A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
VOLUME TWO 2026 CERTIFICATION
EVALUATION TEST PAPER QUESTIONS
SOLUTIONS GRADED A PLUS
◉ Oliver Branch Petition.
Answer: Drafted by John Dickenson and adopted by the second
Continental Congress on July 5, submitted to King George on July 8th
1775
an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining
their loyalty to the British crown. King George refused to read the
petition
◉ Battle of Bunker Hill/Breed's Hill.
Answer: On the Charlestown Peninsula north of Boston Harbor
2,400 British troops led by General Gage against 1,500 Americans
British troops stormed Breed's Hill, where colonial soldiers were
encamped. In their fourth charge up the hillside, the British took the
hill from the rebels, who had run out of ammunition.
◉ First Continental Congress.
Answer: The First Continental Congress convened on September 5,
1774, to protest the Intolerable Acts. The congress endorsed the
,Suffolk Resolves, voted for a boycott of British imports, and sent a
petition to King George III, conceding to Parliament the power of
regulation of commerce but stringently objecting to its arbitrary
taxation and unfair judicial system.
◉ Benedict Arnold.
Answer: He had been a Colonel in the Connecticut militia at the
outbreak of the Revolution and soon became a General in the
Continental Army. He won key victories for the colonies in the
battles in upstate New York in 1777, and was instrumental in
General Gates victory over the British at Saratoga. After becoming
Commander of Philadelphia in 1778, he went heavily into debt, and
in 1780, he was caught plotting to surrender the key Hudson River
fortress of West Point to the British in exchange for a commission in
the royal army. He is the most famous traitor in American history.
◉ Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
Answer: 1776- Paine argued for independence, directly attacking
allegiance to the monarchy, refocusing hostility previously vented on
Parliament. The pamphlet was published anonymously in
Philadelphia. colonist. Before Paine, few colonists thought
Independence was an option.
◉ Second Continental Congress.
Answer: The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on
May 10, 1775. Three delegates added to the Congress were
, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock. The
Congress took on governmental duties. (United all the colonies for
the war effort.) They selected George Washington as Commander in
Chief. They encouraged the colonies to set themselves up as states.
On July 4, 1776 they adopted the Declaration of Independence. The
Congress ended March 1, 1781 when a Congress authorized by the
Articles of Confederation took over.
◉ Valley Forge.
Answer: Area of Pennsylvania approx. 20 miles NW of Philly where
George Washington's troops were quartered from December 1777 to
June 1778 while the British occupied Philly. Contractors demanded
large sums of money for supplies at rates which congress refused to
pay; bad conditions led to epidemics of small pox and typhus;
approximately 2500 men lost their lives over that winter
◉ George Rogers Clark.
Answer: colonial frontiersman who in 1778-1779 captured
important British forts at Vincennes, Cahokia, and Kaskaskia
securing the Ohio territory for the colonists
◉ Battle of Cowpens.
Answer: A 1781 battle in SC where Americans won by pretending to
retreat after firing 2 volleys, then when the Brits pursued, ran into
second rank, and lost numerous men, battle in the American
VOLUME TWO 2026 CERTIFICATION
EVALUATION TEST PAPER QUESTIONS
SOLUTIONS GRADED A PLUS
◉ Oliver Branch Petition.
Answer: Drafted by John Dickenson and adopted by the second
Continental Congress on July 5, submitted to King George on July 8th
1775
an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining
their loyalty to the British crown. King George refused to read the
petition
◉ Battle of Bunker Hill/Breed's Hill.
Answer: On the Charlestown Peninsula north of Boston Harbor
2,400 British troops led by General Gage against 1,500 Americans
British troops stormed Breed's Hill, where colonial soldiers were
encamped. In their fourth charge up the hillside, the British took the
hill from the rebels, who had run out of ammunition.
◉ First Continental Congress.
Answer: The First Continental Congress convened on September 5,
1774, to protest the Intolerable Acts. The congress endorsed the
,Suffolk Resolves, voted for a boycott of British imports, and sent a
petition to King George III, conceding to Parliament the power of
regulation of commerce but stringently objecting to its arbitrary
taxation and unfair judicial system.
◉ Benedict Arnold.
Answer: He had been a Colonel in the Connecticut militia at the
outbreak of the Revolution and soon became a General in the
Continental Army. He won key victories for the colonies in the
battles in upstate New York in 1777, and was instrumental in
General Gates victory over the British at Saratoga. After becoming
Commander of Philadelphia in 1778, he went heavily into debt, and
in 1780, he was caught plotting to surrender the key Hudson River
fortress of West Point to the British in exchange for a commission in
the royal army. He is the most famous traitor in American history.
◉ Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
Answer: 1776- Paine argued for independence, directly attacking
allegiance to the monarchy, refocusing hostility previously vented on
Parliament. The pamphlet was published anonymously in
Philadelphia. colonist. Before Paine, few colonists thought
Independence was an option.
◉ Second Continental Congress.
Answer: The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on
May 10, 1775. Three delegates added to the Congress were
, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock. The
Congress took on governmental duties. (United all the colonies for
the war effort.) They selected George Washington as Commander in
Chief. They encouraged the colonies to set themselves up as states.
On July 4, 1776 they adopted the Declaration of Independence. The
Congress ended March 1, 1781 when a Congress authorized by the
Articles of Confederation took over.
◉ Valley Forge.
Answer: Area of Pennsylvania approx. 20 miles NW of Philly where
George Washington's troops were quartered from December 1777 to
June 1778 while the British occupied Philly. Contractors demanded
large sums of money for supplies at rates which congress refused to
pay; bad conditions led to epidemics of small pox and typhus;
approximately 2500 men lost their lives over that winter
◉ George Rogers Clark.
Answer: colonial frontiersman who in 1778-1779 captured
important British forts at Vincennes, Cahokia, and Kaskaskia
securing the Ohio territory for the colonists
◉ Battle of Cowpens.
Answer: A 1781 battle in SC where Americans won by pretending to
retreat after firing 2 volleys, then when the Brits pursued, ran into
second rank, and lost numerous men, battle in the American
