50 US History Trivia Questions With Answers (and a Source for Each)

Below are 50 US history trivia questions with short answers, grouped by era from the Declaration of Independence to September 11, 2001. Each answer links to the page we checked it against, mostly the National Archives, the National Park Service, and NASA. Some are easy warm-ups taken from the official USCIS citizenship study list. Others are the kind that catch people out, like the day most delegates signed the Declaration (it wasn't July 4).

Use them as a US history quiz for a party, a classroom, or a family game. If you want longer stories instead of quick questions, see our interesting history facts and weird history facts.

Founding era US history trivia (1776 to 1791)

1. Who wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson. (National Archives)
2. Name one other member of the Committee of Five that was asked to draft it. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, or Robert R. Livingston. (National Archives)
3. On what date did Congress vote for independence? July 2, 1776, when it adopted the Lee Resolution. (National Archives)
4. On what date did Congress adopt the Declaration? July 4, 1776. (National Archives)
5. When was the engrossed parchment copy signed? August 2, 1776. Not every delegate was there that day. (National Archives)
6. How many delegates eventually signed it? 56. (National Archives)
7. The first printed copies are called what, and how many are known to survive? The Dunlap broadsides, printed the night of July 4. Twenty-six are known. (National Archives)
8. Where was the Declaration kept during most of World War II? Fort Knox, from 1941 to 1944. (National Archives)
9. Which 1783 treaty ended the Revolutionary War? The Treaty of Paris. (National Archives)
10. Who presided over the Constitutional Convention? George Washington, elected on May 25, 1787. (National Archives)
11. How many of the 74 appointed delegates attended? 55. (National Archives)
12. On what date was the Constitution signed? September 17, 1787. (National Archives)
13. Which state's ratification, the ninth, put the Constitution into effect? New Hampshire, in 1788. (National Archives)
14. Name one writer of the Federalist Papers. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, or John Jay (they wrote as "Publius"). (USCIS civics questions)
15. How many amendments did Congress first send to the states in 1789? Twelve. Ten became the Bill of Rights. (National Archives)
16. One of those original 12 was ratified 203 years late. Which amendment did it become? The 27th Amendment, ratified in 1992. (National Archives)
17. When was the Bill of Rights ratified? December 15, 1791. (National Archives)
18. Who was the first Chief Justice of the United States? John Jay, who took his oath in October 1789. (Supreme Court)

1800s US history questions

1. Who was the first president to live in the White House? John Adams, with Abigail Adams. (White House)
2. Who designed the White House? Irish-born architect James Hoban, chosen in 1792. (White House)
3. Which country sold the US the Louisiana Territory in 1803? France. (National Archives)
4. What did it cost? $15 million, roughly 4 cents an acre for about 828,000 square miles. (National Archives)
5. Who wrote the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner"? Francis Scott Key, after the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814. (Smithsonian)
6. When did it become the official national anthem? 1931, when Herbert Hoover signed the bill on March 3. (Library of Congress)
7. Name one war the US fought in the 1800s. The War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, or the Spanish-American War. (USCIS civics questions)
8. Which two laws of 1862 opened the West to settlers and a railroad? The Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Act. (National Archives)
9. When did Lincoln issue the final Emancipation Proclamation? January 1, 1863, about 100 days after the preliminary one of September 22, 1862. (National Archives)
10. Did it free enslaved people in loyal border states? No. It covered areas in rebellion. Slavery ended nationwide with the 13th Amendment in 1865. (National Archives)
11. Who negotiated the purchase of Alaska for the US? Secretary of State William H. Seward, in a treaty signed March 30, 1867. (National Archives)
12. What did the US pay Russia, and what did critics call it? $7.2 million. Critics called it "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox." (National Archives)
13. Who was the first president impeached? Andrew Johnson, in 1868. The Senate found him not guilty. (US Senate)
14. Where did the transcontinental railroad's tracks meet on May 10, 1869? Promontory Summit, Utah Territory, where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific joined. (National Park Service) Promontory Point is a different place, about 35 miles south. (NPS FAQ)
15. When was the Statue of Liberty dedicated? October 28, 1886. (National Park Service)
16. Who sculpted it, and whose company engineered it? Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi sculpted it. Eiffel and Company did the engineering. (National Park Service)
17. What date is written on the statue's tablet? July 4, 1776, as "July IV, MDCCLXXVI." (National Park Service)

1900s and recent US history quiz questions

1. Who flew the Wright brothers' first powered flight on December 17, 1903? Orville Wright, for about 120 feet. (National Park Service)
2. Where did it happen? Kill Devil Hills, on North Carolina's Outer Banks. (National Park Service)
3. Who was president during World War I? Woodrow Wilson. (USCIS civics questions)
4. Which state's vote ratified the 19th Amendment in 1920? Tennessee, the 36th state, on August 18, 1920. (National Archives)
5. Which president led the country through the Great Depression and most of World War II? Franklin Roosevelt. (USCIS civics questions)
6. In what year was the Social Security Act passed? 1935. (National Archives)
7. On what date was Pearl Harbor attacked? December 7, 1941. (National Park Service)
8. Eisenhower was a general before he was president. In which war? World War II. (USCIS civics questions)
9. Which 1954 Supreme Court case ended "separate but equal" in public schools, and what was the vote? Brown v. Board of Education, decided unanimously on May 17, 1954. (National Archives)
10. Which president signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Lyndon B. Johnson, on July 2, 1964. (National Archives)
11. Who became the first Black Supreme Court justice in 1967? Thurgood Marshall. (Brennan Center)
12. Which Apollo 11 astronaut stayed in lunar orbit on July 20, 1969? Michael Collins. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in the lunar module Eagle. (NASA)
13. Who was the first woman on the Supreme Court? Sandra Day O'Connor, sworn in on September 25, 1981. (Supreme Court, Brennan Center)
14. Has the Senate ever convicted an impeached president? No. Johnson (1868), Clinton (1999), and Trump (2020 and 2021) were all found not guilty. (US Senate)
15. What happened on September 11, 2001? Terrorists attacked the United States. (USCIS civics questions)

How to run a US history quiz night

• Mix easy and hard. Questions 14, 25, 38, 40, 43, and 50 come from the USCIS study list for the citizenship test, so most people get them. Questions 3, 5, 16, and 32 trip people up.
• Accept close answers. For dates, decide before you start whether the year alone counts.
• Read the answer and the source. "It was August 2, says the National Archives" ends arguments faster than "trust me."
• Rounds of 10. Five rounds of 10 fit the 50 questions here and take about an hour with scoring.

Turning US history trivia into videos

Quiz videos are an easy format for a faceless history channel: a question on screen, a short pause, then the answer with a picture and one line of context. The trick questions (the July 2 vote, the August 2 signing, the 27th Amendment that took 203 years) are often enough for a full video on their own.

If you'd rather make videos than read about it, VidPuff turns a title into a faceless video. No waitlist, cancel anytime.

History sits in a well-paid ad category. AIR Media-Tech's study of 300 monetized channels found Education & Science had the highest median RPM, $10.22 per 1,000 views. That's a median, not a promise; our YouTube niche RPM data post shows the range.

You can build these videos in any editor, or with VidPuff: type a title like "10 US History Questions Most Americans Get Wrong" and it writes the script, generates narration, creates a visual for each scene, adds music and captions, and renders a long-form 16:9 video. You review each stage and can change the script, voice, images, and music. Check every answer against your sources before you publish. Our guide on how to make a faceless YouTube channel covers the rest.

FAQ

What are some good US history trivia questions?

Ones with a clear answer and a small surprise work best. "When did most delegates sign the Declaration of Independence?" (August 2, 1776) and "Which amendment took 203 years to ratify?" (the 27th) are good examples. The list above has 50, each with a source.

What are some hard US history questions?

Try questions 3, 5, 16, 32, and 47 above: the date of the independence vote, the signing date, the 27th Amendment, where the railroad met, and which Apollo 11 astronaut never walked on the Moon.

Where do the easy US history quiz questions come from?

Several come from the USCIS list of 100 civics questions that people study for the naturalization test. It's a good free source for beginner questions.

Was the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4?

Congress adopted it on July 4, 1776, but the National Archives says the parchment copy was signed on August 2, 1776, and some delegates signed later.