1. The first 13 presidents
   The original 13 colonies
2. The first 13 years of the nation
   The last 13 battles of the American Revolution

The American Flag has been redesigned 27 times, and the current design was created in 1959 after Hawaii became the 50th state. The 13 stripes on the flag have always, and still do, represent the original 13 colonies. The stars represent the states.

1. Whig and Federalist
   Democrat and Republican
2. Know-Nothings and Free Soil
   Independent and Libertarian

America is run on a two-party political system dominated by the Democrat and Republican parties. George Washington wasn't affiliated with any party, and the first Democrat or Republican president was Thomas Jefferson, who was a Democrat-Republican.

1. Christmas
   Thanksgiving
2. New Year's Day
   Halloween

As fun as it may be to dress up and party, Halloween is not a national holiday and you will not get the day off from work to celebrate. All federal offices and banks are closed during the 10 federal holidays in America.

1. President of the United States
   David Petraeus
2. Stanley A. McChrystal
   Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The president of the United States is also the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, as stated by Article II of the U.S. Constitution. The president assumes the role without attaining any military rank. The governor is the commander of his or her state's National Guard and militia.

1. New York City
   Philadelphia
2. Boston
   Washington, D.C.

New York City is actually home to the most historic landmarks in the country with more than 100, but one of the 70+ historic landmarks in Washington, D.C. is the U.S. Capitol Building, which is home to the U.S. Congress.

1. Lager Beer Riot
   Bloody Monday
2. March on Washington
   Boston Tea Party

The British king imported and sold tea to the colonies without paying taxes, then turned around and taxed the colonists. A lot of people thought the treatment was unfair and decided to protest by sabotaging an incoming shipment of tea. The event was called the Boston Tea Party.

1. Freedom of speech
   Freedom of corporation
2. Freedom of the press
   Freedom of religion

There is no such thing as "Freedom of Corporation" although some recent Supreme Court rulings have awarded individual rights to corporations. The First Amendment to the Constitution is the most powerful law in the country and it protects many things.

1. The Treaty of Tordesillas
   Gadsden Purchase
2. The Louisiana Purchase
   Purchase of Manhattan Island

Thomas Jefferson considered the Louisiana Purchase to be his greatest accomplishment as president. The purchase provided land for 15 U.S. states, including all of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska.

1. 15
   16
2. 18
   21

Before WWII, most states required citizens to be at least 21 years old in order to vote, but by 1968, many states lowered the age to 18. In 1971 the states ratified the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which set the voting age at 18.

1. By secret formula
   By land size
2. By population
   By coin toss

American congressional seats are allocated based on state populations. California has 53 representatives and places like Alaska, Wyoming and North Dakota have one congressional representative. There are 435 congressional districts, which is a ratio of about one representative per 700,000 citizens.

1. Providing schooling and education
   Printing money
2. Creating armies
   Declaring war

Education is a state responsibility and public education varies widely from community to community. The schooling system is a combination of state, local and private initiatives and the federal government contributes about 10% of costs.

1. Vice President
   Secretary of Labor
2. Attorney General
   Mayor of Washington, D.C.

The mayor of D.C. is not part of the president's Cabinet, which is made up of the vice president and 15 leaders of executive departments like Energy, Labor and Transportation. George Washington established the practice of creating a presidential Cabinet.

1. October 31, 1787
   December 25, 1791
2. July 4, 1776
   January 1, 1800

John Adams wrote to his wife that July 2 would be the most memorable day in history. He didn't take into account the editing process. The exact wording of the Declaration wasn't approved until July 4, and that's also when it was ratified.

1. Teddy Roosevelt
   Andrew Jackson
2. James Monroe
   Abraham Lincoln

Southern plantation owners were well aware of Abraham Lincoln's anti-slavery stance before he became president, and the second he did, several Southern states seceded from the Union. The Civil War started barely a month after Lincoln took office.

1. 1700s
   1800s
2. 1900s
   None

The United States was founded on war and since its creation in 1776, the country has been at war about 95% of the time. We were in at least four wars during the 1800s, five during the 1900s and we've been in the Afghanistan War from 2001 to present day. Not all of these were officially declared wars.

1. Judicial
   Legislative
2. Executive
   Agriculture

The U.S. Senate, along with the House of Representatives, is part of the Legislative Branch of the U.S. government. It is the branch of the government that writes legislation. The Senate has to approve any legislation proposed by the House.

1. Manage the Treasury
   Appoint police officers
2. Review laws
   Judge people

The Judicial Branch is comprised of the Supreme Court and all the federal courts in the land. The Supreme Court is tasked with reviewing laws that are created by the Legislative Branch and enacted by the Executive Branch to ensure they are constitutional.

1. 21
   42
2. 35
   18

The U.S. Constitution sets forth the requirements for U.S. presidents. In order to be president one must be a "natural-born" U.S. citizen, be at least 35 years old and have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.

1. 30
   27
2. 35
   50

There are 27 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The first 10 are the Bill of Rights and the 27th was ratified in 1992. It regulates the pay for members of Congress and was actually proposed in 1789. If it was ratified back then, it would've been part of the Bill of Rights.

1. Little Rock, Arkansas
   Detroit, Michigan
2. Montgomery, Alabama
   Jackson, Mississippi

The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted more than a year from 1955 to 1956 and was one of the most successful protests in U.S. history. Black bus riders who were forced to sit in the back of the bus stopped riding public transportation until the racist rules were lifted.

1. 22nd Amendment
   13th Amendment
2. 17th Amendment
   Third Amendment

In the middle of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln ordered the Emancipation Proclamation, which did not abolish slavery but freed enslaved persons being held in rebellious states. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery. It passed the Senate in 1864 and was ratified in 1865.

1. Freedom of speech
   Life
2. Liberty
   Pursuit of happiness

The Declaration of Independence declared that "all men are created equal" and are endowed certain unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom of speech is not an unalienable right, but it is a constitutional right.

1. Election Day
   All Saints Day
2. Veterans Day
   Columbus Day

There is an election for something every year, but the U.S. Presidential Election takes place only once every four years. There are many statewide positions up for election every year, and Senate elections are scattered, so different states hold Senate elections on different years.

1. Representative
   Vice president
2. Senator
   Governor

Senators serve six-year terms, which are the longest single term of any politician. Governor term lengths vary by state and many states don't have any term limits for governor. Supreme Court Justices serve for life and current justice Clarence Thomas has been on the bench for more than 27 years.

1. Secretary of State
   Speaker of the House
2. Chief of Staff
   Director of National Intelligence

The speaker of the House of Representatives is the next in line to succeed the presidency after the vice president. The speaker is elected by members of the House and is the leader of the majority party in the House.

1. 3
   2
2. 1
   0

Washington, D.C. is the capital of America but is not one of the 50 states, so it does not have any senators. States are allocated electoral votes based on number of senators and districts within the state, and since D.C. has neither, it is allocated the minimum, which is three electoral votes.

1. Right to bear arms
   Protection against unlawful search
2. Protection against cruel and unusual punishment
   Right to a speedy trial

The Eighth Amendment protects citizens against excessive bail or fines but doesn't define the word "excessive." It also protects against cruel and unusual punishment, and the "cruel and unusual" clause is the most debated section of the amendment.

1. English
   Spanish
2. Native American
   There isn't one.

There is no official language of the country. There are close to 330 million people in America and about 230 million Americans call English their primary language. There are about 40 million Spanish speakers in the country and a few million Chinese speakers.

1. 5 years
   8 years
2. 10 years
   12 years

The most important things George Washington may have done while president of the United States was to establish the practice of term limits and selecting a Cabinet. Although limits weren't regulated, he chose to only serve eight years, which set a standard.

1. Bill of Rights
   Articles of Confederation
2. The Federalist Papers
   Magna Carta

The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and were replaced by the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1789. The goal of the Articles was to unite the states, and although it did, it created such a weak national government it had to be changed eventually.

1. 7
   13
2. 12
   9

There are nine Supreme Court justices who vote on the highest issues in the land. There are nine of them so they can't reach a tie. Each of them was nominated by the president and then approved by the Senate.

1. Georgia
   West Virginia
2. New York
   Massachusetts

The 13 colonies were: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island. West Virginia didn't become a state until 1853.

1. Benjamin Franklin
   Alexander Hamilton
2. John Jay
   James Madison

The Federalist Papers were written by Hamilton, Madison and Jay, and Jay used the pseudonym Publius on some articles. The collection of essays and articles argued for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution and were integral to the document's passage.

1. Lakota
   Cherokee
2. Sioux
   Pueblo

Before Amerigo Vespucci discovered America, Christopher Columbus did. Before Columbus discovered America, Leif Erikson did. Before Erikson discovered America, it's unknown who did, but we do know Native Americans were here long before us.

1. 1776
   1781
2. 1780
   1787

The U.S. Constitution was hotly debated for years before finally becoming active. It was drafted in 1787, ratified in 1788 and enacted in 1789. Delaware was the first state to approve the document and Rhode Island was the last.