Thanksgiving history trivia

Thanksgiving history questions and answers

22 questions. Tap a question’s answer line to see it.

1. The 1621 letter from Plymouth says Wampanoag hunters brought how many deer to the gathering?

   1. Twelve
   2. Eight
   3. Two
   4. Five
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   D. Five The letter says the deer were brought to the plantation and presented to the governor.

2. Which Patuxet man taught the Plymouth colonists how to grow corn and where to fish?

   1. Squanto
   2. Massasoit
   3. Hobbamock
   4. Samoset
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   A. Squanto Squanto, also called Tisquantum, spoke English after years in Europe and helped the colonists build ties with the Wampanoag.

3. By the colonists' account, about how many Wampanoag men came to the 1621 Plymouth celebration?

   1. About 30
   2. About 90
   3. About 150
   4. About 60
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   B. About 90 The 1621 letter describes 'their greatest king Massasoit, with some 90 men' joining the English.

4. The Mayflower landed its passengers on the shores of which present-day U.S. state?

   1. Rhode Island
   2. Massachusetts
   3. Connecticut
   4. Maine
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   B. Massachusetts The settlers kept the name Plymouth partly because the Mayflower had set sail from the port of Plymouth in England.

5. Which president issued a 1789 proclamation naming a national day of public thanksgiving and prayer?

   1. James Madison
   2. John Adams
   3. Thomas Jefferson
   4. George Washington
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   D. George Washington The proclamation set aside a Thursday that November as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.

6. Which president issued the October 1863 proclamation calling for a national day of thanksgiving?

   1. James Buchanan
   2. Ulysses S. Grant
   3. Abraham Lincoln
   4. Andrew Johnson
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   C. Abraham Lincoln The National Archives blog dates the proclamation to October 3, 1863.

7. According to a colonist's 1621 letter, how long did the Plymouth harvest celebration last?

   1. Five days
   2. Seven days
   3. One day
   4. Three days
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   D. Three days The gathering came after a bountiful harvest that followed a year of sickness and scarcity.

8. What agreement did the Mayflower's adult male passengers sign before coming ashore in 1620?

   1. The Plymouth Charter
   2. The Cape Cod Covenant
   3. The Mayflower Compact
   4. The New England Articles
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   C. The Mayflower Compact Forty-one male passengers signed it on November 11, 1620; the name Mayflower Compact only came into use in 1793.

9. In which season of 1621 did the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag share a harvest celebration?

   1. Spring
   2. Summer
   3. Fall
   4. Winter
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   C. Fall Historians place the event sometime between September 21 and November 9, 1621.

10. The name Wampanoag is often translated as what?

    1. People of the First Light
    2. People of the Morning Star
    3. People of the Tall Pines
    4. People of the Great River
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    A. People of the First Light In the 1600s, the Wampanoag Nation had as many as 40,000 people living in 67 villages.

11. In March 1621, the Pokanoket sachem and Plymouth's Governor John Carver agreed to what?

    1. A mutual alliance of protection
    2. A fur-trading partnership
    3. A grain-sharing arrangement
    4. A land-purchase agreement
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    A. A mutual alliance of protection Plimoth Patuxet notes the fall 1621 festivities may have served partly to reaffirm this agreement.

12. What nickname became attached to the earlier Thanksgiving date Roosevelt set in 1939?

    1. New Deal Day
    2. Roosevelt's Thursday
    3. Franksgiving
    4. Franklin's Folly
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    C. Franksgiving History.com notes that three states—Texas, Colorado and Mississippi—marked the 1939 holiday on both dates.

13. Why did President Franklin Roosevelt move Thanksgiving one week earlier in 1939?

    1. To match Canada's Thanksgiving date
    2. To give schools a longer fall break
    3. To avoid an Armistice Day conflict
    4. To allow more Christmas shopping days
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    D. To allow more Christmas shopping days Business owners worried a shortened shopping season would dampen economic recovery, the National Archives notes.

14. How many passengers did the Mayflower carry on its 1620 voyage to New England?

    1. 145
    2. 87
    3. 102
    4. 120
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    C. 102 It was the ship's only trip to New England, and the passengers included men, women, and children.

15. A resolution signed in 1941 fixed the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on which day?

    1. The last Friday of November
    2. The fourth Thursday of November
    3. The last Thursday of November
    4. The third Thursday of November
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    B. The fourth Thursday of November The House had voted for the last Thursday, but the Senate amended it to the fourth before it passed.

16. Which sachem led the Wampanoag group that joined the 1621 celebration at Plymouth?

    1. Massasoit
    2. Samoset
    3. Hobbamock
    4. Metacom
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    A. Massasoit Plimoth Patuxet describes Massasoit as an important sachem, or leader, of the Wampanoag People.

17. On what date did Franklin Roosevelt sign the resolution that fixed Thanksgiving's place in November?

    1. November 26, 1941
    2. January 1, 1942
    3. July 4, 1941
    4. December 26, 1941
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    D. December 26, 1941 According to the National Archives, the new fourth-Thursday rule took effect in 1942.

18. The 1863 proclamation that called for a national Thanksgiving came in the midst of which war?

    1. The Spanish-American War
    2. The Mexican-American War
    3. The Civil War
    4. The War of 1812
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    C. The Civil War The proclamation's own words describe 'a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity.'

19. Which American magazine editor campaigned for years to make Thanksgiving a national holiday?

    1. Sarah Josepha Hale
    2. Clara Barton
    3. Louisa May Alcott
    4. Harriet Beecher Stowe
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    A. Sarah Josepha Hale Beginning in 1846 she pressed national leaders; her letter to Lincoln is often cited as the main factor in his decision.

20. Which colonist described the 1621 Plymouth harvest celebration in a letter to a friend in England?

    1. Edward Winslow
    2. Myles Standish
    3. John Alden
    4. William Brewster
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    A. Edward Winslow Winslow signed the letter with his initials, 'E.W.', and described three days of hosting the Wampanoag leader Massasoit and some 90 of his men.

21. Which ocean did the Mayflower cross on its 1620 voyage to America?

    1. The Atlantic Ocean
    2. The Pacific Ocean
    3. The Indian Ocean
    4. The Arctic Ocean
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    A. The Atlantic Ocean Many passengers were seasick on the rough crossing, and the ship took 66 days to reach Cape Cod in November 1620.

22. What name is used today for the English settlers who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620?

    1. The Shakers
    2. The Pilgrims
    3. The Puritans
    4. The Quakers
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    B. The Pilgrims According to Plimoth Patuxet Museums, the core members of the emigrant group were Separatists.