Ask Aunt Alice

Happy Independence Day!

Do you and your family have fun plans for this fourth of July?

Photo by linder6580 at sxc.hu

I have two family members who avoid going outside during the fireworks due to asthma, but tonight we’re going to have homemade pizzas, red-white-and-blue Jell-o (whipped topping for the white) and an as yet to be determined desert (though it will likely involve something either frozen or chocolate, or both!). Then we’ll probably spend the evening playing games, and maybe watching  “I Dream of Jeannie” or a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

(Yes, I do realize what century we’re in. Thank you for asking.)

Fun aside, I also plan to take a few minutes tomorrow to remind my children of how the United States became a country, and of some of the sacrifices that many men and women made so that we could be free.

Have a safe, and happy, fourth of July!

(Note: the original link to the Founding Fathers quiz has been deleted,
due to complaints about the host site. Instead, you can find the original
questions and their answers below. I apologize for any inconvenience.)

For fun, see how many of these trivia questions you can answer correctly:

1. Who convinced General Washington to attend the Constitutional Convention, even announcing his expected attendance before the general agreed to come?

   • Benjamin Franklin
   • John Adams
   • Thomas Jefferson
   • James Madison

2. True or False: Even though Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, he was anti-slavery and proposed a bill in 1784 to avoid its spread

   • False
   • True

3. Who was called “America’s noble patriot” by his contemporaries?

   • George Washington
   • Patrick Henry
   • Thomas Jefferson

4. During the French & Indian War, George Washington

   • stayed out of the fray, and so escaped unharmed.
   • was injured severly, but miraculously recovered.
   • was unhurt, even though he had four bullets through his coat & 2 horses shot out from under him.

5. At age 15, John Adams

   • met his future wife, Abigail.
   • entered Harvard University
   • became a schoolmaster.

6. True or False: George Washington freed all of his slaves in his will

   • True
   • False

7. In addition to authoring the Declaration of Independence, for which of his many accomplishments did Thomas Jefferson most want to be remembered:

   • Author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom
   • President of the United States
   • Secretary of State
   • Minister to France

8. Benjamin Franklin:

   • was an agnostic.
   • had a firm belief in God.
   • was an atheist.

Answers:

1. James Madison convinced Washington to attend the Constitutional Convention.
2. True. Though  Jefferson did own slaves, he did make an effort to end the practice of slavery.
3. Patrick Henry was called “The Noble Patriot.”
4. Amazingly, Washington was completely unhurt during the French and Indian War, although in one of the worst battles every other mounted officer was killed. Washington himself wrote of this: “By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human robablility or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!” (as quoted in “Founding Fathers, Uncommon Heroes,” by Steven W. Allen, p.51)
5. John Adams entered Harvard University at age 15.
6. More than anything, James Madison wished to be remembered for his contribution as Author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom .
7. Benjamin Franklin was not an atheist, as some have claimed but had a firm belief in God. (See his autobiography, as well as some of his other writings.)