Q 01/05

Which invention put the Pony Express out of business only 18 months after its riders first set out?

A) Railroad

B) Stagecoach

C) Telegraph

D) Steamboat

Answer · why

C) Telegraph

The telegraph line across the continent opened in October 1861 and made horseback mail obsolete at once. The Pony Express, never a financial success, ...

Q 02/05

Which docile animals, able to live on prairie grass, did Oregon Trail emigrants favor for pulling their wagons?

A) Oxen

B) Horses

C) Mules

D) Donkeys

Answer · why

A) Oxen

Oxen cost about a third as much as mules, and they could keep moving in difficult conditions such as mud and snow.

Q 03/05

Which Native American woman interpreted for the Lewis and Clark expedition while carrying her infant son?

A) Pocahontas

B) Sarah Winnemucca

C) Nancy Ward

D) Sacagawea

Answer · why

D) Sacagawea

Sacagawea's presence with a baby showed the nations the explorers met that the party came in peace. Her son, Jean Baptiste, was born two months before...

Q 04/05

Which French leader sold the Louisiana Territory after failing to crush a revolt in Saint-Domingue?

A) King Louis XVI

B) Napoleon Bonaparte

C) Marquis de Lafayette

D) Maximilien Robespierre

Answer · why

B) Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte let the whole territory go for $15 million, nearly doubling the size of the United States at a stroke.

Q 05/05

What name is given to the forced removal of the Cherokee from Georgia to Indian Territory in 1838?

A) Trail of Tears

B) The Long Walk

C) Bozeman Trail

D) Trail of Broken Treaties

Answer · why

A) Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears followed the discovery of gold on Cherokee land near Dahlonega, Georgia. Thousands died from disease before reaching their destinat...