Which British general also served as royal governor of Massachusetts when fighting broke out in 1775?
Thomas Gage
✓
William Howe
John Burgoyne
Charles Cornwallis
Correct Answer
Thomas Gage
Thomas Gage arrived in 1774 as both military commander and governor to enforce the Coercive Acts, and his effort to seize colonial gunpowder led to Lexington and Concord. William Howe later commanded British forces in the campaigns around New York and Philadelphia. John Burgoyne led the army that surrendered at Saratoga in 1777. Charles Cornwallis commanded in the South and surrendered at Yorktown.
Category: Fighting Begins
Question 2
What were minutemen?
Hessian soldiers hired by Britain
Militia members ready to turn out on very short notice
✓
Riders paid by Congress to carry mail
Officers trained by Steuben at Valley Forge
Correct Answer
Militia members ready to turn out on very short notice
Minutemen were local militia members, best known in Massachusetts, who could assemble almost at once to resist British raids on colonial arms. Hessian soldiers hired by Britain were German troops fighting against the colonists. Riders paid by Congress to carry mail were not a militia force. Officers trained by Steuben at Valley Forge belonged to the Continental Army, a regular force, and his drill began only in 1778.
Category: Fighting Begins
Question 3
What was the main purpose of the British march toward Concord in April 1775?
To capture Fort Ticonderoga
To relieve a siege of Quebec
To seize colonial military supplies
✓
To escort tea ships into port
Correct Answer
To seize colonial military supplies
General Gage sent troops to destroy a store of colonial gunpowder and arms at Concord and hoped to arrest Patriot leaders along the way. To capture Fort Ticonderoga was the goal of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, who took it from the British in May 1775. To relieve a siege of Quebec had nothing to do with the march. To escort tea ships into port belongs to the crisis of 1773, not 1775.
Category: Fighting Begins
Question 4
What was the outcome of the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775?
The colonists drove the British out of Boston
The battle ended with a negotiated truce
Washington's army was forced to surrender
The British took the high ground but suffered heavy losses
✓
Correct Answer
The British took the high ground but suffered heavy losses
The British captured the hills only after the colonists ran low on ammunition, and their casualties were so high that the siege of Boston continued. The colonists drove the British out of Boston only in March 1776. The battle ended with a negotiated truce is false; no truce followed. Washington's army was forced to surrender is wrong because Washington had not yet taken command at Boston.
Category: Fighting Begins
Question 5
How did Washington force the British to leave Boston in March 1776?
By placing captured cannons on heights overlooking the city
✓
By cutting off the city's water supply
By sealing the harbor with an American fleet
By storming the city in a winter assault
Correct Answer
By placing captured cannons on heights overlooking the city
Cannons taken at Fort Ticonderoga were hauled to Boston and set on high ground commanding the city and harbor, making the British position impossible to hold. Cutting off the city's water supply was not how the siege ended. Sealing the harbor with an American fleet was impossible, since the colonists had no navy able to challenge the Royal Navy. Storming the city in a winter assault never took place; the British evacuated instead.
Category: Fighting Begins
Question 6
What did Lord Dunmore's Proclamation of 1775 offer?
Land west of the Appalachians to loyal settlers
Freedom to enslaved people of rebels who joined the British
✓
Pardons to Patriot leaders who surrendered
Tax relief to Virginia's tobacco planters
Correct Answer
Freedom to enslaved people of rebels who joined the British
Virginia's royal governor promised freedom to enslaved people and indentured servants of rebel owners who fought for the Crown. Land west of the Appalachians was not offered; Britain had restricted settlement there since 1763. Pardons to Patriot leaders who surrendered were not the proclamation's offer. Tax relief to Virginia's tobacco planters was not part of it, and the proclamation actually drove many planters toward the Patriot side.
Category: Road to Independence
Question 7
Thomas Paine's Common Sense, published in January 1776, persuaded many colonists by doing what?
Defending Parliament's right to regulate trade
Proposing a union under a crown-appointed council
Attacking monarchy itself and calling for independence
✓
Urging colonists to seek an alliance with Spain
Correct Answer
Attacking monarchy itself and calling for independence
Common Sense turned colonial anger from Parliament to King George III and to hereditary monarchy, and it argued for independence and a republic in plain language. Defending Parliament's right to regulate trade was a moderate position of the 1760s, not Paine's. Proposing a union under a crown-appointed council describes the Galloway Plan of 1774. Urging colonists to seek an alliance with Spain was not the pamphlet's argument.
Category: Road to Independence
Question 8
According to the Declaration of Independence, governments derive their just powers from what source?
The will of God expressed through kings
Ancient English common law
The authority of Parliament
The consent of the governed
✓
Correct Answer
The consent of the governed
The Declaration held that people have natural rights and that governments are created to secure them, drawing their legitimacy from the people they govern. The will of God expressed through kings is the divine right theory the Declaration rejected. Ancient English common law was cited by colonists elsewhere but is not the Declaration's source of legitimate power. The authority of Parliament is exactly what the colonists denied.
Category: Road to Independence
Question 9
Who were the Hessians whom Washington surprised at Trenton in December 1776?
German soldiers hired to fight for Britain
✓
Loyalist militia from New Jersey
French volunteers serving with the Continental Army
Iroquois warriors allied with the British
Correct Answer
German soldiers hired to fight for Britain
Britain hired German troops, many from the state of Hesse-Cassel, to help put down the rebellion, and Washington captured a large Hessian garrison after crossing the Delaware. Loyalist militia from New Jersey were colonists, not hired foreign troops. French volunteers serving with the Continental Army fought on the American side. Iroquois warriors allied with the British fought mainly in the northern backcountry campaigns.
Category: War in the North
Question 10
Which foreign officer drilled and trained the Continental Army at Valley Forge?
Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
✓
Comte de Rochambeau
Comte de Grasse
Correct Answer
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
Von Steuben, a Prussian officer, arrived in early 1778, trained a model company that then trained others, and wrote the army's drill manual. The Marquis de Lafayette was a French volunteer who served as Washington's aide and a field commander. The Comte de Rochambeau commanded the French army that marched to Yorktown in 1781. The Comte de Grasse commanded the French fleet at the Chesapeake.
Category: War in the North
Question 11
Why was the American victory at Saratoga in 1777 a turning point?
It ended the British occupation of New York City
It forced Cornwallis to surrender his army
It convinced France to enter an alliance with the United States
✓
It gave the Americans control of Canada
Correct Answer
It convinced France to enter an alliance with the United States
The surrender of a whole British army persuaded France that the Americans could win, and France then recognized American independence and sent money, troops, and ships. It ended the British occupation of New York City is false; the British held the city until 1783. It forced Cornwallis to surrender his army describes Yorktown in 1781. It gave the Americans control of Canada is wrong; Canada stayed British.
Category: Saratoga and Alliance
Question 12
What was the goal of Britain's 1777 northern campaign along the Hudson River?
To capture the American capital at Philadelphia
To open a supply route from Florida
To force Spain out of the war
To cut New England off from the other colonies
✓
Correct Answer
To cut New England off from the other colonies
British planners wanted converging armies to meet at Albany and isolate New England, seen as the heart of the rebellion. To capture the American capital at Philadelphia was Howe's separate campaign, which pulled troops away from the northern plan. To open a supply route from Florida had nothing to do with the Hudson. To force Spain out of the war is wrong because Spain did not join the war until 1779.
Category: Saratoga and Alliance
Question 13
Why did Britain shift its war effort to the southern colonies after 1778?
It expected strong Loyalist support there
✓
It wanted to protect its sugar islands from Spain
It hoped to recruit Hessians in Charleston
It sought to avoid fighting the French navy
Correct Answer
It expected strong Loyalist support there
With the war in the North at a stalemate, British planners counted on Loyalists, enslaved people seeking freedom, and Native allies in the South. Protecting its sugar islands from Spain was a separate concern fought in the Caribbean. Recruiting Hessians in Charleston is wrong because Hessians were hired in Germany. Avoiding the French navy was impossible, and the French fleet in fact helped trap the British in Virginia.
Category: War in the South
Question 14
Which American general took command in the South in late 1780 and wore down the British by avoiding a single decisive battle?
Horatio Gates
Nathanael Greene
✓
Benjamin Lincoln
Benedict Arnold
Correct Answer
Nathanael Greene
Greene divided his forces, kept his army in the field, and bled the British through costly engagements such as Guilford Courthouse. Horatio Gates was the commander he replaced after the disaster at Camden. Benjamin Lincoln had surrendered his army at Charleston earlier in 1780. Benedict Arnold had by then defected to the British.
Category: War in the South
Question 15
What role did the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse play at Yorktown in 1781?
It carried the British army to safety in New York
It bombarded Charleston to support Greene
It blocked the British escape by sea
✓
It brought Hessian reinforcements from Germany
Correct Answer
It blocked the British escape by sea
De Grasse's ships controlled Chesapeake Bay, so the Royal Navy could not evacuate the trapped army while American and French troops besieged it by land. It carried the British army to safety in New York is the opposite of what happened. It bombarded Charleston to support Greene did not occur. It brought Hessian reinforcements from Germany is impossible, since Hessians fought for Britain.
Category: War in the South
Question 16
Under the Treaty of Paris of 1783, what became the western boundary of the United States?
The Appalachian Mountains
The Ohio River
The Rocky Mountains
The Mississippi River
✓
Correct Answer
The Mississippi River
The treaty recognized American independence and set the new nation's western edge at the Mississippi, with Canada to the north and Florida to the south. The Appalachian Mountains had been the line of the Proclamation of 1763, which the treaty swept away. The Ohio River lay inside the new boundaries. The Rocky Mountains were far west of any land Britain ceded.
Category: Peace Terms
Question 17
What happened to the paper money issued by the Continental Congress during the war?
It lost value rapidly as more was printed
✓
It was backed fully by French gold
It was accepted by British merchants at face value
It replaced all state currencies
Correct Answer
It lost value rapidly as more was printed
Congress printed so much paper money that runaway inflation set in, giving rise to the saying not worth a Continental. It was backed fully by French gold is false; foreign loans could not support the flood of bills. It was accepted by British merchants at face value is wrong; the British paid in gold and silver. It replaced all state currencies is false because the states printed their own money too.
Category: Revolutionary Society
Question 18
How did revolutionary state governments commonly punish Loyalists who refused to support independence?
By drafting them into the Continental Army
By seizing their land and property
✓
By forcing them to pay soldiers' wages
By stripping them of church membership
Correct Answer
By seizing their land and property
Many states passed confiscation acts, and men who refused oaths of allegiance could lose their property and face prison. Drafting them into the Continental Army would have armed opponents of the cause. Forcing them to pay soldiers' wages was not the standard penalty. Stripping them of church membership was not a power the state governments used against Loyalists.
Category: Revolutionary Society
Question 19
Joseph Brant, a Mohawk leader, is known for what role in the Revolution?
Negotiating the Treaty of Paris for the Six Nations
Leading Mohawk warriors on the Patriot side
Fighting alongside the British against the Patriots
✓
Remaining neutral and sheltering refugees
Correct Answer
Fighting alongside the British against the Patriots
Brant allied with Britain, hoping the Crown would protect Native lands from colonial expansion, and he joined the 1777 campaign in New York. Negotiating the Treaty of Paris for the Six Nations is wrong; Native nations had no part in the treaty. Leading Mohawk warriors on the Patriot side reverses his allegiance. Remaining neutral and sheltering refugees does not describe his active role in the fighting.
Category: Revolutionary Society
Question 20
What role did women known as camp followers play in the war?
They spied on British officers in occupied cities
They raised money in Philadelphia for soldiers
They ran boycotts of British cloth
They traveled with the armies as cooks, washerwomen, and nurses
✓
Correct Answer
They traveled with the armies as cooks, washerwomen, and nurses
Camp followers accompanied the armies and did essential work that kept soldiers fed, clothed, and cared for. They spied on British officers is not what the term means, though some individuals did gather intelligence. They raised money in Philadelphia describes Esther DeBerdt Reed's Ladies Association. They ran boycotts of British cloth describes the earlier Daughters of Liberty.
Category: Revolutionary Society