50 History Quiz Questions | American & World History Trivia MCQs – Smart Quiz Nation
Take this 50-question history quiz covering American and world history. Multiple choice format with answers. Perfect for learners in the USA. Try now at Smart Quiz Nation.
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Explore American & World History with Fun, Educational Trivia
Are you a history buff or just curious about how the past shaped our present? Dive into this engaging 50-question History Quiz brought to you by Smart Quiz Nation, your trusted destination for brain-boosting trivia! This quiz covers a wide mix of American history, world events, civilizations, wars, famous leaders, and key historical timelines — all presented in an MCQ format with four options and correct answers.
Perfect for USA students, competitive exam prep, homeschoolers, or family quiz night, this history quiz is crafted to be both educational and fun. With questions ranging from the Founding Fathers to the World Wars and beyond, you’ll strengthen your historical thinking and memory recall.
Make it part of your daily learning routine and visit www.smartquiznation.com regularly for new quizzes on general knowledge, geography, grammar, and more. Test your knowledge, share your score, and see how well you really know the past!
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Question 1: Who was Vice President under FDR and succeeded him in 1945?
A) Harry Truman
B) Thomas Dewey
C) Alben Barkley
D) John Nance Garner
Explanation: He became President at the end of WWII.
Question 2: Which U.S. President promoted the “Great Society”?
A) John F. Kennedy
B) Lyndon B. Johnson
C) Richard Nixon
D) Jimmy Carter
Explanation: Focused on civil rights and social reform.
Question 3: What was the first U.S. satellite?
A) Voyager
B) Explorer 1
C) Sputnik
D) Apollo 1
Explanation: Launched in 1958 in response to Sputnik.
Question 4: Which president signed the Emancipation Proclamation?
A) Abraham Lincoln
B) Andrew Johnson
C) Ulysses S. Grant
D) James Buchanan
Explanation: Freed enslaved people in Confederate states (1863).
Question 5: What 1919 amendment banned alcohol in the U.S.?
A) 18th Amendment
B) 19th Amendment
C) 21st Amendment
D) 20th Amendment
Explanation: Later repealed by the 21st in 1933.
Question 6: What U.S. President is associated with the Star Wars missile defense plan?
A) Ronald Reagan
B) immy Carter
C) George H.W. Bush
D) Bill Clinton
Explanation: He proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Question 7: Which conflict occurred from 1950–53 in Asia?
A) Vietnam War
B) Korean War
C) Gulf War
D) World War II
Explanation: The U.S. fought to help South Korea.
Question 8: Who became President after JFK’s assassination?
A) Richard Nixon
B) George H.W. Bush
C) Gerald Ford
D) Lyndon B. Johnson
Explanation: He was sworn in on Air Force One in 1963.
Question 9: What was the main goal of the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
A) Map the West
B) Build forts
C) Start cities
D) Mine gold
Explanation: They explored and mapped new territories.
Question 10: What name was given to the forced relocation of Cherokees in 1830s?
A) Trail of Tears
B) Oregon Trail
C) Santa Fe Trail
D) Mormon Trail
Explanation: Thousands died en route to Oklahoma.
Question 11: Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
A) George Washington
B) Benjamin Franklin
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) John Adams
Explanation: Jefferson was the principal author in 1776.
Question 12: Which war was fought between the North and South regions of the U.S.?
A) Revolutionary War
B) Civil War
C) War of 1812
D) Spanish–American War
Explanation: The Civil War (1861–65) pitted Union vs. Confederacy.
Question 13: Who was the first President of the United States?
A) John Adams
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) James Madison
D) George Washington
Explanation: Washington led the nation from 1789 to 1797.
Question 14: What year did the Revolutionary War end?
A) 1776
B) 1783
C) 1812
D) 1865
Explanation: The Treaty of Paris ended the war in 1783.
Question 15: Who was President during World War II?
A) Herbert Hoover
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) Harry Truman
D) Dwight Eisenhower
Explanation: FDR served through most of WWII before passing in 1945.
Question 16: Who led the U.S. civil rights movement with the “I Have a Dream” speech?
A) Malcolm X
B) Martin Luther King Jr.
C) Rosa Parks
D) César Chávez
Explanation: Delivered in 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Question 17: Which document begins with “We the People”?
A) Declaration of Independence
B) Articles of Confederation
C) U.S. Constitution
D) Bill of Rights
Explanation: This iconic preamble opens the Constitution.
Question 18: What was the Underground Railroad?
A) Subways in NYC
B) A secret network to help enslaved people escape
C) A Civil War supply route
D) Early railroad tunnels
Explanation: It was a covert system aiding slaves to freedom.
Question 19: Who was the first woman on the Supreme Court?
A) Sonia Sotomayor
B) Ruth Bader Ginsburg
C) Sandra Day O’Connor
D) Elena Kagan
Explanation: O’Connor was appointed in 1981.
Question 20: Which territory purchase doubled the size of the U.S. in 1803?
A) Alaska Purchase
B) Louisiana Purchase
C) Gadsden Purchase
D) Florida Purchase
Explanation: Thomas Jefferson acquired it from France.
Question 21: Who commanded the Allied forces on D-Day (Normandy Invasion)?
A) George Patton
B) Douglas MacArthur
C) Dwight D. Eisenhower
D) Chester Nimitz
Explanation: Eisenhower served as Supreme Allied Commander.
Question 22: What year did women gain the right to vote in the U.S.?
A) 1918
B) 1920
C) 1924
D) 1930
Explanation: The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.
Question 23: Which U.S. President delivered the Gettysburg Address?
A) Abraham Lincoln
B) Andrew Johnson
C) Ulysses Grant
D) Jefferson Davis
Explanation: He honored Civil War casualties in 1863.
Question 24: What event pulled the U.S. into World War I?
A) Sinking of the Lusitania
B) Attack on Pearl Harbor
C) Zimmermann Telegram
D) Bombing of Fort Sumter
Explanation: The sinking in 1915 stirred public support.
Question 25: Which U.S. city was the first capital?
A) Washington, D.C.
B) Philadelphia
C) New York City
D) Boston
Explanation: New York City was the capital from 1789–90.
Question 26: Who was President during the Great Depression start?
A) Herbert Hoover
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) Calvin Coolidge
D) Harry Truman
Explanation: Hoover served when the Depression began in 1929.
Question 27: What purchase added Alaska to the U.S.?
A) Alaska Purchase
B) Gadsden Purchase
C) Louisiana Purchase
D) Florida Purchase
Explanation: Purchased from Russia in 1867.
Question 28: Who led Lewis and Clark’s expedition west?
A) Meriwether Clark
B) William Clark
C) Lewis and Clark
D) Zebulon Pike
Explanation: They explored newly purchased western territories.
Question 29: What was Prohibition (1920–33)?
A) Ban on smoking
B) Ban on immigration
C) Ban on divorce
D) Ban on alcohol
Explanation: The 18th Amendment prohibited alcohol.
Question 30: Which U.S. President resigned in 1974?
A) John F. Kennedy
B) Richard Nixon
C) Gerald Ford
D) Jimmy Carter
Explanation: Resigned due to the Watergate scandal.
Question 31: Who was the first American woman to fly solo across the Atlantic?
A) Amelia Earhart
B) Harriet Quimby
C) Jacqueline Cochran
D) Bessie Coleman
Explanation: Earhart achieved this in 1932.
Question 32: The Monroe Doctrine warned European nations to stay out of the Americas—who proposed it?
A) John Quincy Adams
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) James Monroe
D) Andrew Jackson
Explanation: President Monroe declared it in 1823.
Question 33: Which battle marked the end of major Native American resistance?
A) Battle of Little Bighorn
B) Wounded Knee Massacre
C) Battle of Tippecanoe
D) Battle of Gettysburg
Explanation: Occurred in 1890, sadly ending resistance.
Question 34: Who was known as “Old Hickory”?
A) William Harrison
B) Zachary Taylor
C) James Madison
D) Who was known as “Old Hickory”?
Explanation: That was Jackson's nickname for his toughness.
Question 35: Which war ended with the Treaty of Ghent?
A) War of 1812
B) Revolutionary War
C) Spanish–American War
D) Mexican–American War
Explanation: It ended hostilities between the U.S. and Britain.
Question 36: What 1954 Supreme Court case desegregated public schools?
A) Roe v. Wade
B) Brown v. Board of Education
C) Plessy v. Ferguson
D) Miranda v. Arizona
Explanation: It overturned “separate but equal.”
Question 37: Which U.S. President purchased Alaska?
A) Abraham Lincoln
B) Ulysses S. Grant
C) Andrew Johnson
D) James Garfield
Explanation: He approved the Alaska Purchase in 1867.
Question 38: Who was the Civil War Confederate President?
A) Ulysses S. Grant
B) Abraham Lincoln
C) Robert E. Lee
D) Jefferson Davis
Explanation: Davis led the Confederacy from 1861–65.
Question 39: What U.S. era followed World War II with high birth rates?
A) Baby Draft
B) Baby Boom
C) Great Migration
D) Roaring Twenties
Explanation: The Baby Boom began in the late 1940s.
Question 40: Who was the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury?
A) Thomas Jefferson
B) Alexander Hamilton
C) John Adams
D) James Madison
Explanation: Hamilton shaped the national economy.
Question 41: Which program helped returning WWII GIs get education and homes?
A) New Deal
B) Fair Deal
C) GI Bill
D) Great Society
Explanation: Offers college and mortgage benefits.
Question 42: What was the main highway east of the Mississippi?
A) Route 66
B) I-95
C) Lincoln Highway
D) Pacific Highway
Explanation: Route 66 ran from Chicago to L.A.
Question 43: Who gave the famous speech “A city upon a hill” in 1630?
A) William Bradford
B) John Smith
C) John Winthrop
D) Roger Williams
Explanation: He was a Puritan leader in Massachusetts.
Question 44: Which U.S. President started the New Deal?
A) Herbert Hoover
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) Harry Truman
D) Dwight Eisenhower
Explanation: FDR introduced relief, recovery, and reform.
Question 45: What was the first permanent English colony?
A) Plymouth
B) Jamestown
C) Roanoke
D) Salem
Explanation: Founded in 1607 in Virginia.
Question 46: Which act required colonists to house British soldiers?
A) Tea Act
B) Stamp Act
C) Quartering Act
D) Sugar Act
Explanation: Aroused colonial opposition.
Question 47: Who helped pen the Federalist Papers?
A) Hamilton, Madison, Jay
B) Henry, Lee, Calhoun
C) Adams, Romney, Clinton
D) Hancock, Adams, Jefferson
Explanation: They promoted ratification of the Constitution.
Question 48: Which U.S. purchase added Florida in 1819?
A) Alaska Purchase
B) Florida Purchase Treaty (Adams–Onís Treaty)
C) Gadsden Purchase
D) Louisiana Purchase
Explanation: It transferred Florida from Spain to the U.S.
Question 49: Who led the March on Washington in 1963?
A) Malcolm X
B) Rosa Parks
C) Martin Luther King Jr
D) John Lewis
Explanation: He delivered his iconic speech there.
Question 50: What was the main cause of the Dust Bowl?
A) Hurricanes
B) Overfarming + drought
C) Earthquakes
D) Floods
Explanation: Led to major migration in the 1930s.
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