Memorial Day Quiz: Remembering America’s Undeclared Wars
QWER
We pause on Memorial Day to remember those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.
Yet, many folks are surprised to discover thousands of service members died in conflicts that weren’t actually “wars.”
How much do you know about our country’s undeclared wars? Find out in this short, informative quiz.
1. What makes military combat an actual war?
A: An executive order
B: A vote of Congress
C: A popular referendum
D: A petition drive
Answer: B. While the U.S. Constitution names the president commander-in-chief of the military, Article 1, Section 8 specifies that only Congress can declare war. The 1973 War Powers Resolution authorizes the president to use military force for a limited time.
2. The first undeclared war came in our nation’s earliest days. Which rival nation did it involve?
A: Great Britain
B: Germany
C: France
D: Russia
Answer: C. The “Quasi-War” from 1798 to 1800. France tipped the scales in our favor during the Revolutionary War by sending its fleet and lending us a lot of money. Spats after the French Revolution led to fighting on the high seas between the two former friends, with several hundred casualties on both sides.
3. The Marines’ Hymn famously recalls “the shores of Tripoli.” What undeclared war does that line reference?
A: The Gold Coast Incursion
B: Nicaraguan Deployment
C: The Indonesian War
D: The Barbary Pirates War
Answer: D. In the early 19th century, pirates from the Barbary States (parts of modern Libya, Algeria, Tunis and Morocco) were seizing U.S. Navy ships, taking sailors hostage, and holding them in exchange for an astronomically high ransom. Washington told the Navy, “Go get ’em.” Several dozen Americans died in the fighting.
4. America’s deadliest war was actually an undeclared conflict. What was it?
A: The Revolutionary War
B: The Civil War
C: World War II
D: The Vietnam War
Answer: B. That’s right, our nation’s bloodiest conflict wasn’t a declared war. Officially, war can only be declared by one country against another. The North didn’t recognize the Confederacy as a sovereign nation. So, Congress instead declared a state of rebellion within the seceded states. Federal documents referred to it as The War of the Rebellion.
5. The longest war in American history was undeclared. What was it?
A: The Seminole War
B: The Choctaw War
C: The Apache War
D: The Arapaho War
Answer: C. America was expanding westward in the 1800s, but the Apache tribe said, “Not on our land.” So, it fought. And fought. And fought. The fighting was so prolonged that there was rarely a 90-day stretch of peace during the 37-year era. The Apaches even fought the Confederates during the Civil War. Violence tapered off after 1886, but there were sporadic battles as late as 1924.
6. A declared war can sometimes lead to subsequent undeclared combat. That was the case after which war?
A: The War of 1812
B: The Mexican War
C: The Spanish-American War
D: World War II
Answer: C. The 1898 Spanish-American War was called “a splendid little war” because, in a conflict lasting only three months, two weeks, and four days, the U.S. captured Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Many Filipinos wanted self-government. Washington disagreed and sent 126,000 troops there. A particularly savage war ensued. Three years later, more than 4,200 Americans and perhaps 20,000 Filipino combatants were dead, with thousands more wounded.
7. At times, the United States has joined with other countries in fighting an undeclared war. This one was a debacle.
A: The 1855-1857 Walker Expedition
B: The 1916-1917 Pancho Villa Expedition
C: The 1916-1924 Dominican Republic Occupation
D: The 1918-1919 Russian Civil War
Answer: D. After Russia’s czar abdicated and was murdered, civil war broke out between the Reds (Communists) and the Whites (anti-Bolsheviks, some of whom were pro-democracy while others wanted the Romanov dynasty restored). The U.S. joined an international military force backing the Whites. Some 5,000 soldiers of the American North Russia Expeditionary Force (nicknamed the Polar Bear Expedition) were sent to Arkhangelsk, with an additional 8,000, called the American Expeditionary Force Siberia, shipped to Vladivostok:13,000 U.S. troops in all on Russian soil. Nearly 425 Americans died in the unsuccessful effort.
About the Author
J. Mark Powell is a former TV journalist. His nonfiction book “Witness to War: The Story of the Civil War Told by Those Who Lived It” is available at jmarkpowell.com. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
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