The following is the answer key for the U.S. History Quiz that was distributed at the Charlotte Tea Party. It was produced as a courtesy of CAUTION (Common Americans United To Inspire Our Nation)…

Tea Party Quiz Answers

(by Corey Thompson, Chairman of Education for CAUTION)

1) C: Rattlesnake

Playing off of Benjamin Franklin’s famous “Join, or Die” political cartoon from 1754, many colonists and militia units began using a rattlesnake as an unofficial emblem in the days prior to the American Revolution. Yet, unlike Franklin’s snake that was chopped into separate pieces, the new snake was coiled and ready to strike. The phrase “Don’t Tread On Me” accompanied the vigilant snake on many flags and banners in an effort make a stern statement to the British about the danger of stepping where they didn’t belong.

2) B: Benjamin Franklin

In 1754, Franklin was one of the first to propose a form of “unity” or “unification” between the colonies through his depiction of a snake that was cut into multiple pieces, each representing a different colony/region. Underneath the chopped snake was the poignant phrase “Join, or Die.” Although it would take another two decades or so for Franklin’s vision to become reality, he is often credited as having been a distinct pioneer in what would eventually become known as the United States of America.

3) D: Charlotte

One of the real “hidden treasures” of American history is the (often) untold story of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. Crafted on May 20^th, 1775, several prominent men in Charlottetown (what it was known as back then) met in a small building near the modern day intersection at Trade and Tryon. The document outlined a complete separation from Great Britain, and was hand delivered to the Continental Congress that had convened in Philadelphia. The fate of the document remains a mystery to this day, primarily due to a fire that destroyed the home of the official record keeper of the proceedings. Still, “MecDec Day” continued to be celebrated each May 20^th, and Charlotte was fortunate enough to play host to four sitting Presidents who came to town to participate in the festivities. However, over time the significance of the day eroded and was ultimately forgotten by most. Today, “The May 20^th Society” is working tirelessly to restore this important date in our local heritage. Our state flag also bears the date May 20^th, 1775 as a permanent reminder of what transpired in Charlotte…a full year before the national Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.

4) B: No

Despite the lore of poems and history books, Revere in fact had two accomplices on that historic night. William Dawes and Samuel Prescott accompanied Revere for a significant portion of the ride, before the three men were stopped by a British patrol. After being held at gunpoint, and through a strange twist of fate, the riders were able to continue their historic mission. Still, some estimates state that as many as 40 riders could have been sounding the alarm throughout the countryside by daybreak. Yet, of course none are as well remembered as Revere.

5) B: The American Colonists

Instigated by Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty, some of Boston’s most notorious thugs marched toward the British Customs House from opposite ends of town one afternoon in March of 1770. The crowd included known gang members, dock workers, and hardened laborers from some of the city’s toughest areas. The mob converged on the Customs House, an important piece of British property that was guarded by British troops, and hurled insults, snowballs, rocks, and oyster shells at the disciplined soldiers. Finally, as the crowd pressed closer and closer, one colonist bumped a soldier, causing him to slip on a patch of ice. His musket discharged upon hitting the ground, and the other soldiers (unaware of where the shot had come from), opened fire on the crowd. In the end, five colonists died from the “massacre.” However, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere would brand the event as a blatant attack by soldiers on an unarmed (and innocent) crowd. The colonies were outraged by the event, and the firestorms of revolutionary zeal raged even stronger than ever before.

6) A: British East India Co.

The British East India Company, which had recently fallen on hard financial times, was cut a ‘dirty deal’ in the wake of the Tea Tax imposed on colonial tea. In exchange for the ability to bypass specific tariffs and taxes, the British East India Company had, in effect, received an 18^th century “bailout,” while colonial merchants were swept under the tidal wave of a system they could not compete with. As a result, multiple “tea parties” were staged throughout the colonies. Yet, none were as noteworthy as the one that took place on December 16^th, 1773, when rebels (dressed as Indians) boarded ships in Boston Harbor. The band of revolutionaries cut open and dumped dozens of chests into the harbor in an act of defiance. Today, the same amount of tea would be worth well over $1 million.

7) A: The British

This was a trick question. While the British did in fact take the hill, their casualties far exceeded their worst nightmare. The battle gave hope to an undermanned and overmatched group of patriots who had used a pitiful array of broken guns with limited ammunition. This fact would lead one Colonial commander to yell the famous line “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” So yes, the British won the battle and took the hill, but the true ‘victory’ belonged to the patriots who stood their ground and ‘sold’ the hill to the Redcoats for more than they could reasonably afford.

8 ) B: False

Paine had been a miserable failure in many areas of his personal life prior to coming to America. In fact, Benjamin Franklin helped secure his voyage through an acquaintance after Paine’s broken marriage and long list of professional losses had left him with little hope of a turnaround in his native England. After barely surviving an illness during the journey, Paine arrived in America just in time to get involved in the growing revolution. In a literal ‘overnight success’ story, Thomas Paine penned what equated to one of the greatest bestsellers in American history (by proportion) with the release of Common Sense. He would also gain a great deal of acclaim and notoriety through the publication of The Crisis and other works. After the American Revolution, Paine ventured to France, which was ripe for a revolution of its own. Nearly beheaded by the guillotine, Paine was rescued and returned to the United States. Yet, his later works spoke out against organized religion, including Christianity. There was little room for acceptance of such rhetoric in America at the time, and Paine quickly fell out of favor with the public that had once embraced him. He died just as lonely as he had been when he first arrived.

9) B: False

While it made for an amazing ‘rally cry,’ the Founders knew well that representation in Parliament would have spelled certain disaster in the colonies. They were quite smart, and realized that representation would have only guaranteed the colonies a small voting voice…a vote and a voice that would have been squelched and outvoted on every single occasion. If that happened, the colonists would have had very little to rally around, as representation would have done nothing to advance their cause.

10) B: False

The average colonist paid a very small fraction of the amount of taxes paid by British citizens. In some cases, colonists were only exposed to taxation that equated to 1/25^th of what some in England were forced to pay.

11) C: Thomas Jefferson

12) A: James Madison

Madison’s meticulous notes and insightful wisdom during the Constitutional Convention earned him this esteemed title.

13) B: False

This is a major misunderstanding about our beloved document. In no place does the Constitution use the phrase “separation of church and state.” Rather, Amendment I states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This has been left open to a wide range of interpretations over the years. Yet make no mistake, our Founders were not implying that there could be no religion intertwined with government…they just didn’t want government interfering with people’s religious beliefs. Of course, I’m no Supreme Court Justice…

14) B: False

Sorry folks, but the legend of Sam Adams beer is a fairytale. The beer marketed in his name today has very little to do with his business of the 1700s. While Adams did own and operate a brewery that had been left to him, his erratic business skills, mismanagement of money, and preoccupation with his ‘hobby’ of starting revolutions, caused him to eventually lose it to creditors.

15) B: 9

BONUS) C: Alexander Hamilton (He’s the guy on the Ten Dollar Bill!)