Chapter 1 American History
Who was the first American-born child of English settlers?
Virginia Dare, born in 1587 to English settlers of the "lost colony" of Roanoke Island. The entire colony disappeared; Dare's death date is unknown.
Did the pilgrims eat turkey at the first Thanksgiving celebration at Plymouth Rock?
At the three-day festivities celebrating survival through the winter, many foods were served, but turkey was not one of them. The menu included: venison, duck, goose, seafood, eels, white bread, corn bread, leeks, watercress and various other greens, wild plums, dried berries, and wine.
Is it true that Manhattan Island was bought from the Indians for $24?
What Peter Minuit gave the Manhattoe tribe was a package of trinkets and cloth valued at 60 guilders -- roughly equivalent to $24.
Who founded the city of Chicago?
A black man from Haiti named Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable (1745-1818). In 1772, Du Sable founded a settlement called Eschikagou on the north bank of the Chicago River. However, he was not officially recognized as the city's founder until 1968.
Who was the founder of Detroit?
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer and administrator, founded Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit in 1701. The Cadillac automobile is named for him.
Was Pittsburgh named after someone named Pitt? If so, what did he have to do with Pennsylvania?
Pittsburgh was named for William Pitt -- even though Pitt never set foot in Pennsylvania. Pitt's actions as a British war minister during the French and Indian War led to the city's founding. He committed money and troops to the war; he mapped out a strategy that included the capture of Fort Duquesne, located where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers combine to form the Ohio. After this French fort fell in November 1758, a British one was built -- Fort Pitt, or Pittsburgh. The city of Pittsburgh still stands on that spot.
What is the oldest existing hospital in America?
Bellevue, on New York City's East Side, is the oldest general hospital in North America. Plans for the hospital date back to 1736, although at that time the building was meant to be only a "Publick Workhouse and House of Correction" near City Hall (located on the site of present-day City Hall Park). In 1816, a larger space was needed and construction began at Belle Vue Farm, on the hospital's present site.
When were the first African slaves brought to the United States?
In 1619, a Dutch ship brought the first 20 slaves to the English colony of Virginia.
How many slaves were freed after the American Civil War?
About 4 million.
In total, how many Africans were brought to the United States as slaves?
Approximately 15 million.
How many Liberty Bells have there been?
Two. The first was cast in England in 1752 for the Pennsylvania State House, which later became Independence Hall. The second was cast in Philadelphia and inscribed, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Leviticus 25:10). The bell cracked on July 8, 1835, as it tolled the passing of Chief Justice John Marshall.
In the song "Yankee Doodle," why did Yankee Doodle stick a feather in his cap and call it macaroni?
The line refers not to the pasta but to the Macaroni Club, a mid-eighteenth-century English social club of dandyish young men who wanted to bring the influences of the Continent to bear on their home country. Thus the line was originally intended to discredit American revolutionaries.
Did Betsy Ross design the American flag?
No, it was designed by Francis Hopkinson, a naval flag designer, who was never reimbursed for his services by the U.S. government. And there is no record of Betsy Ross's commission to sew the flag.
In the American Revolution, how many men were required for a regiment in the Continental army?
In November 1775, the Continental Congress advised that a regiment have eight companies of 91 officers and men apiece, for a total of 728. The actual size of the regiments varied per state.
How many American casualties were suffered in the American Revolution?
Unofficial studies of field reports indicate that about 4,500 men died in battle and over 6,000 were wounded. Illness also took a large but indeterminate number. At Valley Forge, for example, illness claimed over 3,000 lives.
How many Americans fought for the British in the American Revolution?
Approximately 50,000 Americans were part of the Loyalist military support for the king. Few joined the British army and navy, but thousands served in provincial regiments under Loyalist officers. American Indians -- mainly in Canada, on the frontier, and in the South -- also fought for Britain.
How much was Benedict Arnold given to be a traitor?
Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) demanded £20,000 from the British but received only £6,315. In exchange, he revealed American battle plans, tried (but failed) to deliver West Point, and crossed over to the British army. Although Arnold was given 13,400 acres of land in Canada after the war, he lived the rest of his life in England.
When was the first U.S. census taken?
In 1790. It included six questions and recorded a population of 3,929,214 persons, of whom 3,172,006 were white and 757,208 were black. The white population was evenly divided between males and females -- 1,615,434 males, 1,556,572 females. Virginia was the most populous state, with 747,610 inhabitants.
When did the first strike in the United States take place?
In 1776, in New York, when members of the Journeymen Printers Union struck against their local shops.
Where and when was the greatest earthquake in American history?
It took place in Missouri on December 16, 1811, at about 2:00 P.M. It is estimated that the quake would have measured 8.7 on the Richter scale, compared with only 8.3 for the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. However, the Missouri area was sparsely populated in 1811, so the San Francisco quake took more lives and damaged more property.
How did American currency come to be called dollars and cents?
Dollar was the English spelling of the German Taler (a silver coin first issued in 1519). American colonists used the word dollar to describe the Spanish peso circulating from South America, and when it came time to devise a system of currency (in 1792), the United States government adopted the dollar as its basic monetary unit. The word cent meant one-hundredth of a dollar -- following the decimal system of coinage first proposed by Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816). Morris was a New York-born statesman who served as assistant to the superintendent of finance under the Articles of Confederation, from 1781 to 1785.
When did the motto In God We Trust start appearing on U.S. coins?
It has appeared on most American coins since about 1864. During the Civil War, rising popular religious sentiment prompted Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase to put the country's faith where its money was. Other slogans suggested were God Our Trust and God and Our Country. The motto is not required by law.
How many females have appeared on U.S. currency?
Aside from the female representations of Justice and Liberty, only three women have been so commemorated: Martha Washington, on the face of the 1886 and 1891 $1 silver certificates and on the reverse of the 1896 silver certificate; Pocahontas, on the back of the 1875 $20 bill; and women's suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony, on the 1979 $1 coin.
When was the U.S. Navy established?
An American "Continental Navy" was established by the Second Continental Congress on October 13, 1775. It was disbanded after the War of Independence, in 1784. The first U.S. Navy was not established until April 30, 1798.
How did the elephant and donkey come to be the symbols for the Republican and Democratic parties?
Cartoonist and illustrator Thomas Nast (1840-1902) popularized both symbols but invented only one of them. Democrat Andrew Jackson first used the donkey as a symbol for his party after his opponents in the 1828 presidential election called him a "jackass"; Nast's cartoons later helped to make the symbol famous. Nast himself introduced the Republican elephant in an 1874 cartoon. At first, the elephant was only meant to symbolize the overwhelming strength of "the Republican Vote"; it soon came to stand for the Republican party as a whole.
Has the U.S. Supreme Court ever had more (or fewer) than nine members?
Yes. Originated by the Constitution, the Court has been regulated in size by Congress. The number of justices varied -- from six to ten -- until 1869, when Congress voted to set the membership at nine.
What was the first chartered railroad in the United States?
The Granite Railway, which began running from Quincy, Massachusetts, to the Neponset River -- a distance of three miles -- on October 7, 1826. Its principal cargo consisted of blocks of granite for use in building the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. The railway later became part of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad.
How long did the Pony Express last?
The system of mail delivery by horse-and-rider relays lasted only 18 months, from April 1860 to October 1861. It connected Saint Joseph, Missouri, with Sacramento, California -- a distance of 1,800 miles. The completion of the transcontinental telegraph system brought the Pony Express to an end.
Is it true that Robert E. Lee was offered command of both sides in the Civil War?
Yes. Within the span of a few days in April 1861, Lee was offered command of both the Union and Confederate forces. Although he opposed slavery and secession and believed the South could not win, his loyalty to his home state of Virginia led him to accept the Confederate command.
How many people were present at Lincoln's Gettysburg Address?
Appr...
