Memorial Day Quiz

Take the following quiz to see how much you know about Memorial Day. The answers appear at the bottom of the page.

1) Memorial Day was born out of the nation's need to heal after:
A. The Civil War
B. The Revolutionary War
C. World War II

2) In what year did Congress officially establish a national holiday to honor American veterans?
A. 1868
B. 1919
C. 1971

3) True or False: The practice of placing flowers at the graves of veterans began with Confederate widows.
A. True
B. False

4) What officially decreed observance was the precursor of the Memorial Day holiday?
A. Remembrance Day
B. Decoration Day
C. May Day

5) True or False: Many Southern states honor Confederate dead on various dates throughout the year.
A. True
B. False

Memorial Day Quiz Answers

1)(A) The Civil War

2) In 1971, Congress designated the last Monday in May as Memorial Day.

3) (A) Many of those who lost their lives in the Civil War were laid to rest in enemy territory and their graves often fell victim to neglect. This sad sight prompted widows of Confederate soldiers in Columbus, Mississippi to place flowers on the graves of their husbands' former enemies on April 25, 1866, one of the first acts to help lay the foundation for Memorial Day.

4) (B) On May 5, 1868, three years after the Civil War ended, Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union soldiers and sailors, proclaimed May 30 "Decoration Day." Thereafter, northern states celebrated this day, while southern states observed a similar holiday on a different date until the turn of the century, when many state legislatures passed proclamations designating May 30 as "Memorial Day."

5) (A) Mississippi celebrates Confederate Memorial Day the last Monday of April, Alabama on the fourth Monday of April, Georgia on April 26, North and South Carolina on May 10, Louisiana on June 3, Virginia the last Monday in May and Tennessee refers to that date as Confederate Decoration Day. Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day on January 19.