The States of America
Everybody knows that there are 50 states that share sovereignty with the United States federal government.
Let's begin with the history of how the states came into existence and how they evolved over time.
Did you know America was given the name by a German map maker? Back in 1507 Martin Waldseemüller created a map of the world on which he named the great lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" after the Italian explorer and navigator Amerigo Vespucci.
The states started out with 13 British colonies, the first of which was Virginia founded in 1607 and lastly by Georgia in 1733. The colonies joined together to declare independence in 1776.
Quiz Facts
The state of Virginia was named after Queen Elizabeth I, the virgin queen.
Georgia was named after King George II
The term United States of America was first coined in 1776 when Thomas Jefferson included the phrase in all capital letters in the heading of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence.
The Original 13 States of America
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.Delaware was given the name held as a title by Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, the Governor of Virginia from 1610 until 1618. At that time the area was considered to be part of the Virginia colony.
Pennsylvania was named after William Penn who founded a colony there for the religious freedom of Quakers, and named it after his family "Penn" and the "woods" (from Latin) sylvania.
New Jersey was named by James, brother of King Charles II of England, who named the colony New Jersey to honour Sir George Carteret, who had been the Governor of Jersey, a British island in the English Channel.
Connecticut gets it's name from the Connecticut River which got its name from the Mohican Indian word "quonehtacut", which means "the place of the long tidal river."
Massachusetts got its name from the Massachusetts Bay which was given its name by the Pilgrim Fathers who founded the Plymouth Colony in 1620. They named the Bay after the Algonquian Indians whose name was derived from mass-adchu-seuck or 'people from the big hill'.
Maryland is named in honour of Henrietta Maria of France, wife of Charles I of England. It was also the capital of United States of America from 1783 to 1784.
North and South Carolina were named in honour of King Charles l. Carolus is Latin for Charles. The nickname for South Carolina is the Palmetto State.
New Hampshire got it's name from Captain John Mason and was named after the English county of Hampshire. John Mason was one of the founders of Portsmouth in 1630.
New York got its name from the English Duke of York and Albany (and the brother of England's King Charles II) in 1664 when the region was originally called "New Amsterdam" by the Dutch settlers.
Rhode Island got its name from the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, there in 1635, who called it 'Roodt Eylandt.' The words mean red island and was in reference to the red clay that was prominent and which surrounded the shoreline.
Obviously if I were to list all 50 states like this it would take me days so let's move on to some great facts that you can use as quiz questions.
50 States of America
Here are all 50 states followed by the two letter abbreviation used in the post code, zip code, the year it became a state and last but not least the capital city of each state. Please note that over half of the capital cities of the 50 States of America are not the most populated.
Alabama AL 1819 Montgomery
Alaska AK 1959 Juneau
Arizona AZ 1912 Phoenix
Arkansas AR 1836 Little Rock
California CA 1850 Sacramento
Colorado CO 1876 Denver
Connecticut CT 1788 Hartford
Delaware DE 1787 Dover
Florida FL 1845 Tallahassee
Georgia GA 1788 Atlanta
Hawaii HI 1959 Honolulu
Idaho ID 1890 Boise
Illinois IL 1818 Springfield
Indiana IN 1816 Indianapolis
Iowa IA 1846 Des Moines
Kansas KS 1861 Topeka
Kentucky KY 1792 Frankfort
Louisiana LA 1812 Baton Rouge
Maine ME 1820 Augusta
Maryland MD 1788 Annapolis
Massachusetts MA 1788 Boston
Michigan MI 1837 Lansing
Minnesota MN 1858 Saint Paul
Mississippi MS 1817 Jackson
Missouri MO 1821 Jefferson City
Montana MT 1889 Helena
Nebraska NE 1867 Lincoln
Nevada NV 1864 Carson City
New Hampshire NH 1788 Concord
New Jersey NJ 1787 Trenton
New Mexico NM 1912 Santa Fe
New York NY 1788 Albany
North Carolina NC 1789 Raleigh
North Dakota ND 1889 Bismark
Ohio OH 1803 Columbus
Oklahoma OK 1907 Oklahoma City
Oregon OR 1859 Salem
Pennsylvania PA 1787 Harrisburg
Rhode Island RI 1790 Providence
South Carolina SC 1788 Columbia
South Dakota SD 1889 Pierre
Tennessee TN 1796 Nashville
Texas TX 1845 Austin
Utah UT 1896 Salt Lake City
Vermont VT 1791 Montpelier
Virginia VA 1788 Richmond
Washington WA 1889 Olympia
West Virginia WV 1863 Charleston
Wisconsin WI 1848 Madison
Wyoming WY 1890 Cheyenne
Using the list above and being creative you can come up with such quiz questions as these..
States of America Quiz
The abbreviation NC is the two letter code for which American State?
What is the capital city of Texas?
Santa Fe is the capital city of which U.S. state?
Which is the only U.S. state that begins with the letter U?
In what year did Hawaii become a U.S. state?
There are 4 U.S. states that end with the letter O, can you name them?
Which mythical bird is the state capital of Arizona?
What have Illinois and The Simpsons got in common?
What connects ancient Greece with Washington state?
Did Ohio become a state in the 18th or 19th century?
Can you name the 4 U.S. states that begin with "New"?
Can you spell Massachusetts?
All the states have nicknames too, another great source of quiz questions!
State Nicknames - Nicknames of U.S. States
Alabama
The Yellowhammer State
The Cotton State
The Heart of Dixie
Alaska
The Last Frontier
Arizona
The Grand Canyon State
Arkansas
The Natural State
California
The Golden State
Colorado
The Centennial State
Connecticut
The Constitution State
Delaware
The First State
Florida
The Sunshine State
Georgia
The Peach State
Hawaii
The Aloha State
Idaho
The Gem State
Illinois
The Prairie State
Indiana
The Hoosier State
Iowa
The Hawkeye State
Kansas
The Sunflower State
Kentucky
The Bluegrass State
Louisiana
The Pelican State
Maine
The Pine Tree State
Maryland
The Old Line State
Massachusetts
The Bay State
Michigan
The Great Lakes State
Minnesota
The North Star State
Mississippi
The Magnolia State
Missouri
The Show Me State
Montana
The Treasure State
Nebraska
The Cornhusker State
Nevada
The Silver State
New Hampshire
The Granite State
New Jersey
The Garden State
New Mexico
The Land of Enchantment
New York
The Empire State
North Carolina
The Tar Heel State
North Dakota
The Peace Garden State
Ohio
The Buckeye State
Oklahoma
The Sooner State
Oregon
The Beaver State
Pennsylvania
The Keystone State
Rhode Island
The Ocean State
South Carolina
The Palmetto State
South Dakota
Mount Rushmore State
Tennessee
The Volunteer State
Texas
The Lone Star State
Utah
The Beehive State
Vermont
The Green Mountain State
Virginia
Old Dominion
Washington
The Evergreen State
West Virginia
The Mountain State
Wisconsin
The Badger State
Wyoming
The Equality or Cowboy State
Good quiz questions are creative quiz questions. Don't just ask, "which state is known as the mountain state?"
Try these I just made up from the list above.
U.S. State Nicknames Quiz
Which states nickname is a type of hairstyle?
Which states nickname is also a famous skyscraper?
What fruit is found in Georgia's nickname?
Which states nickname is a type of rock?
Which states nickname means affection, peace, compassion and mercy?
How many states nicknames are named after plants?
So there you have it, if you study this article you can very easily come up with a hundred quiz questions on one topic and what makes this such a great topic is that most people pride themselves in being knowledgeable about the United States of America!
This article was written by Martin the quiz master of the UK's best and most professional fun quiz website www.quizpub.co.uk
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