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Quiz about Players in Americas Imperialist Drama
Quiz about Players in Americas Imperialist Drama

Players in America's Imperialist Drama Quiz


The United States was as imperialistic as any European power in the 19th century. Do you recognize these players in America's Imperialist Drama?

A multiple-choice quiz by shvdotr. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
shvdotr
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
378,097
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
434
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 24 (10/10), srandall (7/10), Guest 31 (5/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha was born in 1838. In 1891 she inherited the throne of her native land from her brother, King Kalahaua, and ruled with the royal name of Liliʻuokalani. On January 17, 1893, she was deposed by European and American businessmen, and her kingdom, which had been independent since 1810, was annexed by the United States. What is the name of that former kingdom? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. A former Governor of Tennessee and Speaker of the House of Representatives, this Democratic candidate for President in 1844 favored the annexation of Oregon and Texas in his campaign. Who was he? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. He built America's largest newspaper chain and, as a purveyor of yellow journalism, publicized Cuba's struggle for independence against Spain and helped push the United States into the Spanish-American War with his cartoons, headlines, and drawings. Who was this tycoon, who told his illustrator, Frederic Remington, whom he sent to Cuba, "You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war."? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Although people often believe the Monroe Doctrine was anti-imperialistic, it was actually intended to give the United States more power over the rest of the Western Hemisphere. Who was Monroe's Secretary of State (and future President) who actually penned the document? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Who was the Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln who purchased Alaska from Russia? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. The last bit of the contiguous 48 states was added in 1853. It was the area south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande in the current states of Arizona and New Mexico. Who was the American ambassador to Mexico who made the purchase, which was signed by President Franklin Pierce and finalized in 1854? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. As Vice President he was strongly opposed to a powerful central government, favoring instead a confederation with power in the hands of the states. However, as President, he doubled the size of the United States with a few strokes of his pen. Who was he? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Ten days after the USS Maine was destroyed in Havana Harbor in 1898, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy took the bull by the horns, and in the absence of the Secretary, ordered George Dewey to sail to the Philippines, thus resulting in the defeat of the Spanish fleet there, and the eventual acquisition of the islands for the U.S. Who was this former Police Commissioner of New York City and Dakota cowboy, and future Vice President? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. One of the major influences upon American imperialists as a whole and Theodore Roosevelt in particular, was a U.S. naval officer who published a book in 1890 called "The Influence of Sea Power upon History." Who was he? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Not all Americans totally embraced imperialism. One was a renowned writer, who had initially strongly favored "the American eagle ... screaming into the Pacific." But with the Spanish-American War he changed his mind, decrying the military aspect of imperialism in a short book called "The War Prayer," in which he wrote in part, "For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, ... stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!" Who was this literary icon? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 27 2024 : Guest 24: 10/10
Mar 24 2024 : srandall: 7/10
Mar 12 2024 : Guest 31: 5/10
Feb 05 2024 : mandy2: 10/10

Score Distribution

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha was born in 1838. In 1891 she inherited the throne of her native land from her brother, King Kalahaua, and ruled with the royal name of Liliʻuokalani. On January 17, 1893, she was deposed by European and American businessmen, and her kingdom, which had been independent since 1810, was annexed by the United States. What is the name of that former kingdom?

Answer: Hawaii

Liliuokalani was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which was first totally unified in 1795 under King Kamehameha the Great.
2. A former Governor of Tennessee and Speaker of the House of Representatives, this Democratic candidate for President in 1844 favored the annexation of Oregon and Texas in his campaign. Who was he?

Answer: James Knox Polk

As President, Polk led the country to the defeat of Mexico in the Mexican-American War, which added most of the present Southwest to U.S. territory. He was president during the opening of the United States Naval Academy and the Smithsonian Institution, and also saw the issuing of America's first postage stamps.
3. He built America's largest newspaper chain and, as a purveyor of yellow journalism, publicized Cuba's struggle for independence against Spain and helped push the United States into the Spanish-American War with his cartoons, headlines, and drawings. Who was this tycoon, who told his illustrator, Frederic Remington, whom he sent to Cuba, "You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war."?

Answer: William Randolph Hearst

Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were the nation's two most influential purveyors of yellow journalism in their competitive development of the American press. Hearst's "New York Journal" and Pulitzer's "New York World" both sensationalized the Cuban Revolution and promoted Manifest Destiny as well. Both Hearst and Pulitzer were nation-wide in their publishing empires, with Hearst's "San Francisco Examiner" and Pulitzer's "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" among the leading newspapers of the country.
4. Although people often believe the Monroe Doctrine was anti-imperialistic, it was actually intended to give the United States more power over the rest of the Western Hemisphere. Who was Monroe's Secretary of State (and future President) who actually penned the document?

Answer: John Quincy Adams

Like his predecessors Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, John Quincy Adams followed up on his experience as Secretary of State by eventually stepping into the White House.

Basically, the Monroe Doctrine said it was America's policy that further colonization of the Western Hemisphere would not be allowed. Actually, the real strength behind the Doctrine was Britain's naval power, as the US and UK were of the same mind in wanting to limit any further French or Russian influence in the New World. Thus, like the later stance of Theodore Roosevelt, Monroe and Adams hoped to see the USA as the power broker in the West.
5. Who was the Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln who purchased Alaska from Russia?

Answer: William H. Seward

Following the purchase of Alaska in 1877, detractors referred to America's latest acquisition as "Seward's Icebox" and "Seward's Folly," as well as "Walrussia." But it eventually turned out to be a wise decision.
6. The last bit of the contiguous 48 states was added in 1853. It was the area south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande in the current states of Arizona and New Mexico. Who was the American ambassador to Mexico who made the purchase, which was signed by President Franklin Pierce and finalized in 1854?

Answer: James Gadsden

Born in South Carolina, Gadsden was a Yale graduate and attained the rank of General in the U.S. Army. He was also for a time a railroad executive, and following the addition of the Gadsden Purchase area to the United States, a railroad was built there.

Known as "the Great Triumvirate," Webster of Massachusetts, Clay of Kentucky, and Calhoun of South Carolina, dominated the American national political scene for about 40 years, from 1810 to 1850. The Compromise of 1850 was their final great debate topic, and all three had died by the time James Gadsden negotiated the land purchase named for him. The Gadsden Purchase completed the outline of the 48 states as a whole.
7. As Vice President he was strongly opposed to a powerful central government, favoring instead a confederation with power in the hands of the states. However, as President, he doubled the size of the United States with a few strokes of his pen. Who was he?

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson originally intended only to buy New Orleans from the French, but due to a slave revolution in Haiti, Napoleon was in a selling mood and Jefferson's negotiators, James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston, were offered the entire Louisiana Territory, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada's prairies. Knowing he could not wait for approval from all the states, Jefferson reluctantly made the purchase.
8. Ten days after the USS Maine was destroyed in Havana Harbor in 1898, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy took the bull by the horns, and in the absence of the Secretary, ordered George Dewey to sail to the Philippines, thus resulting in the defeat of the Spanish fleet there, and the eventual acquisition of the islands for the U.S. Who was this former Police Commissioner of New York City and Dakota cowboy, and future Vice President?

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

"TR" also served New York as its governor and served his nation as its 26th President, from 1901 to 1909. Always an adamant imperialist, his reign as President included bringing America's navy up to the standard and size of that of a world power, dominating the Western Hemisphere with his foreign policy, and winning the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
9. One of the major influences upon American imperialists as a whole and Theodore Roosevelt in particular, was a U.S. naval officer who published a book in 1890 called "The Influence of Sea Power upon History." Who was he?

Answer: Alfred Thayer Mahan

Historian John Keegan called Mahan, "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His work not only impressed Theodore Roosevelt, but also the governments of Britain, Germany, and Japan, and encouraged a race for naval power among the European powers.
10. Not all Americans totally embraced imperialism. One was a renowned writer, who had initially strongly favored "the American eagle ... screaming into the Pacific." But with the Spanish-American War he changed his mind, decrying the military aspect of imperialism in a short book called "The War Prayer," in which he wrote in part, "For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, ... stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!" Who was this literary icon?

Answer: Mark Twain

Because of its controversial nature, Twain would not publish "The War Prayer" while he was alive, saying, "I have told the whole truth in that and only dead men can tell the truth in this world. It can be published after I am dead." Twain died in 1910 and "The War Prayer" was published in 1923.

Other strong anti-imperialist voiced included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau at the time of the Mexican War, as well as Andrew Carnegie and William Jennings Bryan at the time of the Spanish-American War.
Source: Author shvdotr

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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