gabriel Cisneros
  21. Steve Campos
  22. The 1925 trial of John Scopes involved a conflict between
  23. communists and industrialists
  24. science and religion
  25. the Ku Klux Klan and civil rights advocates
  26. supporters and opponents of a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages
  27. What European nation originally colonized Florida?
  28. England
  29. Spain
  30. France
  31. Portugal
  32. Who has traditionally been given credit for sewing the first American flag?
  33. Betsy Ross
  34. Martha Washington
  35. Francis Hopkins
  36. Dolly Madison
  37. "The Battle of Normandy" took place during what war?
  38. World War I
  39. World War II
  40. The Korean War
  41. The Vietnam War
  42. The Bay of Pigs episode took place when
  43. Cuban exiles from Florida landed in Cuba in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro
  44. U.S. troops invaded Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa
  45. UN forces undertook an amphibious landing behind enemy lines in Korea
  46. U.S. marines were sent by President Lyndon Johnson to the Dominican Republic
  1. The term "Seward's Folly" refers to
  2. the purchase of Alaska negotiated by Secretary of State William Seward
  3. the impeachment of Andrew Johnson urged by Secretary of State William Seward
  4. the cornering of gold by financier George Seward, which led to the stock market crash of 1869
  5. the Great Fire of Chicago, which started in Seward's Tavern
  6. Who is traditionally known as "The Father of the United States Constitution"?
  7. Benjamin Franklin
  8. James Madison
  9. John Hancock
  10. Thomas Jefferson
  11. Who contributed to the Revolutionary War by providing military leadership as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army?
  12. George Washington
  13. Richard Henry Lee
  14. Benedict Arnold
  15. John Paul Jones
  16. "The shot heard 'round the world" happened here.
  17. Lexington, Massachusetts
  18. Boston, Massachusetts
  19. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  20. Jamestown, Virginia
  21. This document states that "all men are created equal," everyone has the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and that the colonies were "free and independent states."
  22. The Declaration of Independence
  23. The Bill of Rights
  24. The Constitution
  25. The Stamp Act
  26. One of the most famous residents of Jamestown, Virginia, was
  27. William Penn
  28. Pocahontas
  29. Lord Baltimore
  30. James I
  31. The New Deal was the name given to
  32. Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy
  33. Harry S. Truman's domestic programs
  34. Franklin D. Roosevelt's social and economic reforms
  35. Lyndon B. Johnson's social programs
  36. Valley Forge was the site of an encampment by
  37. Union troops under Grant during the winter of 1863
  38. federal troops under Lee preceding the Harpers Ferry raid
  39. British forces under Cornwallis in 1783
  40. the Continental army under Washington in 1777-1778
  41. An oil reserve called Teapot Dome gave its name to
  42. a scandal involving bribery during the Harding administration
  43. a corrupt group of New York City Democrats under Boss Tweed
  44. an energy commission set up by Jimmy Carter
  45. an act of rebellion by Boston colonists
  46. Aided by an Indian woman named Sacajawea, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
  47. led a party of explorers to the fountain of youth
  48. defeated Chief Sitting Bull at Little Bighorn
  49. charted a route from Missouri to the Pacific
  50. helped defeat the Apaches
  1. What important event took place in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848?
  2. Women met to call for their rights as citizens.
  3. The Johnstown Flood killed over two thousand people.
  4. A revolution led Joseph Smith to create the Book of Mormon.
  5. The Erie Canal was completed.
  6. Gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848 by James Marshall and it
  7. justified the purchase of Alaska
  8. ensured the conversion of paper money to gold
  9. brought 100,000 settlers into a new territory
  10. made millionaires of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller
  11. Harriet Tubman is primarily known for
  12. founding the first college for black students
  13. spying for Confederate forces during the Civil War
  14. leading slaves north on the Underground Railroad
  15. her work with the suffragist movement
  16. Through the Marshall Plan, the United States
  17. aided European economies after World War II
  18. supplied arms to developing nations in the 1970s
  19. allied with France and Great Britian in 1917
  20. developed plans for the League of Nations