Colonial America Trivia | Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia Podcast

Get ready for more History Trivia on the Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia Podcast. This week, we’re going pre-1776 with Colonial America History. Stuff that happened before the American Revolution. Some of it good, a lot of it not so good.

If you like this, check out my two episodes on American History Trivia or any other episode on the site. And be sure to subscribe on your podcast player or on YouTube.

Book of the Week

First Generations: Women in Colonial America by Carol Berkin

Carol Berkin’s multicultural history reconstructs the lives of American women in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries-women from European, African, and Native backgrounds-and examines their varied roles as wives, mothers, household managers, laborers, rebels, and, ultimately, critical forces in shaping the new nation’s culture and history.

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Episode Transcript/Quiz

Episode Intro

It’s Thanksgiving week, so I thought a little history trivia was in order. We’ve had American History trivia in the past, but this time I’m focusing on Colonial America. Events that happened before 1776.

The show is broken into three rounds, a Dorky round, a Geeky round, and a Nerdy round. If you’re new, check out DorkyGeekyNerdy.com for more information.

This is episode 357 of the Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia podcast and I’m your tour guide and host, Brian Rollins.

Let’s get going with Colonial America Trivia.

The Dorky Round

What was the name of the ship that carried the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620?
a. The Mayflower
What was the first permanent English settlement in North America?
a. Jamestown, Virginia. Founded in 1607.
What cash crop made Virginia wealthy in the 1600s?
a. Tobacco
The triangular trade between the Old and New Worlds had molasses, rum, and what?
a. Slaves. Slaves were shipped from Africa to the Caribbean. Molasses shipped from there to New England. Then rum was shipped back to Africa.
What city became the largest in colonial America by 1770?
a. Philadelphia
What 1692 event in Massachusetts saw a series of trials and executions for witchcraft?
a. The Salem Witch Trials.
New York City was founded under what name?
a. New Amsterdam
Florida was settled by what European power?
a. Spain
Who was the Powhatan princess who famously aided English settlers at Jamestown?
a. Pocahontas.
What disease brought by Europeans devastated Native American populations?
a. Smallpox. It had a 90% fatality rate among Native Americans.

The Geeky Round

Who was the young Virginia militia officer whose actions helped start the French and Indian War?
a. George Washington
What 1765 law required colonists to pay a tax on printed materials?
a. The Stamp Act
The British proclamation of 1763 forbade colonial settlement west of where?
a. The Appalachian Mountains
The Dutch founded what colony in 1614?
a. New Netherland with its capital, New Amsterdam
Who founded the colony of Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers?
a. William Penn
Which Viking explorer is believed to have reached North America around the year 1000?
a. Leif Erikson
Which Spanish explorer searched for the mythical Fountain of Youth?
a. Juan Ponce de León.
What was the first African slave-holding colony in North America?
a. Virginia
What was the primary reason many Native tribes sided with the French during the French and Indian War?
a. The French posed less threat to their lands than British settlers.
Through which South Carolina port did most African slaves enter America?
a. Charleston, South Carolina

The Nerdy Round

What English nobleman founded the colony of Maryland as a refuge for Catholics?
a. Lord Baltimore (Cecilius Calvert)
What major Native American uprising followed the French and Indian War, led by an Ottawa chief?
a. Pontiac’s Rebellion.
What war between colonists and Native Americans devastated New England in 1675–1676?
a. King Philip’s War. King Philip was the English name given to the chief, Metacomet.
What was the first representative assembly in the American colonies?
a. The Virginia House of Burgesses, formed in 1619.
The Treaty of Paris ended which war in 1763?
a. The French and Indian War
What religious revival swept through the colonies in the 1730s and 1740s?
a. The Great Awakening
Founded in 1565, what is the oldest continuously inhabited European city in America?
a. St. Augustine, Florida
Which Native American tribe famously helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter?
a. The Wampanoag.
What Native American organization united tribes in the Northeast?
a. The Iroquois Confederacy
Which colony was originally split into East and West before being unified in 1702?
a. New Jersey

Episode Conclusion

And we are done with Colonial America Trivia. How did you score? Let me know on social media or in the comments. This one felt like I was going back to Middle School history class. Anyone else?

Next week, it’s a country episode. These seem to be pretty popular and I’m planning on more in 2026. Here’s a hint:

What nation, home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world, was a war zone from 1990-91 and again from 2003-2011?

We touched on this country with an event-based episode back in 2023. It’s time to give the country and its rich history a deeper look. See you all back here on Wednesday.

This was the Dorky Geeky Nerdy Trivia Podcast. If you’d like to help support the show and get extra stuff, consider becoming a patron at Patreon.com/dorkygeekynerdy.

This podcast is written, produced, and hosted by Brian Rollins. If you love audiobooks or are looking to have a book turned into an audiobook, contact me at TheVoicesInMyHead.com.

The theme music is Punchfunk by the band, Punchfunk. Listen to all their music on Spotify.

Thanks for listening.