Q 01/05

Which abolitionist asked 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?' in an 1852 speech in Rochester?

A) Frederick Douglass

B) William Lloyd Garrison

C) Sojourner Truth

D) Harriet Tubman

Answer · why

A) Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass, once enslaved himself, told the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society: 'This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, ...

Q 02/05

Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?

A) Benjamin Franklin

B) Thomas Jefferson

C) John Adams

D) George Washington

Answer · why

B) Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was appointed to a five-man committee and chosen to draft the Declaration. He wrote the initial draft in June 1776, which was then ed...

Q 03/05

How many colonies joined together to declare independence in 1776?

A) 11

B) 12

C) 13

D) 15

Answer · why

C) 13

Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Caroli...

Q 04/05

Which founding father predicted Independence Day would be marked with 'pomp and parade... bonfires, and illuminations'?

A) Thomas Jefferson

B) Benjamin Franklin

C) John Adams

D) Alexander Hamilton

Answer · why

C) John Adams

He wrote it to his wife Abigail the day before the Declaration was adopted. His prediction was off by two days: he expected the vote on the Lee Resolu...

Q 05/05

Which novelist, descended from a Salem witch-trial judge, was born in that town on July 4, 1804?

A) Nathaniel Hawthorne

B) Herman Melville

C) Edgar Allan Poe

D) Washington Irving

Answer · why

A) Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne's ancestor John Hathorne judged the Salem witch trials; the writer is thought to have added the 'w' to his surname to put distance...