US History Trivia: 15 Questions and Answers (Easy to Hard)

This US history trivia quiz has 15 questions in three rounds, from easy to hard. It covers the Pilgrims, the Revolution, the presidents, national landmarks and the Supreme Court, with the answer and a source after every round. Use it as a classroom warm-up, a team-building icebreaker or a family quiz night.

To run a quiz well, split it into rounds by difficulty. The first round suits ages 9 and up, the second suits anyone who paid attention in school, and the third is for history fans.

US history trivia at a glance

• Rounds: three rounds of five questions.
• Formats: multiple choice, true or false, matching, ordering and fill in the blank.
• Topics: early America, the Revolution, presidents, landmarks and the courts.
• Time needed: about 15 to 20 minutes.

Want a bigger bank of questions? Try our history trivia questions or the US states quiz next.

Run this US history quiz live

You can read the questions out loud, or build them in an online quiz maker so players answer on their phones and the leaderboard updates after every question. AhaSlides marks the answers for you, and faster correct answers earn more points.

The multiple-choice questions suit the pick-answer slide, shown here with a question from this quiz:

For the fill-in-the-blank question, use the short-answer slide. Players type the answer, so there are no options to guess from:

The AhaSlides quiz maker also has a correct-order slide for the timeline question in round 3. Sign up for free to build your own version, or start from a ready-made quiz in the template library.

Round 1: Easy US history trivia

Questions 1 to 5. Good for upper elementary and middle school classes, from about 4th to 9th grade.

1. Which ship carried the Pilgrims to America in 1620? A) The Mayflower B) The Santa Maria C) The Pinta D) The Half Moon
2. Who was the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize? A) John F. Kennedy B) Benjamin Franklin C) James Madison D) Theodore Roosevelt
3. The 13 stripes on the American flag represent the 13 original colonies. True or false?
4. Which president appears on the US one-cent coin? A) George Washington B) Abraham Lincoln C) Thomas Jefferson D) Theodore Roosevelt
5. Which document opens with the words “We the People”? A) The Declaration of Independence B) The Bill of Rights C) The Constitution D) The Gettysburg Address

Round 1 answers

1. A) The Mayflower. It carried the Pilgrims across the Atlantic in 1620. Library of Congress
2. D) Theodore Roosevelt, who won the 1906 Peace Prize for helping to end the Russo-Japanese War. Nobel Prize
3. True. The stripes stand for the 13 original colonies and the stars stand for the states. Smithsonian National Postal Museum
4. B) Abraham Lincoln, on the cent since 1909. US Mint
5. C) The Constitution. National Archives

Round 2: Intermediate US history trivia

Questions 6 to 10. A little harder, with some modern history and national landmarks.

6. Which was the first US state to legalise same-sex marriage? A) Massachusetts B) New Jersey C) California D) Ohio
7. Which Wyoming landmark became the first US national monument in 1906? A) Devils Tower B) Mount Rushmore C) The Statue of Liberty D) The Grand Canyon
8. The War of 1812 was the first war the United States formally declared. True or false?
9. Match each president to his number in the order of presidents. 1) Thomas Jefferson 2) George Washington 3) George W. Bush 4) Franklin D. Roosevelt. Options: A) 32nd B) 3rd C) 1st D) 43rd
10. The Gateway Arch in St Louis takes its name from the city’s role as the “Gateway to the West” during 19th-century westward expansion. True or false?

Round 2 answers

6. A) Massachusetts, in 2004. Mass.gov
7. A) Devils Tower, proclaimed by President Theodore Roosevelt on 24 September 1906. National Park Service
8. True. Congress declared war on Britain in June 1812, the first time it used that power. National Park Service
9. 1-B, 2-C, 3-D, 4-A. Washington was the 1st president, Jefferson the 3rd, Franklin D. Roosevelt the 32nd and George W. Bush the 43rd. Library of Congress: presidents in order
10. True. The arch is part of a national park that commemorates the westward expansion of the United States. National Park Service

Round 3: Advanced US history trivia

Questions 11 to 15. These need exact dates, battles and a careful read of the statement.

11. Put these events in order, earliest first. A) The Civil War begins B) The Pilgrims land at Plymouth C) Explorer 1, the first American satellite, is launched D) The Declaration of Independence is adopted E) The Wall Street crash
12. On what date did the Second Continental Congress adopt the Declaration of Independence? A) 4 July 1776 B) 2 August 1776 C) 17 September 1787 D) 14 January 1784
13. On what date did the Boston Tea Party take place? A) 18 November 1778 B) 20 May 1773 C) 16 December 1773 D) 9 September 1778
14. Fill in the blank: the Battle of ________ in 1777 is widely considered the turning point of the American Revolution.
15. James A. Garfield was the first Black justice of the US Supreme Court. True or false?

Round 3 answers

11. B, D, A, E, C: Pilgrims land (1620), Declaration adopted (1776), Civil War begins (1861), Wall Street crash (1929), Explorer 1 launched (1958). NASA
12. A) 4 July 1776. Most delegates then signed the engrossed copy on 2 August. National Archives
13. C) 16 December 1773. Massachusetts Historical Society
14. Saratoga. The American victory persuaded France to enter the war as an ally. Office of the Historian, US Department of State
15. False. Thurgood Marshall became the first Black justice in 1967. Garfield was the 20th president and never served on the Court. National Archives

How to score and host your US history quiz

• Scoring: one point per correct answer, 15 in total. In AhaSlides, faster correct answers earn bonus points.
• Teams: split the room into teams of four to six and let each team agree one answer. It keeps quieter players involved.
• Make it harder: ask for the year as a bonus point on every question, or remove the answer options and use typed answers throughout.
• Make it easier: keep to rounds 1 and 2, and let teams use their textbooks for round 3.
• Check the trick questions: the true or false statements in rounds 2 and 3 are worded to catch half-remembered facts, so read each one slowly.

Sources

• US National Archives: Founding Documents
• National Park Service
• Office of the Historian, US Department of State
• The Nobel Prize
• National Archives: Thurgood Marshall
• Massachusetts Historical Society
• United States Mint

Final thoughts

US history shapes how people understand the country today, and a quick quiz is an easy way to bring it into a lesson or a team session. If you enjoyed this one, sign up for AhaSlides and build a world history or local history quiz in a few minutes.