An American Quiz for Independence Day 2025

Today, July 4, Americans celebrate themselves on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Right?

Wrong.

Most signers put their “John Hancocks” on the document on July 2, 1776. After signing, Mr. Hancock remarked, “Gentlemen, we must now all hang together,” placing on a tee a reply for Ben Franklin: “Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Franklin’s wit contains the bravery of the men in Philadelphia that summer. They knew if things went sideways, the document they had just signed guaranteed they’d wind up swinging from the wrong end of an English rope.

Who are among the most ignorant people in the word when it comes to their own history? 

We the People.

A data research outfit, Lincoln Park Strategies, ran a poll and found that a whopping 72% of respondents either incorrectly identified or were unsure which states were part of the 13 original states; only 24% could correctly identify one thing Benjamin Franklin was famous for, with 37 percent believing he invented the light bulb; only 24% knew the correct answer as to why the colonists fought the British; around 12% incorrectly thought World War II Gen. Dwight Eisenhower led troops in the Civil War; 6% thought he was a Vietnam War general. 

But don’t get down if you missed some (all?) of those questions. America is the land of second chances, and so is this column, so here’s an opportunity to prove your knowledge of our country’s history.

Answers appear at the bottom. Eyes on your own paper. Check your work at the end.

Begin … Now. 

1) Where was the Battle of Long Island fought?

A. Brooklyn

B. Penn Station, before the last trains to Ronkonkoma between Christmas and New Year’s.

C. Southold

2) Who said, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”

A. Richard Nixon

B. Donald Trump

C. Samuel Johnson

3) What American president imported Spanish fly for personal use?

A. George Washington

B. Andrew Johnson

C. William Henry Harrison

4) Who was William Floyd?

A. Billy “Sandman” Floyd, president and CEO of Calverton’s Dig This, Inc., indicted, never convicted of bid rigging contracts for concrete for the parkway named for him.

B. Only Long Islander to sign the Declaration of Independence.

C. Will “Iron Hands” Floyd, personal bodyguard to Robert Moses.

5) How many presidents are not buried on American soil?

A. Five

B. One

C. None

6) Who said that along with age and citizenship, business experience should be a qualification for the presidency?

A. Donald Trump Jr.

B. Ronald Reagan

C. Steve Jobs

7) Name the last five businessman presidents.

8) What political leader compared himself to Charles DeGaulle, Margaret Thatcher, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, Marion Barry and Ho Chi Minh?

A. Joe Biden

B. Newt Gingrich

C. Mitch McConnell

9) What does the Japanese word “Bushusuru” mean?

A. Choking on a pretzel

B. Defeating Al Gore

C. Publicly vomiting

10) Name the president who once worked as a hangman.

A. Grover Cleveland

B. Ulysses S. Grant

C. John Adams

11) Who was the only president who held a license to tend bar?

A. Abraham Lincoln

B. George W. Bush

C. Ulysses S. Grant

12) Harry S. Truman and Ulysses S. Grant share the same middle initial. What does the “S” in both cases stand for?

A. Simpson

B. Samuel

C. Nothing

13) Who said: “Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change government.”

A. Donald Trump

B. Ronald Reagan

C. Abraham Lincoln

14) What was the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr fought over?

A. Money

B. Defamation charges in newspapers

C. “Sassy” Sarah Lippincott

15) Which Supreme Court chief justice rejected calls to adopt a judicial code of conduct?

A. John Marshall

B. Earl Warren

C. John Roberts

16) What did Dolley Madison save from the White House before it was torched by the British?

A. A portrait of George Washington

B. An ice cream maker and baking sheet

C. The silver

17) In Thomas Jefferson’s editing of his Declaration of Independence, what did he change to make the final “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”?

A. “… life, liberty and the pursuit of the indolency of the body and the possession of outward things.”

B. “… life, liberty and property.”

C. “… life, liberty and the pursuit of slaves.”

Quiz Answers:

1) A   2) C   3) A   4) B 5) A — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden   6) A   7) Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Donald Trump   8) B    9)C   10) A   11) A   12)  C   13) C   14) B   15) C   16) A and C  17) B

Happy Independence Day. Class dismissed. You’re free.