Question 1

True or false: Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated while in office.

Accepted Answer

True. Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth in 1865, making him the first U.S. president to be assassinated.

Question 2

True or false: Abraham Lincoln lost his mother, Nancy Hanks, when he was nine years old.

Accepted Answer

True. Lincoln's mother died of milk sickness in 1818 when he was nine. This event shaped his early life.

Question 3

True or false: Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin that he built himself.

Accepted Answer

False. Lincoln was born in a log cabin built by his father, Thomas Lincoln. He was an infant at the time and could not have built it.

Question 4

True or false: Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in the United States.

Accepted Answer

False. The Proclamation only freed slaves in Confederate states that were in rebellion. Slavery remained legal in border states and areas under Union control.

Question 5

True or false: Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in the United States.

Accepted Answer

False. It only freed slaves in Confederate states not under Union control. Border states and Union-held areas were exempt.

Question 6

True or false: Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope during the train ride.

Accepted Answer

False. He wrote multiple drafts beforehand. The envelope story is a myth popularized by later accounts.

Question 7

True or false: Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender in Illinois.

Accepted Answer

True. Lincoln and a partner ran a tavern in New Salem, and he held a liquor license. He was known to be mostly temperate, however.

Question 8

True or false: Abraham Lincoln served as the postmaster of New Salem, Illinois.

Accepted Answer

True. Lincoln served as postmaster of New Salem, Illinois from 1833 to 1836, a well-documented early job in his career.

Question 9

True or false: Abraham Lincoln was known to be a heavy drinker.

Accepted Answer

False. Lincoln rarely drank alcohol and often advocated for temperance. He was not a heavy drinker by any measure.

Question 10

True or false: Abraham Lincoln was a vocal supporter of women's suffrage.

Accepted Answer

False. Lincoln did not actively campaign for women's voting rights. While sympathetic to the women's movement, he prioritized abolition and Union preservation.

Question 11

True or false: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was immediately hailed as a masterpiece.

Accepted Answer

False. The speech received mixed reviews at first; some newspapers criticized it, and Lincoln himself thought it fell flat. Only later did it become widely celebrated.

Question 12

True or false: Abraham Lincoln was born in the state of Illinois.

Accepted Answer

False. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. He moved to Illinois later in life.

Question 13

True or false: Lincoln was a champion wrestler with only one recorded loss.

Accepted Answer

True. Lincoln wrestled in about 300 matches and lost just once. He was inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1992.

Question 14

True or false: Abraham Lincoln is the only U.S. president to hold a patent.

Accepted Answer

True. Lincoln patented a device to lift boats over shoals in 1849. No other president has been granted a patent.

Question 15

True or false: Abraham Lincoln was challenged to a duel in 1842 and selected broadswords as the weapon of choice.

Accepted Answer

True. After Lincoln published a satirical letter, James Shields challenged him to a duel. Lincoln, as the challenged party, chose broadswords, but the duel was called off after reconciliation.

Question 16

True or false: Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender before becoming president.

Accepted Answer

True. Lincoln co-owned a tavern in New Salem, Illinois, and held a liquor license, but he rarely drank himself.

Abraham Lincoln Trivia Questions