While not quite 50 years, I finished elementary school in 1985, and I got 100% on this quiz in 16 seconds... and that includes double checking my answers. I somehow don't think I'm suddenly going to be befuddled by it a decade from now, lol.
Vermont and Maine. People think that all of New England was part of the original colonies. They don't realize that Vermont was part of New Hampshire and New York and then was an independent nation and Maine was part of New York.
Vermont was originally claimed as part of French Canada, disputed between New York and New Hampshire, and then claimed independence, joining the US later.
I’m not American and I remember seeing a map of the original 13 colonies that included present day Vermont and Maine. I didn’t know they were originally parts of other states.
The three tricky ones are Vermont, Maine, Florida. If you have never been there Vermont and New Hampshire are the same state. Maine just looks like it was always there, and same with Florida - what do you mean it was Spanish? Then English? Then Spanish again? When did it become American? Most Americans can't tell you.
That helps with the ones that WERE the original 13, but it's less obvious which one were not.
Probably not much help to non Americans, but Americans who know their history should remember that Vermont was briefly an independent republic before statehood, and Maine was once part of Massachusetts' territory.
Probably not much help to non Americans, but Americans who know their history should remember that Vermont was briefly an independent republic before statehood, and Maine was once part of Massachusetts' territory.