| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| An employee of this agency, Edwin Atherton, claimed to have stopped a group of neo-revolutionary Mexican invaders. The head of this agency may have demoted the well-known Melvin Purvis out of jealousy. This agency was criticized for a botched incident at the Little Bohemia Lodge, but was praised for a later incident at the Biograph Theater in Chicago, in which employees relied on the information of the “Woman in Red.” A nickname for this agency’s employees was popularized when “Machine Gun” Kelly called them “G-Men.” For the point, what crime-stopping agency that stopped John Dillinger was led for many years by J. Edgar Hoover? | Federal Bureau of Investigation [or FBI; or Bureau of Investigation; or BOI; or Division of Investigation; or DOI] |
| After his son died in one of these events in 1795, Valentine Seaman began promoting a then-innovative methodofcombatingthem.Anearliermethodoffightingtheseeventswaspromotedbyamanwhogotthe idea from his slave, Onesimus. In colonial Massachusetts, Zabdiel Boylston adopted a new way of fighting these events, which Cotton Mather suggested should replace the traditional solution of quarantines. Jeffery Amherst proposed an artificial way of creating these events among natives during Pontiac’s War. For the point, what lethal outbreaks were caused by the British by giving infected blankets to natives? | smallpox outbreaks [or smallpox epidemics; prompt on “outbreaks” or “epidemics”] |
| A lot of the early description in this event is provided by the reporter Frank Phillips, who interviews Princeton’s Professor Pierson. Kenny Delmar was coached into sounding like Franklin Roosevelt while playing the Secretary of the Interior during this event. People during this event are apparently incinerated at Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. During this event, at least several people missed the early disclaimers that the proceedings were fiction because they were listening to Charlie McCarthy’s show. For the point, name this 1938 incident, in which Orson Welles legendarily created panic by adapting a H.G. Wells novel for the radio. | The War of the Worlds broadcast |
| An unanimous Supreme Court ruling upheld the conviction of a man violating a law of this type on behalf of Joshua Glover. An earlier Supreme Court ruling on a law of this type featured a Joseph Story decision striking down a conviction violating a 1793 act and Article IV of the Constitution. The Supreme Court cases Prigg v. Pennsylvania and Ableman v. Booth held that federal laws of this type trumped state law. Personal liberty laws were passed in northern states to contest laws of this type, declaring such states would not help federal marshals. For the point, name this type of law which authorized the capture and return of certain runaways to their owners. | fugitive slave laws [or fugitive slave acts] US History Bee 2018-2019 Round 5 |
| A quote by the head of one of these institutions names a highly critical 2004 book by Ward Churchill. The1928MeriamReportanalyzingtheseinstitutionswascommissionedbytheDepartmentoftheInterior. Richard Henry Pratt led one of these institutions which had a highly successful Pop Warner-coached football team with All-American player and future Olympic star, Jim Thorpe.The flagship example of these institutions in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, required residents to cut their hair and adopt “Christian” names. For the point, name these educational institutions that strove to “kill the Indian and save the man.” | American Indian boarding schools [or Native American boarding schools; accept “residential schools” for “boarding schools”; prompt on “colleges” or “schools”] |
| This law resulted in the jailing of former congressional staffer Susan Lindauer, who now frequently appears on Russian television. Chris Cylke named this law, which is actually an acronym that includes such words as “Appropriate Tools.” In a documentary, Michael Moore reads this law while driving around Washington in an ice cream van, after discovering almost no senator actually read its provisions. In 2011, a “Sunsets Extension Act” extended provisions in this law regarding surveillance of “lone wolves” and roving wiretaps. For the point, name this law passed in October 2001 strengthening law enforcement’s power to fight terrorism. | USA Patriot Act [or Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001] |
| Edwin Diamond, who was originally going to co-write this book, later became one of its harshest critics. A television special inspired by this book featured a rebuttal from Robert White-Stevens, who worked for American Cyanamid. This book, whose title was inspired by a line in John Keats’ “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” begins with “A Fable for Tomorrow” imagining the title scenario caused by a “strange blight.” Groups like Africa Fighting Malaria allege this book has led to numerous deaths due to its attacks on the use of DDT. For the point, name this 1962 Rachel Carson book documenting the environmental effects of pesticides. | Silent Spring |
| A proposed component of this system failed the Cabra test, which lessened support for Project Excalibur. Another proposed component of this system was called Brilliant Pebbles. The agency in charge of this system was closed by Bill Clinton, who replaced it with the BMDO. The day after this system was proposed in 1983, Ted Kennedy called it part of a “reckless” scheme. The plan for this system was announced by Ronald Reagan, who wanted to move away from theories of mutual assured destruction. Lasers and particle beam weapons were part of, for the point, what proposed missile defense system that was mockingly nicknamed after a George Lucas film? | Strategic Defense Initiative [or SDI; or Star Wars] US History Bee 2018-2019 Round 5 |
| A heroic but rather youthful group in this conflict was known as “Preble’s Boys,” referring to their superior, Edward Preble. Another hero of this conflict, William Eaton, was furious that Tobias Lear negotiated a treaty during it that cost the U.S. around $60,000. The turning point in this war was the Battle of Derna, which later inspired a line in the Marines’ Hymn about fighting at the shores of a certain location. During this conflict, the captured ship Philadelphia was burned by a group led by Stephen Decatur in Tripoli harbor. For the point, name this early 1800s war between the U.S. and North African states. | First Barbary War [or Tripolitanian War; or Barbary Coast War] |
| A revival of an extremely popular play by William H. Smith promoting this cause has been running in Tulsa since 1953. The so-called “Napoleon” of this cause, Mayor Neal Dow, was acquitted on both homicide charges and of violating a law he himself advocated for. An 1855 riot in Portland began when a crowd threatened to storm a building, protesting that laws called for by this movement did not apply to doctors or pharmacists. “Maine laws” were adopted by states supporting this movement, who were called “dry,” as opposed to “wet” states. For the point, name this movement which sought to curb the consumption of alcohol. | temperance [or prohibition] |
| This man’s “case” was the subject of a book about him and Frank Sheeran called I Heard You Paint Houses. In 1971, Richard Nixon controversially commuted this man’s conviction on bribery charges. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy supposedly had a squad of staffers tasked with “getting” this man. In July 1975, this man was seen at the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant near Detroit, where he was supposed to meet with Mafia leaders. Despite persistent rumors, this man’s body was not found during the 2010 demolishing of Giants Stadium. For the point, name this longtime president of the Teamsters union who disappeared in 1975. | James Riddle “Jimmy” Hoffa |
| The winning party in this election year originally selected John Langdon for the vice presidency, who turned the offer down, saying he was too old. The losing candidate in this election year was the nephew of a deceased man who had just served as the vice-president under the winning candidate. Instead of nominating an official candidate, Federalists chose to support New York City’s Mayor DeWitt Clinton in this year, hoping to bank on northern Republican support for peaceful foreign relations. For the point, name this presidential election year in which James Madison won re-election in the middle of a war with Great Britain. | Election of 1812 US History Bee 2018-2019 Round 5 |
| A poorly received convention speech in favor of this cause crudely linking it to sectionalism was given by “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman. It has nothing to do with foreign policy, but this cause is why Teller Amendment namesake Henry Teller left the Republican Party. An 1890 compromise law satisfying some goals of this cause was named for a man who also named an antitrust law passed in that year, John Sherman. A speech at the Democratic National Convention in favor of this cause ended by saying “you shall not crucify mankind upon” a certain object. For the point, name this monetary cause promoted by William Jennings Bryan’s’ “Cross of Gold” speech. | free silver [prompt on “bimetallism”] |
| In his early appearances, this character stops an attempt to control the city’s taxi trade by the villainous Ultra-Humanite. The radio show named for this character aired an arc in which he opposed the Ku Klux Klan. In 1947, his creators, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, sued for the rights to this character, whose real parents are named Jor-El and Lara. This character maintains a headquarters in the Arctic called the Fortress of Solitude. This hero first appeared in 1938 in the first issue of DC’s Action Comics. For the point, name this comic book hero, an alien from the planet Krypton who is faster than a speeding bullet. | Superman [or Kal-El; or Clark; or Kent] |
| A John Singleton Copley painting named for this man’s “death” actually depicts his fatal collapse during a debate over the American Revolution in which his final words were “if we must fall, let us fall like men!” As Southern Secretary, this man received much of the credit for an “Annus Mirabilis” that included the capture of Guadeloupe and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The city once known as Fort Duquesne was named to honor this man. Known as the “Great Commoner,” he formed a ministry with the Duke of Newcastle during the Seven Years War. For the point, name this British prime minister who is the namesake of a large Pennsylvania city. | William Pitt the Elder [or 1st Earl of Chatham; prompt on “Pitt”] |
| Some conservative opposition against this project was reduced when businessman Paul G. Hoffman was named as its director. Reporters were deliberately not invited to a speech given to Harvard’s graduating class that served to announce this project. Henry Wallace said this project might provoke war, while years later, Alan Greenspan said the work of Ludwig Erhard was more important than this project. The Soviet Union refused any assistance from this project, which was named for a general who served as Harry Truman’s Secretary of State. For the point, name this project, an U.S.-funded economic initiative to rebuild post-World War II Europe. | Marshall Plan [or the European Recovery Program; or ERP] |
| Isaac Van Anden fired this man from the Brooklyn Eagle in 1848 for aligning with the “Barnburner” faction. William Douglas O’Connor wrote a pamphlet calling this man a “good gray” figure after Secretary of the Interior James Harlan fired him, possibly on moral grounds. This man wrote a text called “Beat! Beat! Drums!” to drum up support for the Union’s cause. This author, who worked as a volunteer nurse during the Civil War, wrote the collection Drum Taps partially about his experiences. For the point, name this poet who honored the assassinated Abraham Lincoln with the poem “O Captain! My Captain!” | Walter “Walt” Whitman US History Bee 2018-2019 Round 5 |
| In the 1970s, this city was called “the smut capital of the United States” by the New York Times, referring to its rising pornography industry. Michael Bowen organized a celebration in this city called the “Human Be-In.” A Scott McKenzie song that became popular among youngsters said if you were going to this city, “be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.” The People’s Temple was founded by cult leader Jim Jones in this city. The City Lights bookstore, an icon of the Beat Generation, is located in this city. During the Summer of Love, young people gathered at the Haight-Ashbury district of, for the point, what northern California city? | San Francisco |
| A New Yorker cover about this event showing a creepily smiling man and his rival riding in a car was pulled after the violent actions of Giuseppe Zangara. During this event, a man declared “the money changers have fled from their high seats.” This was the last of a certain type of event to take place in March, as the 20th Amendment would move the date to January. The day after this event, a special session of Congress declared a four-day bank holiday. This event’s most-quoted line is a claim that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” For the point, name this March 1933 event that began the New Deal presidency. | First inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt [accept FDR in place of F Roosevelt; accept 1933 inauguration in place of first inauguration; prompt on “inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt” or “inauguration of FDR” or “inauguration of Roosevelt”] |
| During a 1994 trip to Washington, the leader of this country got drunk and wandered out in his underwear looking for a pizza. George W. Bush was criticized for saying he “was able to get a sense of” the soul of the leader of this country after a 2001 meeting. In 2014, Barack Obama said it was a “regional power,” two years after promising he would have more “flexibility” with this country after his reelection. Whistleblower Edward Snowden remains in this country, which was awkwardly given a prop “reset button” by Hillary Clinton in 2009. For the point, name this European country widely suspected of meddling in the 2016 presidential election. | Russia [or Russian Federation] |
| A governor of this colony names a pear tree that still stands today in modern-day Danvers. That leader of this colony angrily defaced a local militia’s flag because it bore St. George’s Cross. The first governor of this colony, Matthew Cradock, never actually lived there and was replaced by a man who came over on the ship Arbella. This was the first American colony to officially legalize slavery. A leader of this colony wrote the sermon “A Model of Christian Charity,” which popularized the phrase “city upon a hill.” John Endecott and John Winthrop served as governor of, for the point, what Puritan colony in New England? | Massachusetts Bay Colony [prompt on Massachusetts] US History Bee 2018-2019 Round 5 |
| This battle was where Mark Kellogg became the first AP correspondent to die in the line of duty. Since it occurred the same year as Anheuser-Busch started brewing Budweiser, it inspired an oft-reprinted lithograph the company sent to numerous saloons. After getting isolated from Frederick Benteen and Marcus Reno, the losing commander at this battle became trapped at Minneconjou Ford. The losing commander in this battle ignored the warnings of his Crow scouts and chose not to use gatling guns. For the point, name this 1876 battle in which the 7th Cavalry Regiment was defeated by various American Indian tribes in modern-day Montana. | Battle of the Little Bighorn [or Battle of the Greasy Grass; or Custer’s Last Stand] |
| This institution was virulently attacked by an author known only as “Brutus,” who was actually a former employee of it named Stephen Simpson. After this institution shut down, it was effectively replaced by a similar one led by Stephen Girard. George Clinton cast a tie-breaking vote that prevented it from existing past 1811. This institution was located on Third Street in a probably James Hoban-designed building in Philadelphia. Under the 1791 law creating this institution, it was forbidden to buy government bonds and it existed for a charter of 20 years. For the point, name this federal financial institution championed by Alexander Hamilton. | First Bank of the United States [or First Bank of the U.S.; prompt on “Bank of the United States” or “Bank of the U.S.”] |
| This president signed and endorsed the never-approved Corwin Amendment to the Constitution. Heber Kimball cursed this president for threatening to send in troops to a territory and appoint Alfred Cumming as governor. During this man’s presidency, the Mountain Meadows Massacre of settlers was carried out by Mormons, who would also fight U.S. troops in the Utah War. This man was the last president labeled a “doughface,” and he sent the ship Star of the West in an unsuccessful attempt to reinforce a fort in Charleston. For the point, name this only bachelor president, who was in office right before the Civil War. | James Buchanan Jr. |
| During this man’s brief stint working for ESPN, he claimed the media was interested in “black quarterbacks doing well.” This man once declared “Operation Chaos,” urging Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton. After a National Enquirer report in 2003, this man admitted he was addicted to painkillers. Advertisers began dropping him in 2012 after he disparagingly mocked contraception activist Sandra Fluke. This man refers to his fans as “ditto-heads” and coined the term “feminazi” to refer to some feminists. For the point, name this conservative who, since 1988, has been hosting the highest-rated talk radio show in the U.S. | Rush Hudson Limbaugh III US History Bee 2018-2019 Round 5 |
| An article arguing these things are unnecessary uses the term “parchment barriers” to refer to their usage by the states. This group of things included a proposed-yet-never-implemented regulation on congressional apportionment. The line “half a loaf is better than no bread” was used to describe these things by Thomas Jefferson. The Massachusetts Compromise negotiated by John Hancock and Sam Adams promised the creation of these things, which were proposed by James Madison in 1789. Their absence had been a reason why many Anti-Federalists had opposed the Constitution. For the point, give the name used to refer to the first ten constitutional amendments. | Bill of Rights [prompt on “constitutional amendments”] |
| This man was the head of an agency that lectured Americans “When in doubt, eat potatoes.” This former engineer led the American Relief Administration that helped feed numerous starving Europeans. This president’s secretary of state, Henry Stimson, had a namesake doctrine saying the U.S. would not recognize territorial gains acquired through aggression. Numerous foreign countries and over 1,000 economists implored this president not to sign the protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff. During this man’s presidency, Japan invaded Manchuria. For the point, name this president whose foreign policy was overshadowed by the beginning of the Great Depression. | Herbert Clark Hoover |
| In a cartoon, a man kicks a set of drawers representing this institution, while standing under a sign reading “THE VETO.” This institution was shut down while its head was out west, addressing a conflict between settlers and natives in Arizona. Sponsorship from this agency led to the founding of institutions like Fisk University and Tougaloo College. While this agency would survive for six more years, a bill to renew the charter of this General Oliver Howard-led agency was vetoed in 1866 by President Andrew Johnson. For the point, name this agency founded during Reconstruction to provide educational and economic assistance to former slaves. | Freedmen’s Bureau [or the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands] |
| During this decade, the U.S. opted to reinstate a president deposed in a coup during Operation Uphold Democracy. In an incident known as the “Day of the Rangers,” eighteen American soldiers were killed in this decade while the U.S. was trying to capture warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The book and film Black Hawk Down were inspired by an incident in this decade. During this decade, the U.S. reinstated President Aristide in Haiti, fought the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, and participated in NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia in the Kosovo War. For the point, name this decade in which the U.S. fought the first Gulf War against Iraq. | 1990s [prompt on “Nineties”] US History Bee 2018-2019 Round 5 |
| John Holmes angrily claimed that Rufus King supported this agreement as part of a plan to create a new political party opposed to the “Federal Ratio.” This agreement, the proposal of Illinois Senator Jesse B. Thomas, was compared to “a fire bell in the night” by a former president. This agreement was formed shortly after the failure of the Tallmadge Amendment, and it allowed Maine to enter the Union. The Dred Scott decision ultimately ruled this agreement and its restrictions were unconstitutional. For the point, name this 1820 agreement which prohibited slavery north of the 36-30’ parallel, aside from its namesake state. | Missouri Compromise |
| Original names for this company included “Cadabra” and “Relentless,” and indeed “relentless.com” still redirects to this company’s website. High performing employees of this company are given an award calling them “peculiar.” The founder of this company also started the aerospace company Blue Origin. Bernie Sanders introduced the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act to mostly target this company. In 2017 this company acquired Whole Foods and the following year, it declared its HQ2 would be built in both New York and Virginia. Jeff Bezos founded, for the point, what large Internet retailer? | Amazon.com Inc |
| After changes in this treaty were made by Colonel Edward House, the president removed him and never spoke to him again. One of the negotiators of this treaty joked he was “seated between Jesus Christ and Napoleon.” William Borah, Robert La Follette, and the other “Irreconcilables” were staunchly opposed to this treaty. Several historians believe the president’s stroke prevented him from making compromises to satisfy men like Henry Cabot Lodge, whose namesake reservations over this treaty included concerns over the U.S. being entangled “in the intrigues of Europe.” The Paris Peace Conference produced, for the point, what treaty that ended World War One? | Treaty of Versailles |
| Public opinion on this practice changed after a 1962 case involving one of the hosts of the kids show Romper Room. Bernard Nathanson narrated a controversial film about this practice called The Silent Scream. In 2016, the Democratic platform unsuccessfully called for the repeal of the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which limits federal funding for this practice. Justice Harry Blackmun discussed the “compelling state interest” in allowing some limitations of this practice in a 1973 Supreme Court case that laid out the “trimester framework.” For the point, what practice was legalized nationwide in the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade? | abortion |
| This man was the only Republican to be part of the “Keating Five” group accused of political corruption. During a brutal South Carolina primary, this man was accused of fathering a black child, a reference to his adopted daughter from Bangladesh. This man and Russ Feingold co-sponsored the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. During his presidential campaigns, this man rode in the “Straight Talk Express” bus and later invoked the common man “Joe the Plumber.” This senator made a dramatic “thumbs down” gesture when voting against the repeal of Obamacare. For the point, name this man who spent five years as a POW in Hanoi before becoming a senator from Arizona. | John Sidney McCain III US History Bee 2018-2019 Round 5 |
| Prior to this event, crossword puzzle writer Leonard Dawe was arrested on suspicion of using his puzzles to relay secrets. The only woman working in this event was Ernest Hemingway’s third wife, reporter Martha Gellhorn. Operation Bodyguard was an elaborate series of deceptions meant to fool onlookers as to where and when this event would take place. This event, which the Atlantic Wall was meant to stop, targeted sectors with code-names like Utah, Gold, and Sword, with the heaviest casualties at Omaha Beach. For the point, name this event on June 6, 1944, which began the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France. | D-Day [or Normandy landings; accept Operation Overlord or Operation Neptune] |
| “Consensus” historian Daniel Boorstin described the lack of “dogma” in this event, as it produced no significant philosophical works. Bernard Bailyn’s study of its “ideological origins” and Gordon Wood’s study of its “radicalism” argue against the older, progressive interpretations of this conflict that only focus on economic motivations. Many historians have stressed how this conflict was perpetuated more by upper-class merchants than political radicals seeking to create a freer society. Historians have frequently debated how much democracy was created by, for the point, what conflict between the British and thirteen colonies? | American Revolution [or the American War of Independence; prompt on “revolution”] |