British Empire History Quiz

At the height of its territorial control, how much of the globe's land mass did the British Empire cover?

• One quarter

• Two thirds

• One third

• One half

Who was the first English monarch to rule over both Scotland and England?

• James VI

• William III

• Mary I

• Elizabeth I

Which explorer mapped and claimed much of the Pacific Ocean including New Zealand and the eastern coast of Australia in the name of Britain?

• James Cook

• Vasco da Gama

• Christopher Columbus

• Ferdinand Magellan

Which country did the British East India Company seize control of Hong Kong and Shanghai from after the first Opium War?

• Vietnam

• China

• India

• Japan

What was the name of the rebellion in 1857 where local troops rebelled against their British Commanders in India?

• Sepoy Rebellion

• Taiping Rebellion

• Boxer Rebellion

• Opium War

Which Caribbean islands were ceded to Britain as part of the Treaty of Paris in 1763?

• Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados

• Dominica, Granada, Saint Vincent

• Trinidad, Tobago, Antigua

• Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico

What was the name of the failed Scottish attempt to establish a colony controlling the Overland trade route of the Isthmus of Panama?

• Roanoke Colony

• Darien Scheme

• Jamestown Settlement

• Plymouth Plantation

Which war marked a sea change for the British Empire and led to a shift of colonial efforts towards Asia, the Pacific, and Africa?

• Seven Years War

• War of the Spanish Succession

• Napoleonic Wars

• American Revolutionary War

What was the name of the British colony founded as a trading post in 1819 and later incorporated as a colony in 1824?

• Singapore

• New South Wales

• Hong Kong

• Cape Colony

When was the transatlantic slave trade abolished within the British Empire?

• 1901

• 1807

• 1834

• 1865