Putting U.S. History to the Test

I had fun doing your quiz in today’s Times (“Oh, Say Did You Know?” June 30) and learned a few things too. Just thought I would point out, regarding question No. 11, that the Emancipation Proclamation did not free all slaves, even in a delayed way. On the day it went into effect, Jan. 1, 1863, the proclamation freed all slaves in rebellious territories, meaning that slaves in border states and in those areas of the Confederate South that the Union army had exerted control over (like parts of Louisiana and Tennessee) remained legally enslaved. It took the 13th Amendment to free slaves in every part of the country. But the general gist of common knowledge regarding the proclamation--that it freed all slaves--is in some ways true. After the proclamation, the abolition of slavery became an irreversible war aim for the North.

--TOM MILLAR

Glendale

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The correct answer to question No. 1 of your quiz [Who warned the American colonists, “The British are coming!”? A) William Dawes, a cobbler; B) Paul Revere, a silversmith; C) Samuel Prescott, a doctor, or D) All of the above”] is E) None of the above. At the time, the people living in the colonies were British citizens. According to the History Channel on cable, the riders would have said, “The regulars are out!”

--ROBERT McNULTY

Encinitas