205 US History Trivia Questions(and Answers)
In this article, we have got 200+ US history trivia questions and answers for your next quiz night.
From the signing date of the Declaration of Independence to the true origins of Chicago’s notoriously windy moniker, American history is replete with hugely popular myths and facts.
And these questions are going to check your knowledge of all these different things.
To make things easy for you, we have also provided the answers to these questions.
Let’s look at these questions now.
What Makes US History Trivia Questions So Engaging?
The US History Trivia Questions are a great icebreaker game for class activities and team building.
You can enjoy the most amusing moments with your pals by answering these fascinating questions.
To successfully host a quiz competition, divide the event into multiple rounds.
You may configure the game based on the categories we have provided below.
Best US History Trivia Questions
Do you know who was the first to discover America? Who was the country’s first president? Learn the best facts about the country of liberty by going through these American history trivia questions.
1. Who was the first President of the United States?
Answer: George Washington.
2. For how much did the United States purchase the Louisiana Territory?
Answer: $15 Million.
3. Who was the President of the United States during the American Civil War?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln.
4. How many American colonies originally rebelled against Britain?
Answer: 13.
5. From what years did the American Civil War Happen?
Answer: 1861-1865.
6. Which Asian empire made the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor?
Answer: Japan.
7. The Watergate Scandal involved the administration of which United States President?
Answer: Richard Nixon.
8. On which date did the attack on Pearl Harbor happen?
Answer: December 7.
9. Who was the first signer of the American Declaration of Independence?
Answer: John Hancock.
10. Which President Implemented the New Deal during the 1930s?
Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt.
11. Which class of warships wasn’t damaged and destroyed during the attack on Pearl Harbor?
Answer: Aircraft Carriers.
12. Which famous Founding Father was also a scientist who contributed to Physics with his studies in Electricity?
Answer: Benjamin Franklin.
13. Which state became the 50th state of the United States?
Answer: Hawaii.
14. Which of these United States Presidents didn’t die while in office?
Answer: Harry Truman.
15. The infamous Tea Party which protested Taxation without Representation happened on the harbour of which American city?
Answer: Boston.
16. Which side won the American Civil War, the north or the south?
Answer: The North.
17. In which year did the United States declare its independence?
Answer: 1776.
18. In what year did the American Constitution first come into force?
Answer: 1789.
19. From which country did the United States purchase the Louisiana Territory?
Answer: France.
20. Who killed Abraham Lincoln?
Answer: John Wilkes Booth.
21. Which of these men weren’t one of the authors of the Federalist Papers?
Answer: Benjamin Franklin.
22. What was the first battle of the American Revolution?
Answer: Battle of Lexington and Concorde.
23. Who was the famous adventure duo who commanded an expedition to explore the newly acquired Louisiana territory in 1803?
Answer: Lewis and Clark.
24. How many soldiers from both sides died in the American Civil War?
Answer: 618,222.
25. Who wrote the lyrics for the US National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner?
Answer: Francis Scott Key.
26. Who was the blond bombshell who famously sang a sultry happy birthday song to John F Kennedy?
Answer: Marylyn Monroe.
27. Which President was the first to live in the White House?
Answer: John Adams.
28. Which country did the US fight in the War of 1812?
Answer: United Kingdom.
29. Who was the President of the southern states during the American Civil War?
Answer: Jefferson Davis.
30. Who was the first ever director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)?
Answer: John Edgar Hoover.
31. What was the name of the herbicide used by American forces during the Vietnam War?
Answer: Agent Orange.
32. Who was the 10th President of the United States?
Answer: John Tyler.
33. What was the last major land battle of the American Revolution?
Answer: Siege of Yorktown.
34. Who was the German Officer who wrote the Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, or commonly known as the “Blue Book,” during the American Revolution and who was also credited as being a leading figure in reforming the Continental Army into a disciplined fighting force?
Answer: Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben.
35. Who was the commander of the American forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968?
Answer: William Westmoreland.
36. What was the Wall Street Crash of October 29, 1929 called?
Answer: Black Tuesday.
37. What was the name of the play being performed when Abraham Lincoln was shot in the theatre?
Answer: Our American Cousin.
38. Which State became the 14th state of the United States?
Answer: Vermont.
Easy US History Trivia Questions
If you just want to have fun while playing American history trivia, try answering these common trivia questions about American history. You will be able to answer them without breaking a sweat.
1. When was the Declaration of Independence signed?
Answer: August 2, 1776.
2. Which four presidents are on Mount Rushmore?
Answer: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt.
3. Fill in the blank: The 19th Amendment guarantees ____ the right to vote
Answer: Women.
4. Who was the first woman to make a million dollars in the United States?
Answer: Madam C.J. Walker.
5. The United States bought Alaska from which country?
Answer: Russia.
6. What was the name of the series of programs and projects President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted during The Great Depression?
Answer: The New Deal.
7. Which year was George H.W. Bush elected president?
Answer: 1988.
8. What do the stripes on the American flag represent?
Answer: The 13 original colonies.
9. Who was the fourth president of the United States?
Answer: James Madison.
10. Which era marked a switch from agricultural practices to industrial practices?
Answer: The Industrial Revolution.
11. Where was Martin Luther King, Jr. born?
Answer: Atlanta, Georgia.
12. Which two Native American leaders led Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in the fight against Lieutenant Colonel George Custer’s troops in the Battle of Little Bighorn?
Answer: Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.
13. Finish the line President Franklin D. Roosevelt said during his speech addressing the attack on Pearl Harbor: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941…”
Answer: “A date which will live in infamy”.
14. What was the name of the landmark Supreme Court case that ruled the racial segregation of schools unconstitutional?
Answer: Brown v. Board of Education.
15. What year was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated in Washington, D.C.?
Answer: 1982.
16. The “shot heard ’round the world” describes the beginning of which battles in the American Revolution?
Answer: The Battles of Lexington and Concord.
17. What was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage?
Answer: Massachusetts.
18. When was the Battle of Gettysburg fought during the Civil War?
Answer: July 1 through July 3, 1863.
19. Who was the first American to win a Noble Peace Prize?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt.
20. Who was president during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Answer: John F. Kennedy.
21. What was the name of the battle in the Pacific fought between the U.S. Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy in June 1942?
Answer: Battle of Midway.
22. What country did the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team defeat in the semi-finals of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, a game commonly known as the “Miracle on Ice”?
Answer: The Soviet Union.
23. Who was the first Black Supreme Court justice in the United States?
Answer: Thurgood Marshall.
24. In what year did child labor laws start in the United States?
Answer: 1938.
25. What year did the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) go into effect?
Answer: 1994.
Hard US History Trivia Questions
If you’re looking for a bit of a challenge, try something with a higher difficulty level. Here is an American history trivia quiz that contains some really hard questions.
1. Inspired by similar wording in the English Bill of Rights from the 1600s, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted” is the text of which amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
Answer: Eighth.
2. In May 2003, the fastest known speeding ticket in US history was handed out, with a Swedish sports car allegedly going 242 MPH in a 75 MPH zone. Fittingly, in what state did this occur? I suppose everything’s bigger, and everything’s faster there.
Answer: Texas.
3. Mary Ludwig Hays, who carried water to Continental Army troops during the American Revolution, is best known today by what nickname that reflects a vessel she might have used?
Answer: Molly Pitcher.
4. Civil Rights activist Yuji Ichioka founded the short lived AAPA organization while studying at UC Berkeley in 1968. What two word alliterative name, coined by Ichioka to refer to a particular demographic of people in the U.S.A, did the first two letters of AAPA stand for?
Answer: Asian American.
5. After being directed to evacuate by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942, General Douglas MacArthur gave a famous speech in which he declared “I shall return” to what country? MacArthur made good on his promise when he returned to the country in 1944 to help liberate it from Japanese troops.
Answer: Philippines.
6. President James Polk officially annexed Texas in what year, ultimately leading to the Mexican-American War?
Answer: 1845.
7. According to legend, Delaware gets the nickname “Diamond State” because it was once called “a jewel among the states” by what third U.S. President?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson.
8. What US president of the 1920s, a vice president who rose in position when his president died of a heart attack, was known to not talk at parties, and was given the nickname “Silent?”
Answer: Calvin Coolidge.
9. What Boston-based battle of the American Revolutionary War is somewhat inaccurately named, since most of the fighting took place on Breed’s Hill?
Answer: Battle of Bunker Hill.
10. The Fifth Party System in the United States, which hosted relative Democratic dominance with their New Deal Coalition, began with which president’s 1932 election?
Answer: Franklin D Roosevelt.
11. The largest wildcat strike in US history was an 8-day strike in March of what year? The strikers were 200,000 postal workers. We’ll accept responses within five years of the correct answer.
Answer: 1970 (1965 – 1975 accepted).
12. From 2000 to 2008, U.S. “golden” dollar coins were minted with an image of what Shoshone woman who guided the Lewis and Clark expedition?
Answer: Sacagawea.
13. From 1776 to 1783, Thomas Paine wrote a series of pamphlets about the Revolution, known as the “The American ______.” Fill in the one word “C” blank, a time of intense difficulty and danger.
Answer: The American Crisis.
14. Due to his status as the President of the Continental Congress, John Hancock’s signature was the only one not grouped by state on which document?
Answer: The Declaration of Independence.
15. The North Star was a 19th-century anti-slavery newspaper founded by what famous abolitionist and formerly enslaved Black American?
Answer: Frederick Douglass.
16. What economic agreement between the United States, Mexico, and Canada was enacted in 1994 and replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020?
Answer: NAFTA.
17. “Gods and Generals,” “The Killer Angels,” and “The Last Full Measure” are classic novels by Michael Shaara that chronicle what 19th-century conflict?
Answer: The Civil War.
18. Henry David Thoreau wrote about life in the woods in Massachusetts in what iconic 1854 work of nonfiction literature?
Answer: Walden.
19. He edited newspapers, flew kites, and had a long career in politics, but which historical figure’s less well know achievements include being inducted into both the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968, and the US Chess Hall of Fame in 1999?
Answer: Benjamin Franklin.
20. Room 214 of what Washington, DC hotel has been converted to “The Scandal Room,” with decor that includes newspaper headlines about Richard Nixon’s resignation?
Answer: The Watergate Hotel.
21. During the American Civil War, the battles of Bull Run (both the First and Second), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Appomattox Court House were all fought in what state?
Answer: Virginia.
22. Which U.S. president spent the longest time in office? This man served in the office until his death at age 63.
Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
23. Executed as a spy in 1776, what speaker of the immortal phrase “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” is the official State Hero of Connecticut?
Answer: Nathan Hale.
24. Reynolds St in Pittsburgh, PA is home to a cluster of museums and historical buildings based around the “Clayton” residence of the industrialist Henry Clay F______. Fill in the word blank, also a PC way of using the “F” bomb.
Answer: The Frick.
25. Referring to then-future president John Adams, the songs “Sit Down, John” and “But, Mr. Adams” come from what Broadway musical named for an important year in American history?
Answer: 1776.
26. This president resided in his mansion at Monticello and was a famed inventor. He controversially enforced the Embargo Act, but also successfully led a raid against Barbary pirates. Who was this president?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson.
27. Today, Washington D.C. is the nation’s capital, but it’s far from being the only place to take on the role throughout America’s history. In 1789, the first capital of the United States was actually located in which city?
Answer: New York City.
28. President Thomas Jefferson bought about 828,000 square miles worth of land from France in 1803. What name was given to the transaction for that territory?
Answer: Louisiana Purchase.
29. Michael C. Hall played President John F. Kennedy in scenes reenacting a visit to Queen Elizabeth II, played at the time by Claire Foy, on Season 2 of what big-budget Netflix series?
Answer: The Crown.
30. From 1944 to 1945, the Germans increased their troops surrounding the Ardennes Forest for what World War II Battle and major counteroffensive? It gets its name for the rounded swelling of German troops in the region.
Answer: Battle Of The Bulge.
31. What ninth President had the shortest term in office — one month — but also the longest inaugural speech of any President in American history, at a whopping 105 minutes in length?
Answer: Harrison.
32. “11/22/63” is a novel in which a time traveler attempts to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, by what American author who’s associated more with Maine than with Washington, DC?
Answer: Stephen King.
33. Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison used the pen name “Publius” to publish what set of 85 essays in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788?
Answer: The Federalist Papers.
34. What is the four-letter name for a fragment sometimes created when holes are made in a paper or card? The “hanging” variety of this common noun became a hot topic during the 2000 U.S. Presidential election in the state of Florida.
Answer: Chad.
35. Named for Judiciary Chairman Andrew Volstead, the 1919 Volstead Act overrode President Woodrow Wilson’s veto to what national act that was later repealed by the 21st amendment?
Answer: Prohibition.
US History Trivia Questions for Kids
It is important to explain history in a cheerful and welcoming manner to kids so that they enjoy it. With this American history quiz for kids, you can accomplish exactly that.
1. This European led the expedition that was the first to arrive in what would eventually become the United States. Who was he?
Answer: Juan Ponce de Leon.
2. Who are the four presidents on mount Rushmore?
Answer: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
3. When it was completed in 1787, the new Constitution of the United States had to go through a process called ratification to become legal. Which state became the first to ratify the Constitution?
Answer: Delaware.
4. When what we know of today as the United States first came into existence, it was not independent. Instead, it consisted of 13 colonies, ruled by which country?
Answer: Britain.
5. Who was the president (the first one from 1789-1797) who lived in Mount Vernon?
Answer: George Washington.
6. To which US state would we need to travel to see the Statue of Liberty?
Answer: New York.
7. Which now-US state saw an attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the overthrowing of a queen in 1893?
Answer: Hawaii.
8. Which famous American is on the $1 bill?
Answer: George Washington.
9. The story of seventeenth century Native American Pocahontas personally saving the life of an English colonist is generally thought to be true but there have been some doubts expressed over the years. Which English colonist is Pocahontas said to have saved?
Answer: John Smith.
10. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, who was fighting against whom?
Answer: American colonists against Britain.
11. What state should I visit to see a place where people lived inside cliffs?
Answer: Colorado.
12. What was the first major land battle of the U.S. Civil War?
Answer: First Bull Run.
13. In 1789, George Washington became the first President of the United States. At the same time, who became the first Vice-President?
Answer: John Adams.
14. What was the first major battle of the Civil War?
Answer: The First Battle of Bull Run.
15. This man was president of the United States during the Civil War. He worked very hard to preserve the country and sadly, was murdered just days after the war ended. His face is on the penny.
Answer: Abraham Lincoln.
16. What president succeeded Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated?
Answer: Andrew Johnson.
17. In what city was the Declaration of Independence signed?
Answer: Philadephia.
18. P is for: The name of the highest position in US government.
Answer: President of the United States of America.
19. Who won the Revolutionary War?
Answer: Americans.
20. Whose raid on Harper’s Ferry led to further tensions before the war?
Answer: John Brown.
21. J is for ______: The name of “His Airness” who dazzled the NBA from 1984-2003 and won six championships in only eight years.
Answer: Michael Jordan.
22. A is for ______: The name of the second President of the United States of America.
Answer: John Adams.
23. What is a pilgrim?
Answer: Someone who goes on a long journey.
24. By the 1770s, America had had enough of British rule. They wanted freedom, and so wrote the Declaration of Independence. Who was the author?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson.
25. Before America was apparently discovered by Columbus who lived there?
Answer: Native Americans.
26. During which war in the 1700s did sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington ride to warn US soldiers of a planned attack by the British army?
Answer: US Revolutionary War.
27. In 1620 these people came to the United States from England and later celebrated the first Thanksgiving.
Answer: The Pilgrims.
28. What battle of the U.S. Civil War is known as the bloodiest day in American history?
Answer: Antietam.
29. In which US state was gold discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 and experienced a devastating earthquake in 1906?
Answer: California.
30. Who was the Continental Army’s main general?
Answer: George Washington.
31. The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States as a gift. Which country, whose help was vital during the American Revolution, gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States?
Answer: France.
US History Trivia Questions for Middle School
Let us now go through a United States history quiz for middle school students. This level might cause your brain to work out and begin recalling what you learnt in elementary school.
1. When you think of early America, Philly and Boston probably jump to mind. While they’re great, neither is the oldest city in the U.S. Which city in Florida has that distinction, as it was settled by Spanish explorers in 1565? (Hint: They named it after a Catholic saint because they landed on their late-summer feast day)
Answer: St. Augustine.
2. Americans like Ashley Judd, Taylor Swift, and Isabel Pascual who spoke out against sexual harassment and abuse were collectively named Time’s 2017 Person of the Year, under what group title?
Answer: The Silence Breakers.
3. In 1619, Virginia’s first African slaves arrived on a ship known as the White ______. Fill in the one word “L” blank, a large African cat with a mane who hangs out in a pride.
Answer: White Lion.
4. The very first $1 bills issued in the U.S. didn’t have George Washington’s face on them—they featured Salmon P. Chase. Which department of the federal government was Chase the secretary of at the time?
Answer: Treasury.
5. “Pride (In the Name of Love),” a tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is a hit 1984 song from what alphanumerically named rock band?
Answer: U2.
6. In 1959, Hiram Fong became the first Asian-American U.S. Senator after being elected as one of the first two Senators of what non-mainland state?
Answer: Hawaii.
7. What is the boozy two-word name for the 1794 uprising in western Pennsylvania by citizens who refused to pay a federal liquor tax to raise money for the national debt?
Answer: Whiskey Rebellion.
8. What 20th century U.S. President escaped two assassination attempts within 17 days in September 1975?
Answer: Gerald Ford.
9. What is the numerical title of David McCullough’s popular 2005 nonfiction book that focuses on the events surrounding the start of the American Revolutionary War?
Answer: 1776.
10. The Second Great ______ was a Protestant-led movement in the early 19th century in the U.S. that led millions of people to join churches, form new denominations, and promote reforms.
Answer: Awakening.
11. What formerly enslaved woman, portrayed by Cynthia Erivo in a 2019 biopic, helped dozens of people escape on the Underground Railroad, earning the nickname “Moses of her people?”
Answer: Harriet Tubman.
12. What group of settlers to what is now the U.S. state of Oklahoma got their name from the way they entered the territory and staked their claims before the official start of the 1889 Land Rush?
Answer: Sooners.
13. What was the name of the court house in Virginia where the Confederate Army surrendered to the Union, putting an end to The Civil War?
Answer: Appomattox.
14. What U.S. state that borders Lake Erie is named after the river that forms its southern border, which in turn is named for an Iroquois word meaning “great water?”
Answer: Ohio.
15. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed both Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery, repealed an earlier “Compromise” named after what other state?
Answer: Missouri.
16. Which era of rebuilding and social, economic, and political change began in the wake of the Civil War?
Answer: Reconstruction.
17. Both celebrated progressive Robert La Follette and Communist-hunter Joseph McCarthy were Republican senators from what U.S. state?
Answer: Wisconsin.
18. “Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past” is the subtitle of what punnily named nonfiction book by Kevin Kruze and Julian Zelizer that was released on January 3, 2023?
Answer: Myth America.
19. In 1917, the United States bought the Virgin Islands for $25 million from which European country?
Answer: Denmark.
20. “AuH2O” is an elemental string of letters that appeared on campaign posters and buttons for what losing candidate for U.S. president?
Answer: Barry Goldwater.
21. Grover Cleveland and Democrats tarred what 1884 opponent as the “Continental Liar from the State of Maine,” a phrase which conveniently rhymed with the candidate’s name?
Answer: James G. Blaine.
22. It sounds like he might have also had a career tending to livestock of the genus Ovis. In 1961 who became the first American in space, then a decade later became the oldest man in history to walk on the moon?
Answer: Alan Shepard.
23. At 19 Maiden Lane in lower Manhattan in 1787, James Madison wrote what essays that later became the foundation for the U.S. Constitution?
Answer: The Federalist Papers.
24. Which amendment to the United States Constitution coincidentally (fitting) establishes a limit of two terms for the office of presidency?
Answer: 22nd Amendment.
25. The contested 1876 election of which president marked the end of Reconstruction due to the backroom Compromise of 1877, which ensured which president’s election and averted a constitutional crisis?
Answer: Rutherford B Hayes.
26. Which American war ended with the Treaty of Ghent?
Answer: The War of 1812.
27. Al Gore sought the Democratic nomination for US President in 1988 as the junior senator from which state?
Answer: Tennessee.
28. Adapted into a successful miniseries in 2001, what Stephen Ambrose nonfiction book about a World War II airborne regiment gets its title from George Washington’s 1783 farewell address to his army?
Answer: Band of Brothers.
US History Trivia Questions for High School
This category is a little more difficult, but there is no need to panic. If you are a high school student, you are gonna ace these questions.
1. In a 1776 letter, what future First Lady of the United States urged her husband, John, to “remember the ladies” when fighting for American independence from Britain? First and last names, please.
Answer: Abigail Adams.
2. What is the name of the high school debate format named for seven debates in 1958 between Abraham Lincoln and a Democratic Senator known for his advocacy on popular sovereignty?
Answer: Stephen A Douglas.
3. “I Like Ike” was a popular campaign slogan in 1952 for what ultimately successful candidate for the U.S. Presidency?
Answer: Eisenhower.
4. Railroad mogul Leland Stanford ceremonially completed the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869 with a golden rail spike at Promontory Summit in what U.S. state, then a territory?
Answer: Utah.
5. In 1945, world leaders Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met what other man in Yalta from February 4-11 to discuss postwar plans?
Answer: Joseph Stalin.
6. What “meaty” term is used to refer to the act when a politician appropriates government spending for localized projects? This is often considered a legal method for bringing money to a representative’s district.
Answer: Pork barrel.
7. Beatrice Morrow Cannady was a civil rights advocate born in 1889 and became a longtime editor of “The Advocate” which was the largest African American newspaper in Portland, Oregon. She was also the first Black female to practice law in Oregon, and was a founding member of the city’s chapter of what 1909-founded organization?
Answer: NAACP.
8. As dramatized in the 2016 film “Loving,” the 1967 Supreme Court case that prohibits laws banning interracial marriage was instigated by the Lovings, a couple who sought to have their marriage recognized by what state?
Answer: Virginia.
9. What four-word phrase spoken by Ronald Reagan in Europe in 1987 received relatively little media coverage at the time but exploded into ubiquity two years later when the phrase became reality? The phrase eventually became shorthand for an entire speech and foreign policy achievement.
Answer: Tear down this wall.
10. In contrast to Bill Clinton, what U.S. President — still a senator at the time — candidly said in 2006 of his prior cannabis use, “Yes, I inhaled frequently, that was the point?”
Answer: Barack Obama.
11. The Warren Commission officially claimed a “single-bullet theory” for the assassination of President Kennedy. Conspiracy theorists / detractors claim that another bullet was fired nearby. Now slang for conspiracy theories broadly, what is the name for this alternative firing location?
Answer: Grassy Knoll.
12. John Tyler opposed president Andrew Jackson during what 1832-1833 “N” crisis of US history, where South Carolina declared tariffs to be unconstitutional and void in the state?
Answer: Nullification.
13. Happening in the southeastern portion of Montana, Custer’s Last Stand occurred during what battle during the Great Sioux War of 1876?
Answer: Battle of the Little Bighorn.
14. Which US president, whose middle name was only one letter, is the only president to ever commission use of a nuclear weapon?
Answer: Harry S Truman.
15. Michael Joseph Blassie, who died in the Vietnam War, was identified through DNA testing in 1998 and was reinterred after having been buried in what specific location for the previous 26 years?
Answer: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
16. 2017’s “The Post” dramatized the attempts of that paper to publish the Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, a set of documents known commonly by what geometric, alliterative name?
Answer: Pentagon Papers.
17. Hattie Wyatt Caraway holds a place in Arkansas and US history as the first woman to serve a full term in what role?
Answer: US Senator.
18. What “F” name is best known as the American inventor of the electronic television set, a rival for credit with the Russian Vladimir Zworykin? The American last name is the same as the elderly professor from the show “Futurama”.
Answer: Philo Farnsworth.
19. Now the namesake of a class of aircraft carriers, what Texan commanded the US Pacific fleet during World War II and served as America’s Chief of Naval Operations from 1945 to 1947?
Answer: Nimitz.
20. Who was the only U.S. president to have a PhD in political science? He earned it from Johns Hopkins University in 1886.
Answer: Woodrow Wilson.
21. It has been tradition for the Irish Taoiseach to give the US president shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day since ambassador John Hearne gave them to which US president in 1952?
Answer: Harry Truman.
22. Although Woodrow Wilson was essential to its creation, the United States never ratified or joined what United Nations predecessor in existence between World War I and World War II?
Answer: The League of Nations.
23. Ten years after his death, several criminals attempted to steal and ransom Lincoln’s remains but were caught by what federal law enforcement agency that is currently nested within the Department of Homeland Security?
Answer: Secret Service.
24. In 1846, future president Zachary Taylor won a battle in the Mexican-American War campaign at what battle site, about 8 miles away from modern Brownsville, Texas? A city with the same name would be the site of Stanford University in California.
Answer: Palo Alto.
25. What agreement among the original 13 states was ratified in 1777, and was replaced by the United States Constitution on March 4, 1789?
Answer: Articles of Confederation.
26. Richmond, VA is home to a house and historical site linked to what man, who was a highly influential chief justice of the US Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835? He molded the definition of the Court with cases such as “Marbury v. Madison.”
Answer: John Marshall.
27. What “C” 19th century educator and civil rights activist became Principal of the Institute Of Colored Youth? He became a martyr to the political system of the time, killed in 1871 by Democrats looking to suppress the black Republican vote.
Answer: Octavius Catto.
28. What three-word name is given to the forced displacement of Native Americans, in particular members of the Five Civilized Tribes, by the United States government during the 1830s and 1840s from their ancestral homes in the Southeast to present-day Oklahoma?
Answer: Trail of Tears.
29. Which pejorative term was used for individuals from the North who relocated to the South during the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War? This term derives from the cheap material from which the luggage of many of these individuals was made.
Answer: Carpetbagger.
30. Abraham Lincoln was famously born in Kentucky and lived much of his adult life in Illinois. However, he spent most of his childhood and early teenage years in what third state?
Answer: Indiana.
31. Although he had graduated from West Point and served with distinction in the Mexican–American War, this future President abruptly resigned his army commission in 1854 and returned to his family, living with them in poverty for seven years before re-enlisting. Who is he?
Answer: Ulysses S. Grant.
32. Name one of the two states which were partially acquired by the U.S. via the Gadsen Purchase of 1853.
Answer: New Mexico & Arizona.
33. “In 1814 we took a little trip, along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip” begins a classic 1959 country song describing what battle between the U.S. Army and the British Army?
Answer: New Orleans.
34. What metallic term is usually used to refer to the Monitor and Virginia, the two Civil War warships that clashed with one another at the Battle of Hampton Roads?
Answer: Ironclads.
US History Trivia Questions Multiple Choice
Let us now go over some multiple-choice American history quiz questions. These questions cover the areas such as US history of big wars and battles and other historical events.
1. Which president proposed in 1784 to end slavery in all the territories, but lost in Congress by one vote?
A. Thomas Jefferson
B. George Washington
C. Abraham Lincoln
D. James Madison
Answer: A.
2. When was the statue of liberty installed in America?
A. 1857
B. 1776
C. 1781
D. 1885
Answer: D.
3. Who was the only American president to become the supreme court justice.
A. Woodrow Wilson
B. Theodore Roosevelt
C. William McKinley
D. William Howard Taft
Answer: D.
4. What do they stripes on American flag represent?
A. Number of states
B. Number of rivers in USA
C. Number of colonies
D. Number of wars won by America
Answer: C.
5. What is the national flower of USA?
A. Lily
B. Rose
C. Marigold
D. Lotus
Answer: B.
6. Which famous American freedom fighter yelled “The Regulars (British) are coming” as a warning?
A. George Washington
B. Benjamin Franklin
C. Paul Revere
D. Thomas Jefferson
Answer: C.
7. What was the name of New york city before it was New york?
A. New London
B. New Shire
C. New Amsterdam
D. New Paris
Answer: C.
8. How many stripes are there on the American flag?
A. 10
B. 50
C. 14
D. 13
Answer: D.
9. When were the Native Americans given the right to vote?
A. 1857
B. 1887
C. 1925
D. 1924
Answer: D.
10. The sequoia tree is named after the leader of which famous Native American tribe?
A. Cherokee
B. Iroquois
C. Navajo
D. Apache
Answer: A.
11. Benjamin franklin borrowed the symbolic bald eagle as a national emblem from which confederacy?
A. Cheyenne
B. Sioux
C. Lakota
D. Iroquois
Answer: D.
12. Who is the longest serving US president?
A. Franklin D. Roosevelt
B. Thomas Jefferson
C. James Madison
D. James Monroe
Answer: A.
13. Which of the following is the first permanent English settlement in America?
A. Massachusetts
B. New York
C. Jamestown
D. Georgia
Answer: C.
14. What is the official language of USA
A. English
B. Navajo
C. Spanish
D. None
Answer: D.
Final Thoughts
We sincerely hope you liked the US history trivia questions and answers we provided you with.
The history of the United States has always played a crucial part in the growth of world history and civilization.
The United States is also rich in historical events, places, and individuals.
The US History Trivia, we provided you with is an excellent method to stimulate your brain and have fun.
How was the list of questions we came up with for you? Please let us know about your thoughts in the comment section.
Happy Trivia Night, Cheers!
