History isn’t just a timeline of battles and elections—it’s the story of how ordinary choices became extraordinary turning points. From a midnight ride to a single court decision, the United States was built on moments that still echo in today’s headlines. Below you’ll find 100 brand-new American history trivia questions that dig past the textbook bullet points, plus a ready-to-take quiz if you want to test what actually stuck.
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General U.S. History Trivia
These questions roam across centuries and regions—perfect for spotting the patterns that tie the nation together.
- Which 1849 event caused San Francisco’s population to explode almost overnight?
The California Gold Rush - Who was the first African American to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice?
Thurgood Marshall - What 1896 Supreme Court case upheld “separate but equal” segregation?
Plessy v. Ferguson - Which president issued the 1948 executive order desegregating the military?
Harry S. Truman - What 2000 Supreme Court decision effectively decided the presidential election?
Bush v. Gore - Which amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18?
The 26th Amendment - What year did the last U.S. troops leave Vietnam?
1973 - Who famously warned, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”?
Abraham Lincoln - Which national park was signed into existence by Ulysses S. Grant in 1872?
Yellowstone - What 1913 constitutional amendment created the federal income tax?
The 16th Amendment
1600s and Earlier: First Contacts & Fragile Colonies
- What 1619 Virginia event marks the first recorded arrival of enslaved Africans in British North America?
Landing at Point Comfort - Which Dutch explorer sailed up the river later named for him in 1609?
Henry Hudson - What cash crop saved the Jamestown settlement financially?
Tobacco - Which Native American confederacy dominated the Hudson Valley trade in the 1600s?
The Iroquois Confederacy - What year was Harvard College founded?
1636 - Which colony passed the Act Concerning Religion in 1649, granting freedom of worship to all Christians?
Maryland - Who was the first elected governor of the Plymouth Colony?
John Carver - What 1675–76 conflict devastated New England settlements?
King Philip’s War - Which “lost colony” vanished sometime between 1587 and 1590?
Roanoke - What Spanish mission chain stretched across California in the late 1600s?
The California Missions
1700s: Revolution & Constitution
- What 1765 act required colonists to buy stamps for legal documents and newspapers?
The Stamp Act - Who rode from Boston to Lexington on the night of April 18, 1775?
Paul Revere (and William Dawes & Samuel Prescott) - What pamphlet by Thomas Paine argued for independence in plain language?
Common Sense - Which French general became Washington’s trusted ally at Yorktown?
Marquis de Lafayette - What 1781 victory effectively ended major fighting in the Revolutionary War?
Battle of Yorktown - Which state was the last to ratify the Constitution in 1790?
Rhode Island - What 1794 uprising tested the new federal government’s authority to tax?
Whiskey Rebellion - Who served as the first Chief Justice of the United States?
John Jay - What treaty ended the French and Indian War in 1763?
Treaty of Paris (1763) - Which 1796 farewell address warned against permanent foreign alliances?
George Washington’s Farewell Address
1800s: Expansion & Civil War
- What 1803 purchase doubled U.S. territory overnight?
Louisiana Purchase - Who led the Corps of Discovery expedition from 1804 to 1806?
Meriwether Lewis & William Clark - What 1814 battle inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the national anthem?
Battle of Fort McHenry - Which 1830 law authorized the forced removal of Native Americans from the Southeast?
Indian Removal Act - What was the deadliest single-day battle in U.S. history?
Antietam, September 17, 1862 - Which 1863 proclamation re-defined the Civil War as a fight against slavery?
Emancipation Proclamation - Who was the only president of the Confederate States of America?
Jefferson Davis - Which state split from Virginia in 1863 to remain in the Union?
West Virginia - What transcontinental railroad was completed with a golden spike in 1869?
The Union Pacific–Central Pacific line - Which 1890 massacre marked the end of armed Native American resistance on the Plains?
Wounded Knee Massacre
1900s: World Wars & Social Upheaval
- What 1906 law gave the federal government power to regulate food and drugs?
Pure Food and Drug Act - Which 1913 act created America’s central banking system?
Federal Reserve Act - What 1917 telegram tried to coax Mexico into war against the U.S.?
Zimmermann Telegram - Who was the suffragist arrested for voting in 1872 and later honored on a 2020 coin?
Susan B. Anthony - Which 1947 policy pledged U.S. aid to countries resisting communism?
Truman Doctrine - What 1954 Supreme Court case overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in public schools?
Brown v. Board of Education - Which 1962 crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war?
Cuban Missile Crisis - What 1969 festival became the symbol of 1960s counter-culture?
Woodstock - Which 1973 scandal led to President Nixon’s resignation?
Watergate - Which 1987 treaty eliminated an entire class of U.S. and Soviet nuclear missiles?
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
2000s: Digital Age & Global Challenges
- What 2001 law expanded government surveillance to combat terrorism?
USA PATRIOT Act - Which hurricane devastated New Orleans in August 2005?
Hurricane Katrina - Who became the first Black president of the United States in 2009?
Barack Obama - What 2010 act aimed to expand health-insurance coverage to millions of Americans?
Affordable Care Act (ACA) - Which 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationwide?
Obergefell v. Hodges - What 2020 global pandemic reshaped daily life across the U.S.?
COVID-19 pandemic - Which social-media platform launched in 2004 and hit 1 billion users by 2012?
Facebook - What 2008 act bailed out U.S. banks and auto industries?
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) - Which 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol led to a second impeachment trial?
January 6, 2021 insurrection - Who was the first female Vice President of the United States, sworn in 2021?
Kamala Harris
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