Historical Events and Figures Quiz

Historical Events and Figures

Silk Road: Caravan route connecting China and Europe via the Middle East.
Land Bridge: Connection between Asia and North America during the last ice age enabling nomadic travel.
Marco Polo: Italian explorer who travelled to China in 1295 AD, bringing goods to Europe.
Ferdinand and Isabella: Spanish monarchs who married in 1496, uniting Spain and making it a major power.
Columbus's First Voyage: Sought a westward route to India.
Rio de Janeiro: South American city with a Roman shipwreck dating back to the 1st century AD.
Prince Henry: Portuguese prince who established a navigation school in the 15th century.
Vasco da Gama: First Portuguese explorer to sail around Africa and reach India in 1498.
Columbus's Voyages: Made four voyages to the New World.
Vikings: Norsemen who crossed the Atlantic, establishing settlements in Greenland and Newfoundland.
Aztec Empire: Located in present-day Mexico.
Expulsions from Spain (1492): Muslims and Jews were expelled from Spain.
Ponce de Leon's Florida Expedition: Searched for the Fountain of Youth.
Gutenberg Bible: First book printed using moveable type in 1455.
Ferdinand Magellan: First person to circumnavigate the globe (1519-1522).
Nunez de Balboa: First European to see the Pacific Ocean (1513).
Disease Impact on Indigenous Peoples: European diseases devastated indigenous populations due to lack of immunity.
Francisco Coronado's Expedition: (1540-1542) Searched for Cibola.
Hernan de Soto: French explorer who saw the Mississippi River in 1540.
Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec Empire.
Francisco Pizarro: Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in 1532.
Dutch East India Company: Founded by the Dutch in 1602 to find the Northwest Passage.
Acoma Massacre (1598): Juan de Onate cut off the right foot of all Pueblo males over 25.
Henry Hudson: Explorer who claimed New York for the Dutch in 1609.
Jaques Cartier: First French explorer to sail up the St. Lawrence River (1534).
St. Augustine: Oldest fort in the US, established by the Spanish in 1565.
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Treaty settling land disputes in the New World between Spain and Portugal negotiated by the Pope.
Staked Plains: Translation of the Spanish term "llano estacado"
Grand Canyon: Visited in 1541 by Coronado.
Corn: Staple food developed by Native Americans in Mexico and South America (c. 5,000 B.C.).
Scandinavia: Origin of the blonde-bearded Norsemen.

English Colonization and Conflicts

English Reformation: King Henry VIII separated from the Catholic Church to divorce Catherine of Aragon, creating the Church of England (Anglican Church).
Henry VIII's Role in the Church: Head of the Anglican Church.
Elizabeth I's Legitimacy: Elizabeth I was considered illegitimate because her mother, Anne Boleyn, was married to the king after his divorce. This was politically significant.
French vs English Colonization Practices: The French tended towards friendly relationships with Native Americans for trade while the English focused more on taking land and resources, often creating conflicts.
Sea Dogs and Buccaneers: Licensed pirates of England, raiding Spanish ships.
Roanoke Colony: Only evidence found was the word "CROATOAN" inscribed on a tree.
Mary, Queen of Scots: Seen as a legitimate heir to the English throne by the Catholic Church due to her lineage.
Lord De La Warr: Led English settlers in the Anglo-Powhatan Wars.
Charles I: Beheaded by the English Parliament during the English Civil War.
John and Charles Wesley's Contributions: Wrote over 1000 hymns, with Charles focusing on religious songs.
West Indies Acquisition: English seized the West Indies and Jamaica from the Spanish for their sugar production.
Maryland Colony: Founded as a haven for persecuted English Catholics in 1634.
John Smith (Jamestown): Implemented the "no work, no food" policy at Jamestown.

Colonial Life and Economics

Indentured Servitude: Colonists served 5-7 years in exchange for passage and land.
Southern Society Hierarchy: Planters, subsistence farmers, and slaves/sharecroppers.
Triangular Slave Trade: Economic system involving Africa, the Caribbean, and North America, focusing on the trade of slaves and profitable resources.
Albany Plan of Union (1754): Proposed to unite the colonies for defense.
King George III: Became English King in 1760, ruling for 60 years.
James Wolfe: British commander killed at the Battle of Quebec.
Marquis de Montcalm: French commander at Quebec.
Treaty of Paris (1763): Ended the Seven Years' War.
Samuel de Champlain: Founded Quebec.
Robert de La Salle: Explored the Mississippi River.
Antoine Cadillac: Founded Detroit.
Harvard University: First college in America.
Fort Duquesne: French fort in present-day Pittsburgh.
Jonathan Edwards: Preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God".
John Newton: Former slave trader who wrote "Amazing Grace".
George Washington: Career land surveyor.
Queen Anne: English monarch.
John Peter Zenger: Arrests for libel; important for freedom of press.
William Pitt: "Organizer of Victory" in the Seven Years' War.
Seven Years' War (French and Indian War): War between England and France (1756-1763).
Fort Necessity: Surrender of a fort by Washington.
The Stamp Act (1765): Colonists required to have a stamp on all printed materials.
Declaratory Act: Stated Parliament's right to tax colonists.
Declaration of Independence (1776): Formal statement of American colonies' independence from Great Britain, primarily written by Thomas Jefferson.
Henry Knox: Crucial to the Continental Army.
George Rogers Clark's Campaigns: American victories in the Midwest against the British.
Sugar Act (1764): First tax levied by the British on the colonists.
Sons of Liberty: American patriots led by Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Patrick Henry: Famous speaker who advocated for liberty.
Nathan Hale: Connecticut schoolteacher; executed as a spy by the British.
Thomas Paine: Author of "Common Sense".
Proclamation Line of 1763: Prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution.
Hessians: Paid German soldiers who fought for the British.
Robert Newman: Lanterns in the Old North Church showing if the British were coming by land or sea.
Boston Massacre (1770): British soldiers killed colonists.
Comte de Rochambeau: French General, instrumental to the victory at Yorktown.
Alexander Hamilton: Led assaults on British positions at Yorktown
Thomas Gage: British General.
Lexington and Concord: Start of the American Revolution.
John Paul Jones: American naval hero who fought against the British (Battle of the Bonhomme Richard).
Dorchester Heights: Strategic location where Washington positioned cannons to evict the British.
Boston Tea Party (1773): Colonists destroyed tea in Boston Harbor in protest.
Horatio Gates: General wrongly credited with the victory at Saratoga.
Charles Cornwallis: British general in the Southern Campaign.
Francis Marion: "Swamp Fox" American guerilla fighter.
Treaty of Paris (1783): Ended the American Revolution, granting significant territory to the United States.

Colonial Conflict and Governance

Coercive/Intolerable Acts (1774): Acts that punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party.
American Victory at Saratoga (1777): Turning point of the American Revolution; France joined forces with the Americans.
Washington's Victories at Trenton and Princeton: Washington's "Finest Hour" victories during the early Revolution.
Townshend Acts (1767): Series of taxes on imported goods into the colonies.
Treaty of Paris (1783): Ended the American Revolution and established the boundaries of the United States.
James Otis' Quote: "No taxation without representation."
Continental Congress: Governing body of the colonies during the Revolution.
George Washington's Role in Continental Army: Chosen in 1775, leading the Continental Army.
Bunker and Breed's Hill Battle (1775): Crucial early battle.
Richard Henry Lee's Resolution (1776): Introduced the resolution declaring independence.

Colonial Society and Beliefs

Colonial Family Dynamics: Patriarchal and hierarchical structure; Men were providers, women caregivers, children contributing to family needs.
Puritanism (Religious Context): Important religious movement that impacted the colonies.
Roger Williams: Colonist who was banned from Massachusetts Bay.
Thomas Hooker: Colonist who would be banned from Massachusetts and eventually start the colony of Connecticut.
Act of Union (1707): United England and Scotland.
King James II: Last Catholic king of Great Britain.
Religious Society of Friends/Quakers: Religious group that had a unique influence.
John Calvin: Protestant reformer, contributed the theology of predestination.
Squanto's Role: Native American who was crucial to the Separatists' survival.
Dutch West India Company: Dutch entity that aimed for profitability from the Caribbean and had a significant impact on the New World.
Dominion of New England: Attempt by the British Crown to exert greater control over the colonies.
New Amsterdam (New York): Dutch colony.
William Penn and the Pennsylvania Colony: Received a land grant to establish "Penn's Woods".