You're hanging the flag and grilling the burgers, but do you know what document was signed on July 4th, 1776? Historian Kenneth C. Davis tests your American history skills with an Independence Day quiz.
You've hung out the flag. The burgers and dogs are ready to grill. You even got the red, white, and blue paper napkins for the picnic table. The kids can't wait for the fireworks show.
But while we are all in “Pursuit of Happiness,” what exactly are we celebrating?
As a recent Newsweek survey depressingly demonstrated, Americans are woefully ignorant when it comes to knowing our past. A whopping 38 percent failed a basic test of history and government. And an astonishing six percent couldn’t identify Independence Day on the calendar!
And as we are painfully aware, there is a great deal of confusion about a certain legendary “Midnight Ride.”
There should be some kind of test for that. Right?
Well, there is. It’s the test that immigrants who want to become Naturalized Citizens must pass—and the plain truth is that most native-born Americans would struggle through this exam. Fortunately, you don’t have to pass it to stay here, vote, get your U.S. Passport—or even get elected to Congress.
So, to honor America on Independence Day, and brush up on your history and civics, here is a quick quiz about this quintessential American holiday, which honors exactly what?
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1. What does July 4 celebrate?
A. Adoption of the Constitution
B. Passage of a resolution of American Independence
C. Adoption of the Declaration of Independence
D. The end of slavery in America
2. What nation did America fight in the American Revolution?
A. France
B. Germany
C. Spain
D. Great Britain
3. What did the Declaration declare?
A. Stamps and tea should not be taxed
B. “Taxation without representation” is tyranny
C. American slaves should be emancipated
D. The United States should be independent of Great Britain
4. Where was the term “United States of America” first formally used?
A. The U.S. Constitution
B. The Mayflower Compact
C. The Declaration of Independence
D. The Articles of Confederation
5. Who was the principle author of the Declaration of Independence?
A. Benjamin Franklin
B. Thomas Paine
C. John Adams
D. Thomas Jefferson
6. How many people signed the Declaration of Independence?
A. 39 (30 men and 9 women, including Abigail Adams)
B. 56, all men
C. 13 (nine men and four women, one from each state)
D. 100
7. Why didn’t George Washington sign the Declaration of Independence?
A. He disagreed with the document
B. He was in Virginia, visiting his wife
C. He was crossing the Delaware
D. He was in New York City, commanding the Continental Army
8. The opening of the Declaration of Independence reads:
A. Four score and seven years ago
B. We, the People
C. When in the Course of human Events
D. These are the times that try men’s souls
9. The opening words of the U.S. Constitution, written in Philadelphia in 1787, read:
A. O beautiful, for spacious skies
B. My fellow Americans
C. We the People
D. E Pluribus Unum
10. What is the Supreme Law of the Land?
A. The Ten Commandments
B. The Bill of Rights
C. The Federalist Papers
D. The U.S. Constitution
11. Which two Presidents died on July 4th 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration?
A. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
B. George Washington and James Madison
C. John Adams and John Quincy Adams
D. Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe
12. Which of these is not one of the “unalienable Rights” listed in the Declaration?
A. Life
B. Liberty
C. The Pursuit of Property
D. The Pursuit of Happiness
13. What controversial idea did the Congress delete from Jefferson’s original Declaration?
A. A call to kill the King of England
B. Rights for women
C. A condemnation of slavery
D. A guarantee of a “chicken in every pot”
14. Who was the last signer of the Declaration of Independence to die?
A. Charles Carroll
B. John Adams
C. James Wilson
D. Benjamin Rush
15. What do the stripes on the American flag symbolize?
A. Jesus and his 12 disciples
B. The thirteen original states
C. In colonial America, thirteen was considered a lucky number
D. The thirteen tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy
16. Thomas Paine wrote an influential pamphlet in favor of American independence. What was the title?
A. Poor Richard’s Almanac
B. Democracy in America
C. Common Sense
D. Wealth of Nations
17. Francis Hopkinson, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, took credit for the design of the American flag and billed Congress for his services. What did he request as payment?
A. A cask of wine
B. A seat on the Supreme Court
C. 13 pieces of gold
D. A 21-gun salute
18. What other future President is pictured in the boat with Washington in the famous painting of the crossing of the Delaware?
A. James Madison
B. James Monroe
C. Andrew Jackson
D. John Quincy Adams
19. Which of these rights is NOT mentioned in the First Amendment to the Constitution?
A. Free exercise of Religion
B. Freedom of Speech and Press
C. Peaceable assembly and Petition
D. Bear arms
20. Where and when were the first shots in the Revolution fired?
A. Bunker Hill, Boston June 1775
B. Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y., May 1775
C. Lexington and Concord Mass, April 1775
D. Fort Necessity, Pa. July 1754
21. What was Paul Revere doing on the night of April 18, 1775?
A. He was riding from Boston to Lexington and Concord with other riders to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that British troops were coming to arrest them
B. He was drunk at the Green Dragon tavern
C. Warning the British that Americans had guns and would fight them
D. In a church steeple, hanging lights to signal his friends that the “British were coming.”
22. Which country helped the United States most in the War for Independence?
A. Holland
B. France
C. Spain
D. Russia
Answers
1. C—The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, which explained why America should be free and independent of Great Britain, on July 4th, 1776. It was not signed by all of the “Signers” until a later date. An actual Resolution in favor of Independence was passed on July 2d, leading John Adams to believe that would be the day of great celebrations, including parades and fireworks.
2. D—America was trying to free itself as a colony of England.
3. D—While all sorts of taxes were unpopular, the Declaration of Independence called for ending America’s status as a colony of England.
4. C—The top of the “Engrossed Copy” of the Declaration reads “The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.” The “Engrossed Copy” is the handwritten, final version now displayed in the National Archives.
5. D—Thomas Jefferson, the principal author, was one of five members of the draft Committee. He was not pleased to be in Philadelphia with the Continental Congress, preferring to be home in Virginia. He also fumed as the Congress picked over his words in two days of debate.
6. B—There were 56 signers, all men. But only two men actually signed the revised, marked-up version of Jefferson’s Declaration on July 4th—John Hancock, President of the Congress, and Charles Thomson, secretary of the Congress. Most of the others did not sign until August 6, 1776, at which time they were signing the clean “Embossed Copy.”
7. D—Washington had been given command of the Continental Army by Congress in June 1775 and was in New York in July, 1776, where he had the Declaration read to the troops on July 9th.
8. C—This is Thomas Jefferson’s opening. The others are (A) the Gettysburg Address, (B) the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, and (C) from Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, “The Crisis.”
9. C—“We the People” are the opening words of the U.S. Constitution, which was drafted in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, in the same building where the Declaration of Independence was adopted eleven years earlier.
10. D—The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land. The Bill of Rights is the name of the first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
11. A—Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, two of the men largely responsible for the Declaration of Independence, both died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. James Monroe, the fifth President, also died on July 4th in 1831.
12. C—Jefferson used the phrase “the Pursuit of Happiness” instead of the words “pursuit of Property” which had been used by a number earlier writers, including fellow Virginian George Mason.
13. C—In his original draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson called slavery the “execrable commerce.” But the reference was removed, Jefferson said, in deference to the men who owned slaves as well as those who made money transporting them.
14. A—Charles Carroll of Carrolton, Md., the only Roman Catholic signer, died on November 14, 1832. At age 95, he was the longest-lived and last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.
15. B—While some might answer “the thirteen original colonies,” it is more accurate to say “states” because it is the flag of the United States of America.
16. C—“Common Sense,” published in January 1776, was an extremely successful and influential argument in favor of independence, which sold half a million copies in its first year.
17. A—A poet and composer, Hopkinson was a delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey and served on the Naval Board. In 1780, he asked for “a quarter cask of the Public Wine,” for his flag design but his request was denied. The story of Betsy Ross designing the flag is widely acknowledged as a legend.
18. B—In the iconic 1851 painting, “Washington Crossing the Delaware” by German American artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, Lieutenant James Madison is depicted holding the flag.
19. D—The “right to bear Arms” is specified in the Second Amendment.
20. C—The “shots heard ‘round the world,” as Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem called them, were fired at Lexington and Concord, Mass. on April 19, 1775.
21. A—Revere was one of several riders who were warning Hancock, Adams and the patriot militia in the countryside that British troops were coming to capture the patriot leaders and their supply of gunpowder.
22. B—France provided indispensable help to the American cause with thousands of soldiers, a fleet of ships and much of the gunpowder used in the war.
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