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