Declaration of Independence Quiz
1. What Was The Declaration of Independence All About?
A Document Wherein Colonists Refused To Pay Taxes To Great Britain
That America's 13 Colonies Were No Longer Part of The British Empire
A Formal Decree Proclaiming Colonists Would Ban Entry of All English Citizens
A Demand Urging That the British Parliament Be Dissolved
2. Who Was The Principal Author of The Declaration?
Patrick Henry
Benjamin Franklin
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
3. Where Was The Declaration Adopted?
The Customs House in the City of New York
The Pennsylvania State House In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Virginia State House attended by 130 Delegates
A Room Above The Langston Stable Outside of Boston
4. When Was The Declaration Adopted?
Immediately After The Battles at Lexington and Concord in April 1775
After The 2nd Continental Congress Convened in May 1775
On July 4, 1776
The Debate Goes On But Historians Believe Sometime In the Fall of 1776
5. By the time the Declaration of Independence was adopted:
The British Parliament Agreed To Reduce Its Taxes To The Colonies
Relations Between The Colonies and The Mother Country Began To Improve
The Colonies & England Had Been At War for Over a Year
Colonists Began To Feel That Acts By The British Parliament Were Constitutional
6. By Thomas Jefferson's Own Admission in Later Years:
The Declaration of Independence Contained No Original Ideas
Few of The Sentiments Expressed Were Shared By Supporters of The Revolution
The Ideas Were Mostly Copied Word for Word From Previous Writings
He Admitted That Benjamin Franklin Inspired The Ideals He Expressed
7. As President of The Second Continental Congress, John Hancock...
Was A Wealthy Boston Merchant Who Had Misgivings About Adopting The Declaration
Used His Wealth To Support Opposition To The War Against Britain
Was The First Person To Sign The Declaration of Independence
Signed The Declaration In Very Small Letters So King George Couldn't Read It
8. Why Didn't George Washington Sign The Declaration of Independence?
As Commander of the Army He Was Unavailable To Participate
He Stayed Home While His Wife Martha Was Ill With The Ague
He Was Ineligible to Do So As A Congressman From Virginia
During The Signing He Was Too Busy At His Farm At Mount Vernon
9. Which One of These Phrases Appears In The Declaration of Independence?
Governments Are Instituted Of, By And For The People
These United Colonies Are And Ought To Be Dependent States
Life, Liberty And The Pursuit of Happiness
These United Colonies Pledge All Allegiance To The British Crown
10. Where Is The Original Declaration of Independence Located?
In The Rotunda of The United States Capitol Building
The National Archives In Washington DC
In The Bullion Depository At Fort Knox In A Controlled Environment
At The Library Of Congress
11. Why Was The Declaration Read To Washington's Troops Days After It Was Adopted?
To Encourage British Forces To Surrender
To Publicly Notify King George The Colonies Were Free Of British Rule
To Inspire The Troops And Encourage Enlistments
To Prove That The Colonists Approved Their Independence
12. In Writing The Declaration of Independence Jefferson Was Influenced By:
The Massachusetts Declaration of Rights
The Dutch Act Of Redolence
The Virginia Call To Arms
Emerich de Vattel's "The Law of Nations"
Essay:
Compare and contrast the First and Second Continental Congress.
Answer Key
1. What Was The Declaration of Independence All About?
That America's 13 Colonies were No Longer Part of The British Empire
2. Who Was The Principal Author of The Declaration?
Thomas Jefferson
3. Where Was The Declaration Adopted?
The Pennsylvania State House In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
4. When Was The Declaration Adopted?
On July 4, 1776
5. By the time the Declaration of Independence was adopted:
The Colonies & England Had Been At War for Over a Year
6. By Thomas Jefferson's Own Admission in Later Years:
The Declaration of Independence Contained No Original Ideas
7. As President of the Second Continental Congress, John Hancock...
Was The First Person To Sign The Declaration of Independence
8. Why Didn't George Washington Sign The Declaration of Independence?
As Commander of the Army He Was Unavailable To Participate
9. Which One of These Phrases Appears In The Declaration of Independence?
Life, Liberty And The Pursuit of Happiness
10. Where Is The Original Declaration of Independence Located?
The National Archives In Washington DC
11. Why Was The Declaration Read To Washington's Troops Days After It Was
Adopted?
To Inspire The Troops And Encourage Enlistments
12. In Writing The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson Was Influenced By:
Emerich de Vattel's "The Law of Nations"; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emer_de_Vattel
Essay:
Compare and contrast the First and Second Continental Congress.
The First Continental Congress was the first series of meetings held by
representatives from every colony except Georgia, which had its own troubles and needed
the protection of British soldiers. The delegates met in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania from September 5 to October 26, 1774, to protest the British blockade and
the Intolerable Acts penalizing Massachusetts. Delegates had hoped that King George III
would receive their protests and respond accordingly. They agreed, however, that if
Parliament did not address their grievances, a second congress would meet the next spring.
As the colonists had feared, King George ignored their protests. So, a second series
of meetings began with the initial meeting held, as planned, on May 10, 1775, at
Pennsylvania’s State House in Philadelphia. Representatives from all thirteen colonies were
in attendance this time. The Second Continental Congress, as this round was called,
understood that their only option left might be war… and with that in mind, the delegates
organized (raised) an army and appointed George Washington, a member of the
congress, as commander/leader of the military. The Continental Army would represent
and defend all 13 colonies. Washington left Philadelphia immediately to take charge of the
colonial forces around Boston.
With little optimism left, delegates of the Second Continental Congress drafted a
second letter to the king on July 8, 1775, in one last attempt for peace. The letter, called
the Olive Branch Petition, assured the king that most American colonists were still loyal
to Great Britain and to him. That attempt also failed…
More than one year after the colonies and England went to war, the Second
Continental Congress unanimously passed the Declaration of Independence on July 4,
1776. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted the declaration, and John Adams was a
leader in the debates in favor of its adoption. John Hancock of Massachusetts was the
president of the congress during those debates. To govern during the American Revolution,
the Second Continental Congress continued, meeting at various locations, until it became
the Congress of the Confederation (a.k.a. the Confederation Congress) when the
Articles of Confederation were ratified on March 1, 1781.
1774
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TIMELINE
September 5: First Continental Congress convenes at Philadelphia’s Carpenter's Hall
October 14: Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress is adopted
October 18: Continental Association' is adopted
October 25: First Petition to the King is signed
October 26: Congress adjourns, resolving to reconvene the following May if grievances are not
redressed
1775
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April 19: War begins at the Battles of Lexington and Concord
May 10: Second Continental Congress convenes at Philadelphia’s State House
June 14: Congress establishes the Continental Army
June 15: Congress appoints one of its members, George Washington, as commander of the
Continental Army
July 1: King George III Addresses Parliament stating they will "put a speedy end" to the rebellion
July 6: Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms' is approved
July 8: Second petition to the king (the Olive Branch Petition) is signed and sent to London
August 23: In his Proclamation of Rebellion (officially titled A Proclamation for Suppressing
Rebellion and Sedition), King George III declares elements of the American colonies in "open and
avowed rebellion" and orders officials of the British Empire "to use their utmost endeavors to
withstand and suppress such rebellion"
October 13: Congress establishes the Continental Navy
November 10: Congress establishes the Continental Marines
1776
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January 10: Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
June 7: Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presents a three-part resolution to Congress, calling on
Congress to declare independence, form foreign alliances, and prepare a plan of colonial
confederation
June 10: Congress votes on June 10 to postpone further discussion of Lee's resolution for three
weeks to allow time for the delegates to confer with their state assemblies
June 11: Congress appoints a "Committee of Five", Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of
Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut and Robert R.
Livingston of New York, to draft a declaration justifying independence.
June 12: Congress appoints a committee of 13 to draft of a constitution for a union or
"confederation" of the states
July 2: Lee's Resolution, or the Resolution of independence is adopted, asserting the
independence of the colonies from Britain
July 4: Final text of the United States Declaration of Independence is approved and sent to
printer
Sources:
Multiple Choice Quiz: http://www.earlyamerica.com/declaration-quiz.html
Essay:
American History: The Early Years to 1877 (Glenco)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Congress