American History MS Flashcards
Question: Samuel Chase was the only impeached member of this group, which is vested with power by Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Harriet Miers and Robert Bork were unsuccessful nominees to join this group, which Franklin Roosevelt proposed increasing to a size of 15. (*) Marbury v. Madison was an 1803 decision by, for 10 points, what nine-member panel, the highest-ranking in the judicial branch?
United States Supreme Court [accept SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States); prompt on “Court”]
Question: During this man’s administration an act limiting child labor, the Keating-Owen Act, was passed. Another bill passed during this man’s administration was the Clayton Antitrust Act which helped limit big business. This president’s secretary of state resigned after the sinking of the (*) Lusitania. This man campaigned with the slogan he kept us out of the war and would later attempt to end that war with his 14 points. For 10 points, name this 28th President of the United States who was in office during World War I
Woodrow Wilson
Question: This person won the Nobel Peace Prize for leading negotiations for the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War. This leader coined the term “bully pulpit” and introduced the Square Deal. During the Spanish-American War, he led a charge up San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders, and hewould later run for President on the Bull Moose ticket. For 10 points, name this President who succeeded William McKinley.
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt [prompt on Roosevelt; prompt on T.R.]
Question: This government body resolved the Yazoo land scandal and determined in 1803 that, even though John Adams erred in not delivering a commission, the (*) Judiciary Act in question was unconstitutional. This body was led for over thirty years by John Marshall, who helped decide the Marbury v. Madison case. For ten points, name this group of nine justices, the highest court in the United States.
United States Supreme Court (accept Supreme Court of the United States or SCOTUS)
Question: The U.S. Naval Observatory is the official residence for holders of this office, which Spiro Agnew resigned when he was charged with tax fraud. This post was vacant during the administrations of John Tyler and Millard Fillmore, who both became (*) President after they held this post. Ties in the U.S. Senate are broken by, for 10 points, what executive branch post recently held by Dick Cheney?
Vice President of the United States [do not accept or prompt on “President”]
Question: Victorious soldiers in this war, worried about unfunded pensions, tried to organize the Newburgh Conspiracy. The Conway Cabal was a short-lived attempt to replace the winning leader. During this war, John André was hanged for his role in an attempted (*) betrayal of the fort at West Point, a plan organized by Benedict Arnold. For 10 points, name this war, which ended when Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown to George Washington.
American Revolutionary War (or Revolutionary War)
Question: This man chaired the 40 Committee that authorized the CIA backed coup of Salvador Allende (Ah-YEN-day) in Chile. He negotiated with Zhou Enlai during Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China. As National Security Advisor, he applied the term “détente” [day-TAHNT] to relaxation of tensions with the Soviet Union. (*) For 10 points, name this Nobel Peace Prize winner and realpolitik advocate who served as Secretary of State at the end of the Vietnam War.
(Heinz Alfred) “Henry” Kissinger
Question: One issue in this case was Dr. John Emerson’s purchase of Harriet Robinson in the Wisconsin territory. This case was dismissed because the plaintiff did not have standing to sue; the opinion in this case then ruled that Congress could not ban (*) slavery in territories and ruled the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. For 10 points, name this controversial 1857 Supreme Court case that ruled people of African descent could not be U.S. citizens.
Dred Scott v. (John) Sandford
Question: In the buildup to this battle, the losing commander set up a fortification at Gloucester (“GLAU-ster”) shortly after retreating from Williamsburg. A key turning point in this battle was the arrival of reinforcements under Count Rochambeau (“RO-sham-BO”). British naval forces under Thomas Graves failed to break through the French blockade. For 10 points, name this final Revolutionary War battle, after which Lord Cornwallis surrendered.
Battle of Yorktown
Question: A wagon train retreating from this battle was caught at Monterey Pass, but George Meade couldn’t catch up to it. During this battle, Lewis Amistead advanced to the “High Water Mark of the Confederacy,” although (*) Pickett’s Charge failed to turn the tide of this July 1863 battle. For ten points, name this battle of the Civil War, whose site was made a cemetery after Abraham Lincoln gave a namesake “Address” there.
Battle of Gettysburg (accept Gettysburg Address)
Question: One mission in this program docked with the spacecraft used by Soyuz (soy-“OOZE”) 19. Thenumerically first mission in this program was retroactively named after a fire burst out during a test run.Harrison Schmitt, a geologist, was part of its last mission, number 17. One mission in this programspawned the line, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” For 10 points, name this NASA program whosemission 11 saw man first walk on the moon.
Apollo Program [accept Apollo Extension Series or Apollo Applications Program before “first”]
Question: In this leader’s farewell address, he noted that, until World War II, “American makers of plowshares could […] make swords as well.” He used the Army to desegregate Central High School in Little Rock, and he was inspired by the Autobahn to develop the national (*) Interstate system. This Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces led the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. For 10 points, name this general who served as U.S. President following Harry Truman.
Dwight David Eisenhower
Question: Along with his accomplice David Herold, he was tracked down to the farm of Richard Garrett where hewas shot and killed by Boston Corbett. He received medical attention from Dr. Samuel Mudd in the wakeof his most famous action, and after jumping from a balcony onto the stage, he famously shouted “sicsemper tyrannis” to the crowd at Ford’s Theater. For 10 points, identify this assassin of Abraham Lincoln.
John Wilkes Booth
Question: During the Civil War, this city was defended by Fort St. Philip and controversially occupied by Uniongeneral Benjamin Butler. The Sieur de Bienville led a group of French settlers here in 1718. This city’ssuburb of Metairie contains the southern end of the Lake (*) Pontchartrain Causeway. Its Lower Ninth Wardwas damaged when levees were weakened by a 2005 storm. For 10 points, what Louisiana city was devastated byHurricane Katrina?
New Orleans, Louisiana
Question: During his final command, he planned the amphibious assault at Inchon. Nearly a decade before that, he took command of American troops in the Pacific, but lost the Philippine Islands to the Japanese in 1942.For 10 points, name this American general who accepted the surrender of Japan in 1945 and vowed, “I shall return.”
Douglas MacArthur
Question: A work possibly ghost-written for this man praised Edmund Ross, Thomas Hart Benton, and six otherSenators for doing what they felt was right; that work was Profiles in Courage. This president ordered afailed invasion at the Bay of Pigs. He persisted in a naval blockade of Cuba and resolved the CubanMissile Crisis. For 10 points, name this President who was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallasin 1963.
John F. Kennedy [or JFK; prompt on Kennedy]
Question: The Cullen-Harrison Act weakened this policy, which was effectively begun by the Volstead Act. This policy ended with the 1933 ratification of the 21st Amendment, though it had been defied by (*) speakeasies and bootleggers. Franklin Roosevelt joked “I think this would be a good time for a beer” to end, for ten points, what period of American history when alcoholic beverages were banned?
Prohibition (accept descriptions of the banning of alcoholic beverages before it is read) [foo- koh] [hoy- gens] [soo- tah pee- tah- kah] [“polly” canon]
Question: This designer of a planned community at Arthurdale resigned from the D.A.R. and arranged a concert at the Lincoln Memorial for Marian Anderson. This first chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights helped develop the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which included the (*) “Four Freedoms” proposed by her husband. For 10 points, name this First Lady, the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Eleanor Roosevelt (accept Eleanor alone after “Roosevelt” is read)
Question: This event, a violation of the Boland Amendment, resulted in three felony convictions for Oliver North. It was investigated by the Tower Commission, which criticized the President for his inattentiveness. Its goal was to suppress the (*) communist Sandinistas. For 10 points, name this scandal of the Reagan administration in which arms sales to the Middle East funded a Nicaraguan rebel group.
Iran-Contra affair (accept equivalents for “affair,” like “incident” or “scandal;” prompt on partial answer)
Question: This event was covered by Herbert Morrison, a Chicago reporter whose voice was accidentally sped up as he described the “falling on the mooring-mast” during this event. The LZ 129’s arrival at the Lakehurst Naval (*) Air Station preceded the cry “Oh, the humanity!” during this disaster. For ten points, name this 1937 tragedy in New Jersey, in which thirty-five people died aboard a German zeppelin that caught fire.
LZ 129 Hindenburg disaster
Question: This state’s popular dueling site, Weehawken, was where both Philip and Alexander Hamilton were fatally shot. Hessian forces were attacked on (*) Christmas Day in this state, after George Washington crossed the Delaware into this state to start the Battle of Trenton. For ten points, name this state in which American forces won the Battle of Princeton.
New Jersey
Question: This man stabbed Henry Rathbone to begin his escape. Boarding house owner Mary Surratt was one of four people hanged for conspiring with this man, who was shot and killed in a burning barn. Samuel Mudd was arrested for treating this man’s (*) leg, which was broken after he fell to the stage of Ford’s Theater, shouting “Sic semper tyrannis!” For 10 points, name this actor and Confederate supporter who, on April 14th, 1865, shot and killed Abraham Lincoln.
John Wilkes Booth
Question: During this event, Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General WilliamRuckelshaus (RUCK-als-HOUSE) resigned in the Saturday Night Massacre. It attempted to cover upC.R.E.E.P.’s (CREEP’s) attempt to bug the Democratic Party headquarters. It was uncovered by BobWoodward and Carl Bernstein with the help of Deep Throat. For 10 points, what scandal caused PresidentNixon to resign following his reelection?
Watergate scandal
Question: This state’s “Unassigned Lands” were claimed in an infamous 1889 land rush. In this state’s capital, 168 people were killed in a 1995 bombing by Timothy McVeigh. In 1921, the wealthiest African-American community in the country, the Greenwood district, was burned during this state’s (*) Tulsa race riots. For ten points, name this central U.S. state where “Sooners” now live in a panhandle north of Texas.
Oklahoma
Question: This newspaper was sued by Alabama public safety officer Louis B. Sullivan. Its long-time publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, died in 2012. It won one of its 108 Pulitzer prizes for printing The Pentagon Papers. One nickname of this newspaper is “the Old (*) Gray Lady.” “All the News That’s Fit to Print” is the motto of, for 10 points, what daily newspaper published in the “Big Apple”?
The New York Times [accept NYT; prompt on “Times”]
Question: This man was targeted in the Conway Cabal, which was partially due to his losses at Germantown andBrandywine. He declared political parties to be a “frightful despotism” and warned against engaging in”entangling alliances” in his Farewell Address, after which his former Vice President John Adams becamePresident. For 10 points, name this leader of the Continental Army who became the first President of theUnited States.
George Washington
Question: This man sent the Great White Fleet on a tour of the world to impress Japan, and ended a conflictbetween Japan and Russia with the Treaty of Portsmouth. He recruited several college buddies to servetogether as the Rough Riders unit during the Spanish-American War. He began “trustbusting” with theStandard Oil Case. For 10 points, name this president from 1901 to 1909, whose nickname provided thename for a toy bear.
Theodore Roosevelt [or Teddy Roosevelt; or T.R.; prompt on Roosevelt]
Question: As president, this man shut down the Second Bank of the United States. This president had a group offriends and advisers called the “kitchen cabinet.” This victor at the Battle of New Orleans forced theremoval of the Cherokee from their land by signing the Indian Removal Act. For 10 points, name thisman nicknamed “Old Hickory,” the seventh president.
Andrew Jackson [prompt on Old Hickory before mentioned]
Question: After the Johnstown Flood, this man rebuilt the city’s library. He advocated large scale philanthropy to fight wealth inequality in “The Gospel of Wealth;” this industrialist made his fortune from a company purchased in 1901 by (*) J.P. Morgan. For 10 points, name this Scottish- American founder of U.S. Steel, whose charity work included building numerous museums and libraries, as well as a namesake concert venue in New York City.
; Andrew Carnegie
Question: During this man’s presidency, Benjamin Bristow uncovered a scandal that included this man’s secretary, Orville Babcock, regarding failure to pay taxes on whiskey production and sales. This man, whose presidency was sullied by the (*) Whiskey Ring scandal, was also troubled by the Credit Mobilier scandal and the Panic of 1873. For 10 points, name this President, who had a more successful career as Commanding General of the U.S. Army during the Civil War.
Ulysses S. Grant
Question: A pair of VC-25s currently serve as this vehicle, replacing the SAM 27000 in 2001. This vehicle’s crew refuses to admit certain caskets to its cargo hold, a tradition begun on November 22, 1963, when the oath of office was administered to (*) Lyndon Johnson aboard this vehicle. For ten points, name this aircraft used to carry the President of the United States.
Air Force One
Question: In 1984, Bernard Goetz shot four black teenagers on this city’s subway, claiming self- defense. In 1976 and 1977, six murders by the “Son of Sam” terrorized this city. The zero- tolerance for “broken windows” policy used by this city in the (*) 1990s corresponds with a drop in the crime rate under mayor Rudolph Giuliani. For 10 points, name this city, whose failed 2013 law banning large soft drinks was supported by former mayor Michael Bloomberg.
New York City (or NYC)
Question: A group of people was subjected to this event due to the Treaty of New Echota. Present-day Oklahoma, then a territory, was the destination for many victims of this event, which got its name from the oppression of the Cherokee nation during it. (*) Andrew Jackson supported, for ten points, what nineteenth century event in which tribes of Native Americans were forcibly relocated west of the Mississippi River?
Trail of Tears (prompt on descriptions, such as “removal of Native Americans,” before “relocated” is read)
Question: In this war, a group of immigrant deserters formed Saint Patrick’s Battalion and fought against the United States. This war resulted in a cession of land that was later adjusted by the Gadsden Purchase. Winfield Scott led an amphibious assault on (*) Veracruz during this war, which was ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. For 10 points, name this 1846 to 1848 war against an army led by Santa Anna.
Mexican American War
Question: This current Chair of the Committee on Armed Services was shot down in 1967, then spent over five years in Hoa Lo, nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton.” At one campaign stop, this man was booed for correcting an audience member who called his opponent, (*) Barack Obama, an Arab. For ten points, name this former prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, who has served five terms as Senator from Arizona.
John Sidney McCain III
Question: This politician responded to Francois Barbe-Marbois in his Notes on the State of Virginia. This man founded the University of Virginia and designed the mansion of Monticello.. This president sent the Lewis and Clark expedition and authorized the (*) Louisiana Purchase. He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. For 10 points, name this third president of the United States.
Thomas Jefferson
Question: This group’s size in Indiana shrank after the rape and murder trial of its leader D.C. Stephenson. Catholics were admitted into this group in the 1970s under the leadership of David Duke. Members of this group committed the Greensboro massacre against the Communist Workers’ Party and (*) bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. For 10 points, name this American hate group known for burning crosses and wearing white robes.
Ku Klux Klan
Question: Martha Wright and 99 other participants in this event signed the Declaration of Sentiments, which notes that “all men and women are created equal.” Lucretia Mott was the featured speaker at this 1848 event in upstate New York, which benefited from Quaker ideals of (*) equality. For ten points, name this convention organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a landmark moment in the women’s rights movement.
Seneca Falls Convention
Question: This politician objected to the Mexican War by giving his Spot Resolutions. This leader gave the “HouseDivided” speech, and he engaged in a series of debates with Stephen (*) Douglas during the 1858 Senateelection. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by this president, who was shot in Ford’s Theatre by JohnWilkes Booth. For 10 points, name this president who served during the Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln
Question: The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was an early attempt to address this event, which resulted inthe formation of the SEC. Dorothea Lange (LANG) took a famous photograph of Florence OwensThompson during it, and it was exacerbated by drought in the Midwest leading to the Dust Bowl. For 10points, Migrant Mother was taken during what economic downturn in the 1930s that Franklin Roosevelttried to solve with his New Deal?
Great Depression [accept banking crisis before “SEC” is read]
Question: During this battle, Simon Fraser was targeted for death by Benedict Arnold, whose wounded leg was memorialized at Bemis Heights, in this battle’s location. John Burgoyne’s (*) surrender at this 1777 battle led France to promise aid to the colonies. For ten points, name this upstate New York battle in which victory over the British is often cited as the turning point of the American Revolution.
Battle(s) of Saratoga (accept the Battle of Bemis Heights before it is read; accept “Campaign” or similar terms in place of “Battle”)
Question: This woman allied with Walter White to push the failed Costigan-Wagner anti-lynching bill, but thePresident refused to publicly endorse it. She and Wendell Wilkie were the first honorary chairpersons ofFreedom House. She arranged Marian Anderson’s concert at the Lincoln Memorial. As a delegate to the UNfrom 1945-1952, she also helped draft the Declaration of Human Rights. (*) For 10 points, name this First Lady,the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
(Anna) Eleanor Roosevelt [prompt on “Roosevelt”]
Question: When James Madison revised this, it called for 7-year terms of office for Senators and 3-years terms for House members. Proposed by Edmund Randolph as 15 resolutions, more notable aspects of this plan included three branches of government and representation determined by population for both Houses. (*) For 10 points, identify this plan of government, named for the home state of Madison and Randolph, as well as Thomas Jefferson.
Virginia Plan
Question: Harold Brown promoted this object to display the danger of technology developed by Westinghouse and Tesla. William Kemmler was the first victim of this apparatus, which is often nicknamed “Old (*) Sparky” but is now seldom used, having been replaced by a three-drug sequence. For ten points, name this object whose use in applying death sentences was phased out in the 20th century in favor of lethal injections?
electric chair
Question: His opposition to harsh retaliation after the sinking of the Lusitania caused this politician to resign as Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State. This man argued against Clarence Darrow in the Scopes Monkey Trial. He proclaimed that “you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns” in his (*) “Cross of Gold” speech. For 10 points, name this three-time Democratic presidential nominee, known as The Great Commoner.
William Jennings Bryan
Question: Richard Mentor Johnson’s political career was helped by the belief that he personally killed this man at the Battle of the Thames (TEMS). This man helped co-found a settlement in the Indiana Territory where his brother was defeated by William Henry Harrison; that defeat occurred during the Battle of Tippecanoe. For 10 points, name this leader of the Shawnee that attempted to unite all of the Indian tribes in the early 1800’s.
Tecumseh [accept Tecumtha; accept Tekamthi]
Question: This organization’s Project MKUltra investigated human mind control. In 2006, it was admitted that this organization operated “black sites” in Eastern Europe. This organization funded the Nicaraguan Contras and trained the rebels who landed at the (*) Bay of Pigs, one of many of its attempts to remove Fidel Castro from power. John Brennan currently leads, for 10 points, what governmental spy agency that deals in foreign espionage?
Central Intelligence Agency
Question: As US President, this man authorized the voyage of the Great White Fleet and brokered the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War. (*) “Speak softly and carry a big stick” was a personal motto of this Bull Moose Party founder, who succeeded William McKinley. For ten points, name this president who is depicted on Mount Rushmore with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.
Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (prompt on “Roosevelt” alone)
Question: On this date in 1929, several members of Bugs Moran’s gang were killed, probably on the orders of Al Capone. This Christian feast day celebrates a saint who, according to legend, broke Roman law by performing (*) weddings for soldiers. A Prohibition-era gangster massacre took place on, for ten points, what holiday now often celebrated with flowers and written expressions of love?
February 14 (accept St Valentine’s Day or St Valentine’s Day Massacre)
Question: A work possibly ghost-written for this man praised Edmund Ross, Thomas Hart Benton, and six otherSenators for doing what they felt was right; that work was Profiles in Courage. This president ordered afailed invasion at the Bay of Pigs. He persisted in a naval blockade of Cuba and resolved the CubanMissile Crisis. For 10 points, name this President who was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallasin 1963.
John F. Kennedy [or JFK; prompt on Kennedy]
Question: Franklin Sanborn was one of the “Secret Six” who funded this man’s actions. He reacted to the sacking of Lawrence by committing the Pottawatomie Massacre, a pivotal moment during the “Bleeding Kansas” conflict. In October 1859, Marines led by (*) Robert E. Lee stopped him from inciting a slave revolt by capturing him in an armory. For 10 points, name this violent abolitionist whose raid on the armory at Harpers Ferry presaged the Civil War.
John Brown
Question: This politician objected to the Mexican War by giving his Spot Resolutions. This leader gave the “HouseDivided” speech, and he engaged in a series of debates with Stephen (*) Douglas during the 1858 Senateelection. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by this president, who was shot in Ford’s Theatre by JohnWilkes Booth. For 10 points, name this president who served during the Civil War.
Abraham Lincoln
Question: This event was orchestrated by Isoroku Yamamoto in an attempt to prevent American interference inthe Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies. The date on which it occurred “will live in infamy,”according to a Franklin Roosevelt speech. The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial is dedicated to over 1,100Americans killed in this event. For 10 points, identify this December 7, 1941 attack on a United Statesnaval base in Hawaii.
the attack on Pearl Harbor [accept logical equivalents]
Question: According to a 1946 work, members of this ethnic group were not interested in letting their families know they were safe in prison. This ethnic group’s “shame culture” is contrasted with American “guilt culture” in Ruth Benedict’s The (*) Chrysanthemum and the Sword. For ten points, name this ethnic group that was persecuted in the US during World War II after the Pearl Harbor attacks?
Japanese-Americans
Question: One bill addressing this process required a majority of a state’s residents to take the Ironclad oath; that bill was the Wade-Davis bill, which was pocket-vetoed by President Lincoln in favor of his “Ten Percent Plan” for this process. This process did not end until Rutherford B. Hayes won the Election of 1876. For 10 points, identify this post-Civil War transformation and military occupation of the South.
military reconstruction [or Reconstruction Era; accept Radical Reconstruction before “Lincoln” but do not accept afterwards]
Question: This man was charged with avoiding customs duties in 1786, which led to the confiscation of his boat,the Liberty, by the British. In 1780, he became the first Governor of the Commonwealth ofMassachusetts. From 1775 to 1777, he served as president of the Second Continental Congress. For 10points, name this first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.
John Hancock
Question: This man used powers granted by the Taft-Hartley Act during a confrontation with air traffic controllers, and his Defense Secretary resigned after violations of the Boland Amendment were revealed. Before those events during his presidency, he served as Governor of California from 1967 until 1975. Prior to entering politics, this man was a famous (*) Hollywood actor. For 10 points, name this Republican president from 1981 to 1989.
Ronald (Wilson) Reagan