4th of July Quiz
4th of July Quiz
1. Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?
2. How many Founding Fathers signed both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution?
3. How many of the 56 signers of the Declaration died before the Peace Treaty of 1783 was signed to officially end the American Revolution?
4. Who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army?
5. Who was a female version of Paul Revere?
6. What two signers and Presidents died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration?
7. Who was the third President to die on the 4th of July?
8. What two signers of the Declaration were founders of America’s first anti-slavery society?
9. What is the meaning behind the red, white and blue colors of the American flag?
10. What did the signers risk in putting their names to the Declaration of Independence?
(See below for the answers to this quiz)
Quiz Answers
1. Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?
The Continental Congress appointed a committee of five to write the Declaration (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman), but the others selected Thomas Jefferson to be the primary author; Adams and Franklin made a few additions.
2. How many Founding Fathers signed both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution?
Six: Benjamin Franklin, George Clymer, Robert Morris, George Read, Roger Sherman, and James Wilson
3. How many of the 56 signers of the Declaration died before the Peace Treaty of 1783 was signed to officially end the American Revolution?
Nine: Button Gwinnett, John Hart, Joseph Hewes, Philip Livingston, Thomas Lynch, Jr., John Morton, George Ross, Richard Stockton, and George Taylor.
4. Who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army?
George Washington
5. Who was a female version of Paul Revere?
Sybil Ludington. Sybil was the oldest of twelve children. Her father Henry was a colonel in the French & Indian War in 1756. Ludington’s ride started at 9:00 P.M. and ended around dawn. She rode 40 miles, more than twice the distance of Paul Revere, into the damp hours of darkness. She used a stick to prod her horse and knocked on doors. She managed to defend herself against a highwayman. By daybreak, thanks to her daring, nearly the whole regiment was mustered before her father’s house at Fredericksburgh, and an hour or two later was on the march for vengeance on the raiders.
6. What two signers and Presidents died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration?
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Although political adversaries and many issues, a grudging admiration for each other developed in their later years. Nonetheless, Adams always proclaimed that, though Jefferson was 7 years younger than himself… “I will out live Jefferson.” On his death bed on Independence Day, 1826 John Adams uttered his last words. They were “Thomas Jefferson survives.” But he was wrong, not knowing that just a few hours earlier Thomas Jefferson had passed away. John Adams lived about 5 hours longer than Jefferson.
7. Who was the third President to die on the 4th of July? James Monroe
8. What two signers of the Declaration were founders of America’s first anti-slavery society? Dr. Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin.
9. What is the meaning behind the red, white and blue colors of the American flag?
Red stands for hardiness and valor. White symbolizes purity and innocence. Blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.
10. What did the signers risk in putting their names to the Declaration of Independence?
Death. The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers. If independence had not been achieved, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.
