United States Declaration of Independence

United States Declaration of Independence - Test

1. When was the United States Declaration of Independence adopted?

A) July 4, 1776
B) September 2, 1776
C) June 1, 1776
D) August 15, 1776

2. Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?

A) Benjamin Franklin
B) George Washington
C) John Adams
D) Thomas Jefferson

3. How many people signed the Declaration of Independence?

A) 39
B) 23
C) 56
D) 75

4. Who was the President of the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted?

A) Benjamin Franklin
B) John Hancock
C) George Washington
D) Thomas Jefferson

5. Which country provided diplomatic support to the American colonies during the Revolutionary War?

A) France
B) Spain
C) Russia
D) Germany

6. What is the opening phrase of the Declaration of Independence?

A) When in the Course of human events
B) In the beginning
C) We the People of the United States
D) Four score and seven years ago

7. Which British philosopher's ideas influenced the Declaration of Independence?

A) Karl Marx
B) Adam Smith
C) Thomas Hobbes
D) John Locke

8. Who was the king of Great Britain when the Declaration of Independence was adopted?

A) George II
B) William III
C) James II
D) George III

9. Who was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence?

A) Benjamin Franklin
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) John Adams
D) Samuel Adams

10. What was the original title of the Declaration of Independence?

A) The Liberty Manifesto
B) A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress Assembled
C) The Independence Proclamation
D) The Freedom Document

11. Which state was the last to formally approve the Declaration of Independence?

A) Delaware
B) Connecticut
C) New York
D) New Jersey

12. In what city was the Declaration of Independence signed?

A) Philadelphia
B) Charleston
C) Boston
D) New York City

13. Which country was a major obstacle to American independence during the Revolutionary War?

A) France
B) Great Britain
C) Spain
D) Germany

14. Who famously wrote 'Give me liberty or give me death,' but did not sign the Declaration of Independence?

A) Thomas Paine
B) Patrick Henry
C) George Washington
D) Samuel Adams

15. What was the purpose of the Lee Resolution passed by Congress two days before adopting the Declaration?

A) Declared war on Great Britain
B) Resolved that British no longer had governing authority over the Thirteen Colonies
C) Formalized trade agreements with France
D) Established a new currency for the colonies

16. Who was responsible for engrossing the official copy of the Declaration?

A) John Adams
B) Timothy Matlack
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) Benjamin Franklin

17. Which U.S. President considered the Declaration a moral standard and used it in his Gettysburg Address?

A) George Washington
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) James Madison
D) Abraham Lincoln

18. What is one of the most famous lines from the Declaration of Independence?

A) "Give me liberty or give me death!"
B) "Ask not what your country can do for you..."
C) "I have a dream..."
D) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."

19. What did the Declaration of Independence cite as reasons for independence?

A) Need for more land expansion
B) Desire to establish a monarchy in America
C) Economic benefits from trade with France
D) 27 colonial grievances against the king and asserting certain natural and legal rights

20. Which act was enacted by Parliament in 1765 to increase revenue from the colonies?

A) The Tea Act
B) The Quartering Act
C) The Stamp Act
D) The Intolerable Acts

21. What event involved colonists protesting against British taxes by destroying an entire shipment of tea?

A) The Boston Tea Party
B) The Boston Massacre
C) The Intolerable Acts
D) The Stamp Act Congress

22. Which year marked the beginning of deteriorating relations between the colonies and Great Britain?

A) 1783
B) 1775
C) 1763
D) 1754

23. Which series of acts were enacted by Parliament in 1767 to increase revenue from the colonies?

A) The Coercive Acts
B) The Declaratory Act
C) The Townshend Acts
D) The Sugar Act

24. In what year did the First Continental Congress convene?

A) 1776
B) 1773
C) 1774
D) 1775

25. What was the Prohibitory Act's impact on American ports?

A) Reduced taxes
B) Established a blockade
C) Increased imports
D) Opened trade routes

26. What did Thomas Paine link independence with in 'Common Sense'?

A) Catholic doctrines
B) Monarchical traditions
C) Protestant beliefs
D) Secular humanism

27. What did the Prohibitory Act declare American ships to be?

A) Protected cargo carriers
B) Trade allies
C) Neutral ships
D) Enemy vessels

28. Which colony was the first to explicitly authorize its delegates to vote for independence?

A) North Carolina
B) Virginia
C) Massachusetts
D) Pennsylvania

29. How many Dunlap broadsides are known to survive?

A) 50
B) 26
C) 200
D) 10

30. What video game involves acquiring the Declaration of Independence from the National Archives?

A) Fallout 3
B) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
C) Grand Theft Auto V
D) Red Dead Redemption

31. Since when has an engraving of the signing scene been featured on the reverse side of the United States two-dollar bill?

A) 1976
B) 1863
C) 2000
D) 1945

32. What was Mary Katherine Goddard's role related to the Maryland Journal?

A) Writer
B) Owner
C) Publisher
D) Editor

33. Which colony's delegation was split between a yes and no vote on independence?

A) Delaware
B) Massachusetts
C) Virginia
D) Maryland

34. On what date did the New York Provincial Congress evacuate New York?

A) July 10
B) June 28
C) June 30
D) June 21

35. Which resolution did Congress approve on July 2, 1776?

A) May 15 preamble
B) Articles of Confederation
C) Resolution for independence
D) Treaty of Paris

36. Which revolution's leaders admired the United States Declaration of Independence?

A) The Venezuelan War of Independence.
B) The French Revolution.
C) The Russian Revolution.
D) The Haitian Revolution.

37. What was one of the demands in the Black Panther Party's Ten-Point Program?

A) Prohibition of alcohol
B) Abolition of income tax
C) Freedom from compulsory military service
D) Universal healthcare

38. What position did Mary Katherine Goddard hold in Baltimore?

A) Mayor
B) Postmaster
C) Governor
D) Judge

39. Which colony's Assembly retained control of the anti-independence faction in a special election focused on independence?

A) Maryland
B) New York
C) Pennsylvania
D) Delaware

40. Which band recorded a song about the Declaration of Independence on their 1970 album?

A) The Beatles
B) The Rolling Stones
C) Simon & Garfunkel
D) The 5th Dimension

41. Who broke the tie in the Delaware delegation by voting for independence?

A) George Read
B) Caesar Rodney
C) Thomas McKean
D) John Dickinson

42. What award did the 1969 musical '1776' win?

A) Tony Award
B) Academy Award
C) Grammy Award
D) Emmy Award

43. Who wrote out John Brown's Declaration of Liberty?

A) Owen Brown, who often served as his father's amanuensis
B) A member of the Select Senate Committee
C) Frederick Douglass, a close associate
D) John Brown himself

44. Where was the engrossed copy of the Declaration transferred to in 1952?

A) State Department
B) Library of Congress
C) Fort Knox
D) The National Archives

45. Which group sought to promote the importance of the Declaration and Jefferson as its author?

A) Loyalists
B) Jeffersonian Republicans
C) Federalists
D) Whigs

46. Who prepared key drafts for the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?

A) George Mason.
B) Thomas Jefferson.
C) Pauline Maier.
D) Lafayette.

47. Who was tasked by the Continental Congress with printing the signed Declaration?

A) Mary Katherine Goddard
B) John Adams
C) Benjamin Franklin
D) Thomas Jefferson

48. According to Pauline Maier, whose interpretation of the Declaration was more historically accurate?

A) Daniel Webster's
B) Abraham Lincoln's
C) James Wilson's
D) Stephen Douglas's

49. In what capacity did Mary Katherine Goddard usually sign her name?

A) "M.K. Goddard"
B) "MK Goddard"
C) "M.K. of Maryland"
D) "Mary K. Goddard"

50. In what year did the humorous exchange between John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin first appear in print?

A) 1804
B) 1837
C) 1787
D) 1776

51. What word was inserted in the final official engrossed copy of the Declaration?

A) Unanimous
B) United
C) Sovereign
D) Independent

52. In what year was the Declaration of Independence one of the first texts to be made into an ebook?

A) 1969
B) 2008
C) 1984
D) 1971

53. Which inkstand was used for the signing of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution?

A) The Adams pen
B) The Syng inkstand
C) The Franklin inkwell
D) The Hancock quill

54. On which date did the Connecticut Assembly instruct its delegates to propose independence?

A) June 18
B) June 13
C) June 14
D) June 15

55. What did John Brown hope to establish in the Appalachian Mountains?

A) A new state within the Union
B) A large plantation for freed slaves
C) A quasi-country with a Provisional Constitution
D) A military base for abolitionists

56. What is the term 'John Hancock' used to signify in American culture?

A) A signature
B) An oath of allegiance
C) A declaration of independence
D) A legislative act

57. Which African-American writer argued that liberty was equally precious to Black and white people?

A) Harriet Tubman
B) Frederick Douglass
C) Sojourner Truth
D) Lemuel Haynes

58. On which television show was the song 'Declaration' by The 5th Dimension first performed?

A) The Tonight Show
B) American Bandstand
C) Saturday Night Live
D) The Ed Sullivan Show

59. What is the modern scholarly consensus about the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence?

A) It is most likely inauthentic
B) It was signed by all Thirteen Colonies
C) It was approved by Congress on July 4
D) It was adopted after other local declarations

60. What was the denomination of the stamp issued in 1869 featuring Trumbull's painting?

A) 24-cent
B) 50-cent
C) 5-cent
D) 10-cent

61. How many delegates' signatures are affixed to the Declaration of Independence?

A) Fifty-six
B) Four
C) Thirteen
D) Seventy-three

62. When was John Trumbull's painting first displayed in the United States Capitol Rotunda?

A) 1863
B) 1776
C) 1826
D) 1817

63. Who was responsible for changing the Annapolis Convention's stance on independence in Maryland?

A) Thomas McKean
B) John Adams
C) William Franklin
D) Samuel Chase

64. Which country's declaration of independence notably omitted 'all men are created equal'?

A) Rhodesia.
B) Mexico.
C) Venezuela.
D) Haiti.

65. How many main parts is the Declaration of Independence often discussed as consisting of?

A) Three
B) Four
C) Five
D) Six

66. In what year did Frederick Douglass deliver his speech 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?'

A) 1848
B) 1852
C) 1837
D) 1865

67. Who delivered a speech at the Gay Pride Celebration in San Francisco in 1978?

A) Ellen DeGeneres
B) Harvey Milk
C) Barbara Gittings
D) Frank Kameny

68. Who freed his slave Prince Whipple because of revolutionary ideals?

A) Thomas Jefferson
B) John Hancock
C) William Whipple
D) George Washington

69. In which decade did interest in the Declaration of Independence experience a revival due to political parties?

A) The 1790s
B) The 1800s
C) The 1810s
D) The 1780s

70. On what date did Congress pass John Adams' preamble?

A) April 12
B) May 15
C) July 4
D) June 17

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