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Subscribe to RSSWhen immigrants want to become Americans, they must take a civics test as part of their naturalization interview before an immigration officer. Could you pass it?
The questions asked by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are usually selected from a list of 100 sample questions that prospective citizens can look at ahead of the interview (though the examiner is not limited to those questions). Some are easy, some are not. We have picked some of the more difficult ones.
NOTES: Candidates are not given multiple choices in the naturalization interview -- which is conducted orally -- and are expected to respond with complete answers. The following questions have been adapted from the sample USCIS questions. The originals can be found here.
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They actually have a class before the test too...we might do better on this if we'd have months to study the materials.
Um, I missed one. Graduated from high school in 1957.
No true my friend! My wife received hers last year and there was no class involved; just lots of studying every night at home with yours truly! I am quite proud of her and quite embarrassed when I hear of young Americans graduating from our high schools each year who wouldn't know South Dakota from South Carolina!
The idea is that these are all things that an American should already know. If you're an American, you shouldn't have to study for the test.
100%. I used to teach American history and administer Constitution tests. I had no excuse for not getting a perfect score.
I missed one too. Graduated from HS in 1966. The right answer was tails, the wrong heads!
did not go to high school,still made an 80
I'm a Canadian, never studied for the test, and got 75%. Thank you Tom Hanks for making that great series "John Adams". You helped save my back bacon, which Americans refer to incorrectly as Canadian bacon.
Perfect score. 100% correct. I guess if you actually CARE about your country you take the time to know the answers.
I did score 95%. But your answer to Question #3 is incorrect the first part of the Constitution is the preamble, You suggested that "the first part of the Declaration of Independence" was the beginning of the constitution. That statement was referring to why the colonies wanted to break from England, "when in the course of human events, etc... But it was fun. Graduated high school in 1981.
Do Mexicans get the Spanish version?
It is amasing how the Mexican government helps its people to become US citizens.
Fortunately, they can never become Americans.
What is "more" AMAZING ...
... you didn't attend "grammar school!"
amaZing, huh?
I missed two. I actually think I got them right but they disallowed my answer on the first one because I didn't show my work in solving for x and the second they thought I plagiarized some portions of my essay.
Gee Destiny1945, When did they move Mexico out of the Americas? Last time I checked Mexico was even part of the North American continent. They are already Americans. While your working on that grammar you should also consider a geography class.
@lundyp66, I have a neice who visited us last Summer from Maryland, I live in San Antonio, Tx. We told her we go and visit the Alamo. She did not have a clue what the Alamo was and she is a girl that gets As and Bs.
I wonder how many of Howard Stern's 'on air Bimbo-s could actuallly pass this test? Same goes for Jay Leno's Jay Walking idiots !!!
Jay leno actually did one of these. Asked some of the easier questions like how many stars are on the flag, how many stripes, what do the stripes mean, what do the stars mean...and many of them got it wrong. Someone said the stars were on ther because they 'made the flag pretty'.
In order to demonstrate a working knowledge of the English language, which is one of the REQUIREMENTS of citizenship, the test is only given in English. The explanations for the rules of the test MUST be offered in the three working languages of the world; English, French, and Spanish (any country you emigrate to MUST offer their citizenship test in the three working languanges also, and UN business and International Criminal Court business.) Other translations are usually available but not always--Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, some African dialects, Russian, German, etc.
Angry at myself for missing two.
Got 100% on the second attempt ;-)
I fear, for the Tea Party, that they wouldn't get even 20% on a third attempt.
The United Nations doesn't consider Mexico part of North America. Probably because it is a backwards third world country that just became a democracy in 2000.
My definition of "American" is the one that more than 80% of the world has too. The eastern hemisphere sure didn't see many people from Latin America during WW1 or WW2. Brazil was the exception.
An American is a person from the United States. The word "Yankee" applies to him. No Mexican could ever be called a "yankee".
The letters from Mexican soldiers who killed American immigrants at the Alamo and Goliad also define Americans. Americans were the people Mexican soldiers killed.
95%. Missed the one with number of amendments. Answered 23 when it was 27. My favorite question was which right is not spelled out in the first amendment. I graduated from high school in 1991.
I was at a Department of Human Services one day, and I sat next to a girl who spoke nothing but Spanish. She was on her cellphone getting help to fill out forms to get food stamps.
I worry about the Reichwing, many of whom could not find the U.S. on a U.S. map.
Yet, they are obsessed about how everything Obama is "unconstitutional."
No wonder they are not posting their scores.
Oh Destiny...
Your colors are showing, be careful... The UN Considers Mexico part of America, for it is, only in the US there is a North American Continent, and it is the backwards vision of your kind that don't consider Mexico part of what it geographically is.
Moreover... The people at El Alamo where not "American Immigrants" it was an army financed bu the USA to seek the independence of Texas... the Mexican government fought against them to preserve its territory...
I sense some bullsh**ing on these score by those who claim to have quit school. On the other related story today, Latinos are picking berries in Tennessee and feeling the effects of the poisons used. They do the work that we won't. In Sioux Falls, SD, Lutheran Social Services is teaching citizenship classes to refugees from Africa and their sponsor is John Morrell Pork Processors. Seems that the Latinos are being replaced because they wanted 1 day a week off from the kill pens.
This insane nationalism from the right and paranoia about immigrants brings to mind--Adolph Hitler.
I'm surprised that 65% is considered "FAIL"... I thought we'd be more lenient towards those whose first language isn't English. /sarc
Anyone who cannot pass this test should lose the right to vote.
Passed with 100%, 1989 graduate in Generation X.
The article is a point well made and a point well taken.
Scott there are many Teapublicans who could not pass this test.
Lets see if Sarah Palin along with Tea Party freshman in government can pass it. Make it a qualification before any person can get on a political ballot.
Time for a little wager. I'll bet more liberals could pass the test than conservatives.
How many answers were you able to get from singing School House Rock and "The Preamble"? Hahah
I had no doubt about you, friend. The reason---you don't BS. Enjoy the Holiday
Destiny- You have it all wrong.
The rest of the world sees Earth as having five continents (Africa, America, Euroasia, Australia, Antartica). We are the only country that split America. When you are at the border and they ask you were you are from, the correct answer in Spanish is estadounidense.
Cuba and the othe islands from the Caribbean are also part of the Americas:-)
I haven't seen the inside of a classroom since 1987 - and haven't had a civics class since the 1970s - and I scored 100%. Of course, I'm a history buff and an Air Force brat... and I'm reading a book on the Constitutional Convention right now.
I do strongly feel that schools ought to be teaching this stuff, and not just one class somewhere along the way. I'm a bit concerned that the article's authors think the questions asked were "some of the more difficult" ones.
Destiny - You have not become American despite being born and raised here. You don't know what being an American means. You still talk like one of those @!$%#ing Nazi Germans whose ass we kicked back in world war II.
They are also supposed to show a proficiency with the english language.
So why do we print ballots and other documents in multiple languages???
100% (sdrv.ms/Ln5rFa). I was born abroad and emigrated here at age 14 many many years ago.
Amanda and drbach-
There is absolutely no requirement for English language proficiency in order to become a citizen. We do not have an official language, so requiring people to learn English would not make sense. The test actually can be administered in Spanish if the test taker wishes.
I got 100%, by the way. How about you?
sandtrich
Back at you my friend. Always enjoy your posts. Hope you and yours have a great 4th.
lmlk813,
What you said is only partially true. See the narrow set of exceptions below. Having said that, I agree with the sentiment of your post: if you are going to become a citizen of this land, you HAVE to speak the language. And this is the opinion of someone whose first language isn't English.
English Language Exemptions
-You Are Exempt From The English Language Requirement, But Are Still Required To Take The Civics Test If You Are:
-Age 50 or older at the time of filing for naturalization and have lived as a permanent resident (green card holder) in the United States for 20 years (commonly referred to as the “50/20” exception).
OR
-Age 55 or older at the time of filing for naturalization and have lived as a permanent resident in the United States for 15 years (commonly referred to as the “55/15” exception).
Note:
Even if you qualify for the “50/20” or “55/15” English language exceptions listed above, you must still take the civics test.
You may be permitted to take the civics test in your native language, but only if your understanding of spoken English is insufficient to conduct a valid examination in English.
If you take the test in your native language, you must bring an interpreter with you to your interview.
Your interpreter must be fluent in both English and your native language.
If you are age 65 or older and have been a permanent resident for at least 20 years at the time of filing for naturalization, you will be given special consideration regarding the civics requirement.
You got a 65 and know english?
That is a lie Destiny and you know it. Anyways what were you doing over there? getting some food stamps for yourself?
Those of us that did well on this test can thank the generation before us that provided the opportunity for;
Proper health care,
A decent education,
A sense of pride in being American,
Setting the best example of what it means to serve our country by doing so themselves,
Insisting on the proper decorum and respect of elected government officials towards those elected of differing political ideologies.
Demanding that the media remain as neutral as possible in reporting the news instead of constantly striving to make the news with politically partisan slants and downright lies.
Holding their elected representatives feet to the fire to see that they serve our country and her people instead of serving themselves with bribes from corporate interests. Insisting that the surest way for them to lose the next election is to start running for re-election on day one. Demanding they do the jobs they were hired to do (to the best of their abilities) if they wish to keep their jobs. Exactly like every other working American must do.
Our number one thanks to the generation before us is knowing they worked very hard to assure that our generation had an even better opportunity for the American dream than their own.
For those of us sitting on our prideful butts while condemning our newest generation, know that it is our failure more than theirs. We are the living proof if our condemnation is valid. I stand proud of my two sons and many of their generation. Their challenges are different (and often much greater) than those of my youth and yours.
Got 100%, but I always feel like I am making an educated guess when it comes to the question about which state was, or was not, one of the original 13.
I finally looked at a map, and it is a lot easier now that I have that in my head. Pretty much every state from New England to Georgia, except Maine, and Vermont.
Graduated in 1976 and missed one. Must of had a brain fart. I'm embarrassed.
My score --- 100%. Graduated form a "government" high school in 1964!!
I just keep thinking about Sarah Palin when she was in the Concord and Lexington area of Massachusetts. She was asked what she had learned about Paul Revere. Well golly, she'd learned that Paul Revere had ridden to warn the British that, hey, you can't take our guns away. Wha? She spent the next 3 or 4 days on Fox trying to rewrite her response so she didn't look like such an ignorant fool. She failed. It's clear that every person running for national office should be required to pass a civics test far more difficult than this, to run for that office.
Scott; my question is, if you are so smart, why would you vote for either major party? I joined the George Carlin school of though - I gave up voting - you ain't blaming me for putting these fools in office.
I learned from my Mensa member ex wife that getting good grades does not equal common sense or logic :)
What really ticked her off was that a repetitive learner like my self could get the same grades as she - it just took me ten times longer to absorb the information.
Hell, I don't even remember the words to The Pledge Of Allegiance - I guess the educated snobs better ship me back to Sweden (where my grand parents immigrated from). Just try and live your life without the services us dumb old laborers provided - no running water and sewer outta wipe that snob smirk off your face... lol.
If you can't pass this test, you should be sent to Mexico. Or Liberia. Or something. You certainly don't belong here.
Gary Columbus #1.29 and Never Stop Asking Questions #1.19-----------I'm an ardent opponent of the vision Obama seeks to foist on Americans and I answered all the questions with ease. Anyone could if they studied the subject matter; the problem is many born here haven't. Civics is not even taught in many schools today.
Gary ---- Let's make it a qualification before anyone gets on the ballot and it has to be passed in English
Never stop -----You're disparaging the Tea Party and you missed two? And then you crow about getting them all on the 2nd try? I'll take the Tea Party member in a contest with you. Your arrogance is unmerited.
BTW; I still hold the record for highest scores (at our district) on all of my Washington State Water and Sewer certification exams - that includes all of the Engineers and Management.
Scoring well on exams proves nothing if you never get to apply it to anything. Anyone can get good grades, you either put in the effort or you didn't, pretty simple. As for the history teachers here scoring well - gawd, I'd hope you did well, you only repeated the same stuff for 30 years - now if you can teach polynomials without a calculator, then I'd be impressed.
@Destiny
So since she was speaking only spanish and you knew what she was talking about, I'm assuming you have command of the spanish language yourself?
And the Americans you speak of who were fighting Mexico at the Alamo largely did it because Mexico abolished slavery, and the Americans wanted to have slaves in Texas. Who were the bad guys in that war, again?
Do I smell the LA RAZA version of history trying to change world events as they want Mexicans to sound brave and manly. Here's the truth.
The UN does not consider Mexico part of NORTH AMERICA. Check out their website before slinging bullcrap.
Even American children know that Mexico INVITED American immigrants to settle Texas. Very few immigrants had any military experience. And many MEXICAN DOCUMENTS confirm the version I just repeated.
And 75 American immigrants who had surrendered were MURDERED BY MEXICAN SOLDIERS at the Goliad Massacre.
to the person at the top who suggested that they "have a class" before the test.... jesus h. christ. you're joking right? we had classes too. for about 45 minutes a day, 5 days a week, 180 days a year, for 13 goddamned years. the people taking this type of test to become a citizen had to take a crash course in american history because they had spent their 13 years of schooling learning about their own history. as an american, you shouldn't need the same class that a foreigner takes to know this stuff. those answers should seem like they are tattood on your corneas after having spent so much time learning them. you'd need a class too if you grew up here, but decided to become a citizen of any other country in the world. americans don't know sh*t about america, so it stands to reason that they also don't know sh*t about the rest of the world.
Let's all remember that Texas was not part of the U.S. when they fought against the Mexicans. It was its own independent country at that time.
Josh,
Better brush up on Texas history.
NO! When the Battle of the Alamo was taking place, Texas was still part of Mexico. American settlers to Texas were just starting to create a government in Texas. Americans were considered foreign immigrants by the Mexican soldiers.
That's why Americans see Mexicans that sneak into the US as invaders and not immigrants.
They REMEMBER THE ALAMO!
I'm 52, with an average education and no preliminary study for this test, and I made a perfect score; I actually thought that the questions were very easy. I'd imagine that for an immigrant, especially one for whom English is a foreign language, it would have presented a much greater hurdle.
I've heard Americans grouse all my life about the inroads made by immigrants in this country, when in fact the US is a nation of immigrants (except for those of Native American origins, many of whom are still regularly treated with open contempt), and so the only distinction between these new immigrants and the established immigrants in most cases is a couple of generations. Far too many Americans have an overweening sense of entitlement regarding their supposed 'birthrights', but I've seen many immigrants who routinely make an ongoing contribution to this country, and who often are better educated and display far more humility than the spiteful native-born Americans who begrudge them their existence: truth be told, many of these 'salt-of-the-earth' types are probably less deserving of US citizenship than the immigrants they reflexively denounce. Flame away, people, flame away....
BTW, Destiny, your grasp of the facts of US history, especially the Mexican-American War, are so befuddled that it was entertaining to read your clumsy diatribe. Under the terms of the Adams-Oris treaty, the US renounced any land claims against New Spain (read: Mexico) in exchange for Florida. There was never any intention of honoring this treaty (isn't the US the world champion of dispensing with treaties considered inconvenient?), as the sights were already set upon westward expansion. Those US settlers who moved to Tejas all took a loyalty oath to honor and defend the Mexican Constitution and laws, but their subsequent actions make it clear that they never intended to honor that commitment. The US government positioned troops on (some say over) the Mexican border in an effort to provoke hostilities as a pretext for invasion: it was thought at the time that the Mexican government would surrender within weeks, yet they held on for two years, and then the US stole half the country when they drafted the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to end hostilities.
One needn't be a member of La Raza to recognize the avarice at the heart of US foreign policy, just a bit more discerning than someone like you.
The 20 questions asked are very easy, though it's also easy to see how someone could misread a question (like the preamble complaint above though I thought that question was very clear) or rapidly answer (like with the year the constitution was written and confuse that for when the country began, which is what today is all about anyhow). But I am really disappointed in so many of my fellow citizens who, upon taking this pathetically simple test, then claim to have some superioroty over their political adversaries because they did well--and did well according to themselves.
I don't think that simply because I am a conservative that my liberal friends are idiots or ignoramuses. I do think they are often wrong, but that doesn't make them stupid, as Never Stop Asking Questions seems to think his political opponents are which is a great shame. Some of our greatest thinkers, the writers of our founding documents, virulently disagreed with one another and probably at times even thought the other lacked wisdom but I doubt they ever seriously considered their political opponents as stupid. Maybe the final question on any citizenship test ought to be "Can this union survive when so many people seem to no longer have common goals for it?"
I think virtually the entirety of the modern political era, which brought us the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and now, seemingly, the Raw Deal, has been a major mistake. People who support it will argue that good things have resulted from it and that I want to turn all of that upside down. But this is wrong. There are some good things, I don't deny this, but at what cost? One of the above questions asks if one of the powers of the federal government is to provide education. The right answer is that no, it is not a federal power. Yet find a liberal American, or even a big government conservative, who would do away with the Department of Education. Yet what have we got for this extraconstitutional action? Education costs more today than ever and yet does what most people claim is not a very high caliber job. Why shouldn't we return to constitutional government, rather than extraconstitutional government, and let the states and the citizens within those states do all the things the feds now do, but the constitution doesn't authorize?
There, in a nutshell, is the TEA Party motto which Never Stop Asking Questions denigrates out of hand.
Hi David,
No, the USA is not the world champion at dispensing treaties it dislikes. All nations form treaties in order to secure their own self-interests, the USA is no different. Your claim indicates that while you may know much about the USA, you know little about the rest of the world. England probably holds the title you bestow upon your own country, but that is just as irrelevant. When facts change and treaties no longer serve the purpose they were intended to serve then one, or all, of the nations party to the treaty look for ways to undermine the treaty itself. In some cases there is a legal way, like with the ABM treaty we "broke" with Russia. It had a clause allowing either party to withdraw given proper notice. In other cases diplomacy works, and in still other cases military provocation is what is needed.
Perhaps, given the tenor of much of the rest of your post, you think many Americans possess a sense of superioroty which is unfair and unearned, and so this is why you would wrongly attack your own country's history with treaties. Whatever your reason you are wrong. We are like all other countries in that regard.
Interesting side step. When did I mention the Mexican-American War?
America..A nation of immigrants? Yeah, if the immigrants are mostly white and English speaking.
And no Americans complained about immigrants until Mexicans stole the word and want to use it exclusively for Latin Americans.
And here's U S Grant's famous quote on the Mexican American War and its land transfers.
It is to the credit of the American nation, however, that after conquering Mexico, and while practically holding the country in our possession, so that we could have retained the whole of it, or made any terms we chose, we paid a round sum for the additional territory taken; more than it was worth, or was likely to be, to Mexico. To us it was an empire and of incalculable value; but it might have been obtained by other means.
Destiny,
So...US Grant's position that since we didn't steal the whole of the country, but simply cherry picked what our government wanted, makes it all fine and dandy in your book? And immigrants of any shade other than white are undeserving of the moniker? You've denounced yourself far more effectively than I could have, and I see no further reason to interact with you.
Bill,
We may agree to disagree, but at least the bulk of your post was civil and well thought out. If calling a spade a spade, rather than simply regurgitating the indoctrination which passes for education regarding American history makes one 'wrong', then I'm guilty as charged. BTW, I wasn't trying to vie for the title in regards to treaty abrogation, so if you want England to wear the crown, then by all means, be my guest. That doesn't make the US any less contemptible for it's past (and ongoing) actions, nor does it make me anti-American in my tone; I firmly believe that the underlying reason for the freedom of speech most Americans take for granted is so that the number of voices declaring "the Emperor has no clothes" not be nullified - that would be the most un-American outcome I could imagine. Unfortunately, given current trends, I no longer need imagine....
I got 65% and you know what? I really don't care. Born and raised in the United States, never been out of this country for a minute. Oh and I even have my American flag out for the 4th of July today.
I have to laugh at the crazed nationalists on this forum that call for those like me to leave the country and result to insults. I have more important things to keep on my mind than keeping brushed up on my US history. If I ever get a chance to be on Jeopardy, then I will freshen up on it, otherwise, that historical knowledge benefits me in no way.
Confidential sources: Matamorros, MX US Consulate office
have leaked that the Obama Administration has ordered them to process all US citizenship
request at an expedited rate. This even includes making instant citizens of
foreign nationals born in Mexico
before there parents became naturalized US Citizens, which are not entitle to
become US Citizens because they are not children of Natural born US Citizens. Under
US law this entitlement is
offered to only natural born US
citizens. A foreign national can not come into the US,
become a US citizen then
make his foreign born children into instant US
citizens because the child was born before he/she was a US citizen. The
US consulates along the
border have been ordered to make instant US Citizens of Mexican Nationals
with out due process to increase Obama votes.
In the most dramatic case a 22 year Mexican National born in
Mexico whose father was an illegal immigrant in the US when the son was born in
Mexico was given instant US citizenship by the US consulate in Matamoros Mexico
since his father now had become a US citizen.
This is an outrage since this is a right afforded to US born natural
citizens only and the laws are not retroactive. Meaning the parent has to be a US Citizen
before the child is born to qualify for instant citizenship. In the case above
the parent was not a US
citizen when the son was born in Mexico
and only had recently become a US
Citizen 20 years later after his son was born in Mexico.
Hey David,
It's Rich, but maybe I look like a Bill? Anyhow, we do disagree, but I don't think (from your posts anyhow) you have any antipathy for the USA. My guess is that your focus on the USA is no different than most peoples, in that you live here and see what goes on here more, and more often, than what goes on elsewhere. Some use that focus to talk about how great we are, some use it to identify our every wart too. But your last comment is spot on, except that I don't think calling out our "leaders" has become unacceptable. Just look at the partisan antipathy for Bush, and now for Obama. More important to me though isn't partisan antipathy, it is that too few partisans can ever find a problem with their own guy.
I'd say this is more true now than with Bush, but others might not. With Bush conservatives routinely complained about extraconstitutionalism, as with Medicare Part D. The TEA Party itself began as a response to policies put into force by Bush and Congress--claims it is a racist response to Mr. Obama are simply false. But it has accelerated under Mr. Obama, just as the policies so repugnant to the TP have accelerated under Mr. Obama as well. Still, I agree not enough people will speak truth to those on their own side, or be fair to those on the other side, if in fact that was your point.
I had to take the full test to be able to call myself a citizen. The only one I got wrong out of the entire test was who should become president if both the president and vice president should die, and the correct answer was the Speaker of the House.
And I went to private school here in the US for 12 grades and Dad was an Army vet who served in Nam and Korea.
20 out of 20. Thank you Mrs. Lukens and Lt. Col Bunting for being awesome History Teachers.
Rich,
I'm sorry that I got your name wrong - my mind must have been elsewhere.
I'd like to take the opportunity (because it seems so rare these days) to say that even though our political viewpoints might vary greatly, I find you a very reasonable sort.
I'm not particularly partial to our current POTUS, although I do feel that a great deal of the animosity directed at him is probably racist in nature: that doesn't mean that I relexively assume that ALL of it is. I'm as troubled as you at the direction that our country is taking, and the partisanship is in large measure at the root of that. As a child, my father was a rabid Goldwater Republican, but all his friends were Democrats: I'd have trouble picturing such a scenario today. The partisanship has largely negated public discourse on those subjects most critical to our country's future, yet I see no break in the stalemate on the horizon. Any suggestions?
Uh Really?-2872425 I think it is you that needs some education. You ALMOST got it right, Mexico is part of North America not America. The continent is named North America (two words) and the country is named America. This is the United States of America, just as Mexico is the United Mexican States, Brazil is the United States of Brazil, etc. The two continents have two words in their names: North America and South America just as there are States with two word names: North Dakota, South Dakota, North Carolina, South Carolina, etc. The name of the country is America and the words "United States of" refers to the inner workings of the governmental system just as Federal Republic of Germany does.
Passed! 100% !!!
Hey David,
No worries about the name. And I wish I had some sort of insight beyond what history informs me--that this, too, shall pass. I'm an odd ball politically speaking. I'm very conservative, but not solely partisan. When republicans abuse the constitution I am ready and willing to speak my mind about the deceit. I'm also not a God-fearing person, but I still respect religion for what it is, and have no problem with people who see things differently than I do. I'm not, however, nearly as worried about partisanship as most people seem to be, since as the case of your father proves partisanship isn't the problem. Several of my good friends are liberals, a couple openly claim to be socialists, but at the end of every debate I walk away just as much a friend, and still believing they want, generally speaking, what I want, which is a better future.
Maybe the way out of this is the way out following the adoption of the constitution? Then the partisanship was just as rampant, maybe even worse, and each side bitterly fought for power. But even though they fought fiercely, people like Jefferson and Adams respected one another for the very things I respect my liberal friends for--they want a better future, just as I do. That we want to go about it radically differently doesn't mean we don't both want a similar outcome. It wasn't until one side won and ruled with some sense of humility that the founders moved past the mere partisanship. Then it was Republicans who won the day, at least for the first sev eral decades. After a short dalliance with Adams, a great Democrat imo, it was decades before another Democrat would win. During that time Republicans--Jefferson, Madison, Monroe in particular--really set the course.
So someone today has to win. Will it be liberals? Conservatives? I'm hoping for the latter, but I have to admit that we do a very bad job in today's world of explaining why our ideas are better. I can go on for days about the evils of extraconstitutionalism, but because few people really understand federalism, and fewer have read any of the Federalist (or Anti-Federalist) Papers, my logic falls on deaf ears. We are enmeshed in a debate which is focused almost entirely on fairness, with fairness being defined as whatever someone feels. This augurs very well for liberals, politically speaking. But the problem is that with liberal victory, which we've seen now for about 80 years, we have not achieved that greater society, and so the victory has been hollow. With Monroe we got a Doctrine which manifestly benefitted the USA and its people. What did we get with the New Deal? Decade after decade of borrowing to provide for current consumption? Or the Fair Deal? Trillions spent to end poverty and not a tick lower it has gone? Until conservatives learn to speak in terms of fairness so that otherwise liberal voters have a different choice I think we are consigned to this partisanship without resolve.
I realize and answered correctly that education is not a constitutional right. However, have you seen what has been happening lately. Most of the funding for education comes from state and local governments not the federal government and appears to be the first thing cut. American ranks 25th in math and I am not sure but around 19th in reading. There are developing nations performing better than we are. I know people like to blame teachers and unions, but the one common factor I see in those countries doing better than us is the study and education ethics parents place on their children. Socialist countries with strong teacher's unions are out performing us.
You noticed that the fastest growing immigrants are Asians. You want to know why? It is because they are coming in to take jobs most Americans are not qualified or trained to fill in the STEM areas.
With regard to what I said about parents and unions, my school district proved it not to be the problem by implementing programs to increase parental involvement and now have the highest graduation rate in the country, Montgomery County Maryland. First thing you need to do is take political ideologies out of the education process. I believe it should be removed from every facet of US life because it does not make for good analysis and clouds facts.
In short, we need to stop complaining about and attacking the education system and work with what we have to improve it and stop finger pointing. Finger pointing has resulted in millions of Asians being hired by corporations to take jobs your kids should have qualified for. Moreover, what makes me a little annoyed is that countries like Germany and Denmark, in partnership with corporations, when seeing the upcoming paradigm shifts in their domestic workforce due to massive outsourcing and major technological advances implemented training programs for displaced employees and increased the focus on STEM education more than 12 years ago. What did we do here nothing but now bring in Asians.
Stop the partisan BS and focus on solutions.
Unfortunately I got a 75% on mine. I honestly didn't recall some of the information, that and I was horrible in civics class over 20 years ago.
David Wellman
re: post 1.57
"When in fact the US is a nation of immigrants (Except for those of Native American origins.... )
Try again Dave! Your so called Native Americans immigrated here from Asia and proceeded to exterminate a tall (6 ft plus), white skinned, red haired race of people already established here. "Native Americans" admit as much if they're honest. Bodies of the Red Hairs have been found in the mounds of the Mound Culture in Ohio and in various spots all across America. Oddly, federal law says the bodies of these non Native Americans be handed over to them for reburial/disposal whenever they're found! Check out Ancient American magazine- it is an eye opener.
It is truly amazing to see what truths are simply ignored when it comes to teaching TRUE American history. I've never seen the Red Hair People mentioned even ONCE in any school textbook and archaeology as it exists in the US downplays it if ever it gets mentioned at all.
I like how everyone on here is bull@!$%#ing scores. I would find it hilarious if they took the data off this and posted it in following articles.
I'm sure we'd see a lot more 50's from folks.
18/20, got the Pres Pro Tempore and Speaker of the House crossed up, and for some reason, I had 7 stuck in my head for the number of justices...
Graduated 1992, and back then, I aced Maryland's Functional Citizenship test in about 30 minutes. Just a little rusty, I guess.
If one is an American citizen, one should know the history of this nation along with how it currently operates. If one doesn't, one is not a productive citizen but, rather, a detriment. Either know what it means be American or get out. You're not wanted or needed here.
By the way, I got 100%. Does that make me a better American? You better believe it does. As a matter of fact, that makes me an American. Those who can't answer 100% need to be shown the door. Dufuses don't make us productive; they hinder us real Americans. Bone up or get out. America is for Americans. Immigrants who love this nation and get 100% are real Americans. Those born here who can't get 100% are burdens and need to find some other place to provide for them. There is always room for real Americans, including immigrants. There isn't one inch of space available for slackers who don't know, and don't care to know, about America.
Rijeana,
Actually the Declaration of Independence does have a Preamble. As does the Constitution.
The Declaration has an Introduction which is the first long paragraph,,,"When in the course of human events,,,"
The Preamble is the next two paragraphs that follow,,,"We hold these truths to be self evident,,,,"
It precedes the Indictment.
I'm surprised scholars such as "Never Stop Asking Questions", who was posturing about his/her grandiosity, didn't catch that. Your pomposity cloaks your insecurity.
BTW, I'm with the TEA Party and I got 100% on my FIRST try.
19 out of 20 not bad I knew Vermont and New Hampshire were one colony and split later just couldn't remember which was the colony at the time of the revolution. Jerry go suck an egg.
I'm a Canadian who didn't study for the test, nor studied anything other than the normal curriculum of a Canadian high school in the 60's in terms of history (my university degree was in French and Theology) . Regardless I got 95%, which seems to be better than many Americans. Typical of the poor quality American education system as I have noticed in my American cousins since to 1960s, so poor quality US education is not anything new or recent. .
Rijeana,
Actually the Declaration of Independence does have a Preamble. As does the Constitution.
The Declaration has an Introduction which is the first long paragraph,,,"When in the course of human events,,,"
The Preamble is the next two paragraphs that follow,,,"We hold these truths to be self evident,,,,"
It precedes the Indictment.
I'm surprised scholars such as "Never Stop Asking Questions", who was posturing about his/her grandiosity, didn't catch that. Your pomposity cloaks your insecurity.
BTW, I'm with the TEA Party and I got 100% on my FIRST try.
I missed 2, but considering I did it cold turkey and took the Constitution test 40 years ago I feel I did pretty well. Couldn't remember the number of ammendments, but knew it was about 20 and I really knew it took a couple of years to write he constitution, but guessed 1776 anyway. 90%- I will take it.
Christopher Cole, go back and re read what I wrote. Your reading comprehension is lacking. I wrote that Mexico is part of the North American continent. I DIDN'T write it is part of America. What part didn't you understand? What Destiny is writing about I have no clue. The members the UN lists for North America even include the central American countries. My point is just about everyone in the western hemisphere is American.
Jerry
Repeatedly using one does not make you sound more intelligent or philosophical.
To argue those who don't know minuscule facts about Louisiana Purchase or when the constitution was drafted up don't deserve a place or a voice in America is asinine. You really want to know what it means to be American Mr. 100% -- It is the opposite of what you posit.
Continue to feel superior though, if it makes you feel better. Arbitrarily demanding all those that don't score as well as you leave doesn't make you American, Recalling facts about history doesn't make you an American, and I can tell by your attitude that you aren't even close to a true American
Scott-2641766 said:
"Anyone who cannot pass this test should lose the right to vote."
#1.27 - Wed Jul 4, 2012 6:16 AM PDT
-------------------------------------------------
Scott, you may want to brush up on your American history.
Excerpts:
A literacy test, in the context of United States political history, refers to the government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at the federal level, and potential voters at the state level. The federal government first employed literacy tests as part of the immigration process in 1917. Southern state legislatures employed literacy tests as part of the voter registration process as early as the late 19th century.
Literacy tests, along with poll taxes and extra-legal intimidation,[1] were used to deny suffrage to African-Americans. The first formal voter literacy tests were introduced in 1890. Whites were exempted from the literacy test if they could meet alternate requirements that, in practice, excluded blacks. These included demonstrating political competence in person or showing descent from someone who was eligible to vote before 1867 (the post-Civil War civil rights constitutional amendments 13, 14, and 15 were enacted in 1865, 1868, and 1870, respectively).
Southern states abandoned the literacy test only when forced to do so by federal legislation in the 1960s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided that literacy tests used as a qualification for voting in federal elections be administered wholly in writing and only to persons who had not completed six years of formal education. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 suspended the use of literacy tests in all states or political subdivisions in which less than 50 percent of voting-age residents were registered as of November 1st 1964 or had voted in the 1964 presidential election. In a series of cases, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the legislation and restricted the use of literacy tests for non-English-speaking citizens. Since the passage of this legislation, black registration in the South has increased substantially.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_test
Never stop asking questions,
19 out of 20. I misread question 6. And I have a conservative perspective.
Hi Pamela,
You are absolutely right that most education funding comes from state and local sources, not the federal government. But it would be a major mistake to not realize that the federal spending is used, by the feds, to help control and guide state and local decisions. The feds do this in all other areas as well, and in any area not authorized for federal activity it should stop.
You are also right to say that we do a fairly bad job at educating our kids in math and science, particularly. The solution isn't more money, in fact I would argue that more money has been a major cause of the decline. In my state the average spent per classroom is about $310k per year, yet only about 40% of that amount is actually used to teach--salaries, benefits, instructional supplies, maintenance, and so on, at the school. The further the locus of decision-making has become from the local school level, the worse schools have performed, and as more money comes from more distant sources that locus has shifted from the neighborhood (parents, principal, teachers) to the state capitols, and to DC itself.
I think we should reduce how much we spend, but get more money into the actual school, by eliminating those added layers of overhead. Greater parent involvement should result, just as lesser parent involvement resulted from the opposite policy. Principals with more control over why money is spent compared to how it is spent will, on average, produce better results since their job will be on the line. Teachers generally want kids to succeed, and with parents and administrators on both sides of them will find little room not to. But the left is universally opposed to any of this. Teachers union's want even more bureaucracy, not less--it's easier to hide poor performance or waste or corruption when there are more filters you have to look through--and the politicians they fund will accept nothing less than more money, rather than better outcomes.
We've hurt our future by hurting our kids and yet the inertia is almost all still running the same direction--more governmental control. Charter schools and private schools and home schoolers have an amazing array of rules meant to impede their success. When money became more important than education then the goal of education shifted from producing capable citizens to producing cash-lined pockets. Cut the money, but do it in the form of radically altering the system itself, and we can get back on track.
My attitude shows that I am a complete true American. I know about my country, including its past and present (and that determines our future). Obviously, you didn't do very well on the test, otherwise you wouldn't be so upset. That does make me superior. I don't have to "feel" it. It's a proven fact. And the Louisiana Purchase wasn't something "miniscule," nor anything surrounding it. You cannot be a true American if you don't know all these important things. I would highly suggest you taking a remedial course on American history and civics. If you can't afford it, you can receive it for free, paid for by use true Americans. We always have to dish out for intellectually and philosophically lazy people, but we do it because we want true Americans to keep this country from weakening (which is caused by people who don't know the facts about the Louisiana Purchase or other pertinent things). You can become one, too. If not, then get out. There's plenty of space for true Americans. There isn't one inch available for false ones.
100% These are the hard ones?
you did US History and US Government did you not pay attention I did and got a score of 90 and that was 30 years ago
I graduate in 1978 and passed with 85% not bad. I did better than both of my children who have been out of hs and college less than 5 years.
I graduated in 1982 and I got 65%. It definitely helped that it was multiple guess. I know my kids wouldn't have done as well and that is scary.
Got a 100%--graduated in 1978, also. This was an easy version--I've seen a much harder one that I only got an 85% on. It included dates for things--I usually can get the right decade, but when I have to decide between two choices about two years apart, I flub it. The other tricky things are the names of obscure vice presidents and Supreme Court justices (not the current ones).
The date for the writing of the Constitution was easy--it had to be in 1780s, because we had the Articles of Confederation first. The current Supreme Court justice is easy because he's been in the news lately.
But, yeah--this was the easy version. No trouble at all.
Thought it was easy. Too bad our supreme court no longer follows it.
Missed 1 and graduated in 1956. Never studied again, because I am an American, who learned in good American school.
1978 graduate too but didn't do quite as well as beanathome or gideb3114. The ones I missed though I think most Americans would miss or have to really think a bit, which I did not!!LOL But, after 34 years not that bad either. I didn't remember how many voting members were in the House of Representatives, and don't know why I thought the Secratary of State instead of the Speaker of House would lead the country if the POTUS and Vice couldn't because once incorrect mark came up I knew exactly what I did wrong one that one. Another not thinking moment how often we elect Senators when my mind is on Presidential elections just months away the brain was thinking of 4 years, DUH!!! A little embarrased I didn't do better. Busy life I guess but will definetly spend some time refreshing my memory. Gonna save this and see if my kids can pass. I also got the POTUS during World War 1 wrong, shame on me. Can I plead that I wasn't even alive then??HA HA!
I blew it on the writer of the Constitution (Jefferson not Madison) and Vermont not part of the original 13 colonies. No excuse, no study, graduated HS in 1965 and rode dinosaurs to school, uphill in both directions.
First of all, they picked the questions that Americans would be least likely to know. Many of the real questions are along the lines of "name a state bordering Canada".
Second, this is useless information. Knowing which states were the original colonies is great historical trivia, but completely useless in day to day American life. That's why most Americans don't bother to know it.
They picked questions that EVERY american should know the answer too. This is not USELESS information. Its kind of disrespectful on the 4th of JULY to not know who created the declaration of independence. I can now see what American education is in decline.
That is why we need to keep our citizens educated:)
It's sad when you get more factual information from a movie like "1776" rather than your typical high school history/Government class. And it was a freakin' musical!
Hopefully everyone who reads this will take some time and go study, (not just read), the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers, the Mayflower Compact, and the Magna Carta. (This also means one would need a dictionary to look up those words that aren't use with much frequency today, and had other meanings as well. example: Divine Providence = God/Creator.)
75% Horse Poo on the questions every American should know by heart. Yeah I took the same classes but I have so much other crap shove in there that some of it I forget. I disagree with the statement if you cant pass, you don't know what is going on in the world. I read the Economist, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy along with ASCE, PE, CE News, numerous leadership, management blogs. Based on most folks scores, you were all 4.0 students and I do find that hard to believe as well. How many quickly opened up another tab and did a Google?
I can't believe you can become a citizen just by knowing the answers to these easy questions. They didn't say how many you had to get right, but if you got more then five wrong . . .
I missed a couple, but if I was given about two minutes to look over the questions I wouldn't have missed any. I can't believe anyone would miss any if given 10 minutes to look them over in a pool of 200 questions.
I graduated HS in 1965 and got a 95% Well i can almost recite without looking the first Amendment.
Eliminate public school budgets as the Regressive Right-Wing is already actively doing in each of their Red Republican States, and their citizens' ignorance of American Civics will get far, far worse. This undermines our representative democracy. You want an effective democracy you need an educated populace.
But I have to give credit to the religious right-wing, they do teach much of the Biblical scripture to the student body in their private schools; particularly the parts they quote to arbitrarily persecute innocents by, and to use what they've learned (or distorted) in their fundamentalist religion to justify their prejudice against gays, and against women making their own reproductive choices in their lives, and against anyone they claim isn't "moral" enough.
Never mind that the imposition of their moral beliefs against others is unethical, because to them, "God" is more important that any American civics lesson. You're labeled as a "True American," if you believe only in lock-step what they believe, eh?
So can you imagine what a citizenship test would be like if, say, the Republican Tea-Evangelists were given the political power to administer these tests to everyone in their respective states or to everyone in the U.S.? How would they word it, who would pass, and who would fail, and what would the consequences be for failure to pass a religious right-wing civics test?
I got 95%. My first thought was 'Vermont', but I could have sworn Vermont was a founding colony. So I picked Delaware. PLEASE DON'T ASK TO SEE MY PAPERS!
The United Nation does not consider Mexico as part of North America, but as part of CENTRAL America. The reason is that Mexico is part of the third world.
Destiny u have no idea of what you are talkin about. Who told you Mexico was a third world country?
I scored 90%. Missed # of amendments and yr constitution was written.
I have the advantage of living in Philadelphia.
I missed the same 2 questions and got 90% also. I graduated in 1967.
I missed the New Hampshire/Vermont thing was raised in the midwest. New England isn't the center of the world there If I ask you which states are in the tristate great lakes commission could you answer? For that matter could you name the five Great lakes.
Lake Michigan... Lake Onatopapeekawa... Lake Eyrie... Lake Ponchartrain... No.
Oh well.
Silver Flyer
Me too. I picked NY instead of Vermont, and I got Susan B. Anthony wrong
Gee, and I thought those were easy ones. Though when you see Susan B. Anthony isn't your first thought the coin?? For some reason it was mine even though I knew the correct answer and got it right.
The Oath of Allegiance to the
United States of America
I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all
allegiances and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or
sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;
That I will support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
That I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law;
That I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States
when required by law;
That I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when
required by law; and
That I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of
evasion; so help me God.
HOW MANY PEOPLE LIE WHEN TAKING THIS OATH?
Since Romney never took the oath, he's as old as I am and I had 24 years in the military, because he kept himself excempt. He can truthfully say that he didn't LIE about it.
Destiny:
As an immigrant (former illegal) who had to take this oath, I can address each of those points:
As I was stateless/undocumented prior to my adoption, I had no other country to which I owed allegiance--that was why I spent three years in deportation camp because there was nowhere they could deport me to. The three years I'd been in the camp I never stopped calling myswelf an American even when they revoked meals or sent me to solitary or hit me because of it.
No problem with supporting and defending the Constitution; however, seriously, there area lot of stupid laws on the law books that police don't enforce. My municipality has had a law on the books since the late 1890's about being fined for cursing in a public area--give me a break, I'm supposed to defend that when even the police won't? (if this were enforced, we wouldn't have budget deficit!)
This I had a problem with because I don't believe in taking life. I did not give someone life, I should not be the one to take it. However, being nearly legally blind, it is highly doubtful that I would be allowed to take up arms in the military unless there really was no one else, but I would do so if drafted/'required', though against my personal and religious beliefs.
No problem with this one either--it constantly amazes me when I see people doing everything they can to avoid having to serve jury duty. That's one of the responsibilities of being a citizen, if you want the rights you have to take on the responsibilities too. And people gripe about who got elected, yet didn't vote. if you didn't vote you really shouldn't complain about who got elected; if you really don't like them, register to vote and vote them out the next term!
My Supreme Being is a Goddess, not a God. But the Higher Power has both a male and a female aspect, so I had no reservations about the usage of the word 'God', though I did point out to the administrator that my Being of preference was female.
People who are born here are not required to take this oath (which I personally find incomprehensible, everyone who is a citizen of this country should.) If every person in the US was required to take the oath, yes, a good many of them would lie because they may not believe, as I do, in taking others lives; others have no intention of ever going into the military; many don't even want to serve jury duty or go vote. They want all of the benefits, but none of the responsibilities.
Of course they lie. They are loyal Mexicans that are here to STEAL everything that isn't nailed down. In other words, they are here to make war on the American people.
Some American you are Destiny......shame on you.
Destiny - how many people actually born as citizens would take this oath and mean it if they had to?
The answer is equal to the number of people who took Grover Norquist's pledge.
Destiny, one branch of my family is Mexican. My grandmother was a beautiful and hardworking woman from Chihuahua. She used to cook and give away food to the poor here in the U.S. during the depression. I guess she was stealing and making war, hmmm?A distant uncle was murdered there not too long ago. But for such as these we do not weep? Do you think a line in the sand defines you? Or does how you live define you?
Perhaps you should attend a citizenship oath. I hear it is a moving experience. Many of our ancestors have done so.
Dear Tyler/Sally,
Can you move Amanda-2017567's comment to the top of the page? By far, the most intelligent and thoughtful comment of the entire feed.
Happy 4th of July!
Any American that has no allegiance to any other country. We Americans (I am a third generation American) can't be deported anywhere.
whereas i can appreciate the sentiment of the comment made by the formerly illegal writer, i cannot think of any reason that someone should be made to take that oath for being born a u.s. citizen. it says "take this obligation freely." that statement cannot be true if natural born citizens are required to take the oath, or if anyone is required to take the oath. moreover, what could or would be done with natural born citizens who refuse to take that oath because of any disagreement that they might have their nation's policies or actions? do they get deported or sent to "unpatriotic camps?" where exactly do you deport a natural born citizen of any nation who refuses to swear an allegiance to their homeland? swearing an allegiance to any nation or flag breeds nationalist sentiment, which at its root is a sense of superiority or outright racism. i pledge allegiance to democracy. to an open and free society. to humanity. to the planet that supports my life instead of a nation that supports my lifestyle. i pledge nothing to the group of men and women of congress or any administration that wishes to curtail the rights expressed in the constitution. i pledge nothing to partisan politics or career politicians. i would rather fight and die for the idea of true liberty than for the misguided notions of a nation so crippled by fear that it breaks its own laws in an effort to defeat invisible or imaginary enemies. now if you'll excuse me, i'm going to go gaze sadly at the bottle rockets and sparklers that i cannot light because of the burn ban.
Why should they not? Being born an American citizen doesn't, shouldn't, absolve you of any responsibility associated with being a citizen. As a citizen shouldn't you want to swear allegiance to your country? Shouldn't you want to take up arms to protect your homeland if threatened? Along with the benefits of being a citizen like bearing arms, free speech, the freedom to worship whatever God/Goddess you choose, shouldn't you want to serve in a jury, perform other civic duties, etc? There are plenty of people who enjoy the benefits of being a citizen but try to duck out of the responsibilities like voting and jury.
And yet naturalized citizens are required to take the Oath...would that also not be 'taking this freely'?
Where do you deport someone who has no original home country, who has no documentation saying where they were born? The answer? You don't. It's indefinite detention.
According to new legislation called the Enemy Expatriation Act currently coming up through Congress, if passed the government can strip citizenship from anyone suspected of acting against/advocating action against/printing/disseminating literature espousing anything that runs counter to the US or her allies' interests. Once you're 'illegal' you can then be indefinitely detained without charge or trial by the US military until the current hostilities are ended, according to the NDAA for FY 2012 that was signed into law Dec 31.
Uh, no, it doesn't indicate racism, otherwise the Pledge that every school kid's day starts with would have been declared 'unconstitutional':
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic, for which it stands; one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Did you ever actually think about those words and what they mean, or did you just memorize it in grade school and never actually think about the meaning behind those words?
You pledge allegiance to an open and free society? Are you not the same Lee2266415 who posted in 1.53 above that:
...as an american, you shouldn't need the same class that a foreigner takes to know this stuff... americans don't know sh*t about america, so it stands to reason that they also don't know sh*t about the rest of the world.
If you indeed advocate for an open and free global society you wouldn't be making the distinction between 'American' and 'foreigner'. Although you do show disdain for Americans, so your stated disdain for your own nation and people is at least honest.
Thanks to that burn ban, military soldiers who suffer from PTSD in your area can enjoy a quiet peaceful night without staying awake stressing because the fireworks remind them of a war zone. The animals in your area will not have to jump and start at every bang and pop. And the war dogs--retired military canines who suffer from shell-shock and PTSD--will be able to sleep soundly tonight. But, seeing as you have such stated disdain for your country and its people, this may not mean anything to you past your own desire to burn your own money and disturb everyone's sleep.
Now, as this is a free country, you are entirely welcome to go set off those fireworks. Just be prepared for consequences.
Sure you can.
Lack of proper training of immigration inspectors resulted in their mistaken conclusion that Sharon McKnight’s passport was fraudulent. McKnight spent eight days in Jamaica before returning to New York. While there, her luggage, containing all her money, was stolen. Airport workers contributed money so she could reach family members. Once there, her mother flew to Jamaica from New York to take her case to the US consulate in Kingston. With the help of Rep. Michael Forbes (D-NY), consulate officials determined that the passport and birth certificate, which immigration officials had declared fraudulent, were in fact real, and established McKnight’s US citizenship.
Mark Lyttle, a U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican descent with mental disabilities who was wrongfully deported to Mexico in 2008. Lyttle’s entanglement with immigration authorities began when he was about to be released from a North Carolina jail where he was serving a short sentence for inappropriately touching a worker's backside in a halfway house that serves individuals with mental disorders. Despite having ample evidence that Lyttle was a U.S. citizen – including his social security number, the names of his parents, his sworn statements that he was born in the United States and criminal record checks – officials from the North Carolina Department of Correction referred him to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an undocumented immigrant whose country of birth was Mexico. Lyttle had never been to Mexico, shared no Mexican heritage, spoke no Spanish and did not claim to be from Mexico.
Thomas Warziniack was born in Minnesota and grew up in Georgia, but immigration authorities pronounced him an illegal immigrant from Russia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has held Warziniack for weeks in an Arizona detention facility with the aim of deporting him to a country he's never seen. His jailers shrugged off Warziniack's claims that he was an American citizen, even though they could have retrieved his Minnesota birth certificate in minutes and even though a Colorado court had concluded that he was a U.S. citizen a year before it shipped him to Arizona.
According to her birth certificate, Diane Williams was born in Metairie, La., on Aug. 23, 1974. So Williams was shocked on Jan. 18 when, hours after she was released from a Houston jail on prostitution charges, immigration agents showed up at her apartment and arrested her, saying she was a deportable alien. "I had a copy of my birth certificate, but they said they didn't know if it was real or not," she said. On Feb. 9, she was deported to Honduras, where she spent nearly two months, Rushton said. Eventually, the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa issued Williams a temporary passport, after her mother sent documents proving her identity. On March 31, she flew back to New Orleans.
During the recent DOJ hearings on the AZ immigration laws, a Homeland security spokesperson said that there is no national database of who is and is not a citizen, and the only way to conclusively prove you are a citizen is through the passport registration system. The state department says that only about 117 million Americans have a passport--38% of America. So how do the other 64% (population of America=312 million) expect to be able to prove citizenship if stopped?
You don't understand. You don't necessarily have to actually have come here illegally oto be considered 'illegal'. All the governmeent has to do is suspect you of being illegal and YOU have to prove you aren't, while sitting in deportation. ICE and USCIS is not required to check on a person's claim to citizenship--you're guilty until you prove you aren't.
destiny, you seem to make a big deal of yourself and your americanism, all while bashing others who come to this country for a better life (apparently without bothering your insipid little brain about the differences between legal and illegal immigration), and then finally you make the bold statement that you are a third generation american. you punk newbie you. part of my american ancestry goes back to the late 1600's (1680, to be exact ), and i, for one, am glad that this country attracts people who want to live here in order to build better lives, for in doing so they help to build a better country.
Destiny...wow. Your posts remind me of some of the people I live near. I live in the South amid some wonderful people and some racist people who have a feeling of huge superiority just because they happened to be born in the US. They see anyone who isn't white, Christian, and Republican as inferior and are very angry that anyone who isn't like "them" should actually be allowed to live, work, and enjoy life here...and become a citizen? Oh no, not white or southern enough. WalMart wants to put a second Super Center and a neighborhood market here, and anyone who spoke out with the idea that local stores will end up closing and we already have a Walmart was told if you weren't born in THIS town you are foreign and have no right to even have a say in this issue.
So you can live here and pay taxes, but you can't say your opinion unless you were actually born in a particular town in this state. I can see you advocating that type of idea, along with the idea that only English should be spoken in the US. Guess you didn't see the Statue of Liberty? Take a look at the inscription on it. Guess what it doesn't say...it doesn't say only come here if you speak fluent English, and it doesn't say you have to have light skin or be rich, or even skilled. So you happen to have been born here...whoopsie to you. I was too, but that doesn't mean I am better than anyone else, smarter, or that I am the only American color or flavor. And yes, Mexico is part of North America. Your air of superiority is really not attractive in anyone...including someone who happened to be born here.
Destiny I would suggest you tell INS that they deported a NATIVE BORN citizen of Texas.
Destiny1945, don't smear everyone in a nationality - it's really bad for discussion.
You're suspended for a week for violating #5 of the Code of Honor.
Mr. Tyler; Well done, sir, well done indeed.
Well . I passed and I had a 1.55 GPA when i was in High School.. lol
That was 23 years ago also.. Not bad for a redneck construction worker id say. hehe
Name »
Flame777
Your Score »
70 out of 100 points
Answered Correctly »
14 Questions
Answered Incorrectly »
6 Questions
% Your Score »
70 %
Some of the ones I missed was common, 1774 instead of 76. But it is interesting that though the "waiting" list is long... it is fairly easy to become a American Citizen.
According to immagration Statistics:
The number of people granted lawful permanent residence in the United States in FY 2005 climbed 17.2 percent from FY 2004 levels to 1,122,373. This included 384,071 people newly arriving to the United States, and 738,302 adjusting from another type of immigration status.This is the highest number of new lawful permanent residents (LPRs) in a single year since FY 1991 when 1.8 million people gained LPR status.
The number of LPRs newly arriving to the United States increased just 3 percent over the 373,962 new arrivals in FY 2004, while the number of persons adjusting from another immigration status to permanent status increased 26 percent over the 583,921 status adjusters in FY 2004.The large increase in persons adjusting to LPR status is likely a result of efforts by USCIS to speed the processing of immigration applications in order to eliminate its backlog of applications that have been pending for more than six months.
I guess this is how I got an A+ in Con Law. Never really understood that.
Missed one! The senator term. I thought it was 4, but a long 6 years instead!
Honestly 6 years can seam like forever. I reenlisted one time for six, thought it would never end, after that I kept to 3 and 4 year hitches.
I scored 100%. The questions really were simple Civics 101. Who doesn't know this stuff? Please.
Actually lots of people don't know this stuff, and it frustrates me as much as it seems to frustrate you.
Most of the questions did seem simple and should have been common knowledge.
Lots of American don't know this stuffs. If you read the boards as long as I do, there are lots of people who are clueless in their comment when it comes to US history.
CuongDNguyen
Completely agree on the clueless theme... Did we all know that a drivers license was a Right, while the Right to bear arms was a privilege?
Oh and 95%. Chose the Senate as the line of succession vs the House.
I missed number of house members. I got the rest. I don't think it is particularly useful to put this test on here. Everybody did pretty well I'm sure for three simple reasons:
1. Access to a computer automatically screens out poor folks who may be less educated.
2. The kind of people who go to news sites are people who seek out knowledge.
3. Of those people, the ones who click on this story are the ones with an interest in politics and thus a good grasp of basic American history.
If I stopped some random guy on the street, odds are they might not do as well. I do know Americans who don't know why the flag has thirteen stripes.
Yes, passing with a score of 100% was easy, but making the question - who doesn't know this stuff underscores your age. If you graduated in my time (1979) you were probably still taught civics however, the version you were taught might have been the progressive version. That's the one where the founders were a bunch of evil dead white guy racists who were out to oppress everybody. It's also the same one that saw the US as an imperial conqueror in every single war it fought and all things bad that ever happened in the world were somehow traceable back to the US.
On the other hand, if you graduated from high school from about the 90s on, you probably didn't even have a civics class. Why bother with a civics class when the progressive hierarchy was more than amply able to tell you what you needed to know and think. Today, we are at that statist wonderland with the messiah at the helm. How's that hopey changey thingy working out for you?
Hey pw-777, where can I get one of these "progressive" high school civics books? The reality is that Texas is a major buyer of textbooks and has caused publishers to withdraw books that weren't conservative enough. What Texas gets is what most of the other states end up with as well. You're never going to see a textbook that says "the founders were a bunch of evil dead white guy racists" but you will see texts were information about evolution or global warming has be censored.
Lots of Americans don't know this stuff, but then, lots of Americans think ignorance is an accomplishment.
PW - Hopey changey is working out a lot better than the Despair and Embarassment if Sarah Palin was my vice-president, or god forbid my president. If that were the case, I would be studying for the Canadian Citizenship test.
I do sincerely hope that you were being sarcastic about the Privilege of driving and the RIGHT to Bear arms, trust_verify
CuongDNguyen
Completely agree on the clueless theme... Did we all know that a drivers license was a Right, while the Right to bear arms was a privilege?
Oh and 95%. Chose the Senate as the line of succession vs the House.
Scored a 95%, but then I do consider myself as a strict Conservative Constitutionalist rather than D or an R!
Doximon civics 101 was over 50 years ago. I still scored 95% and missed Vermont/New Hampshire
Dragon80,
PW - Hopey changey is working out a lot better than the Despair and Embarassment if Sarah Palin was my vice-president, or god forbid my president. If that were the case, I would be studying for the Canadian Citizenship test.
Gee after almost 4 years of National Dispair and Embarassment from this administration and gafts by Obummer (57 States)you have the gall to say anything about Sarah Palin?
Sure she wasn't the best public speaker especialy with no heads up to questions but just take a look at all the stupid answers the current Pres has made when he didn't have a speach written for him.
Further Sarah Palin was a governor of the largest state in this country and It was only one of the few operating in the black or surplus. Take a little time and check out her accomplishments in politics and then check out the community organizers acheivements before the Oval Office.
Happy Birthday to the United States of America
!
What you fail to say, or, more likely, as someone with an American so called "education" probably don't know, is that the total number of US states plus US territories is 57.
Sneak across the border and you will be taken care of without a test. lol
Henry-3041802 - No, I don't think the Canadians will take care of you if you sneak across the border, but good luck.
Skane2600, neither will the Mexicans! Just as a point of fact.
Yeah, you're right, Henry, but only if you're an illegal from Mexico. Apparently they're exempt from following laws because they've figured out how to break them long enough.
They're not but as long as employers here keep hiring them, they will come. Yet, the GOP opposes laws requiring employers to hire only those who reside here legally.
Wrong. We would like to have e-verify for all prospective employees. The Democrats are the ones stopping that.
18 out of 20. Missed president during WWI and year Constitution was written. This makes me wonder who the media interview when they report so many Americans not knowing this stuff.
The people who didn't pass aren't going to comment here. Who wants to say that they failed....and yes, I passed.
They interview all the young people who watch reality TV.
I would like to see the MSN staff take the test, I bet over half of them would fail...
Lisa...I guess I will be the first to admit it. I failed! oops
I got 100% on the test. I consider myself well-educated with a better than average knowledge of American history. Yet, I would have gotten some of the answers wrong if the test hadn't been provided as multiple choice. Not far wrong, maybe by a year here and there. So, I can understand how so many people, questioned at random, can't come up with the right answers.
Lisa: I took it hoping I would fail. Scored an 80 though. I don't really see why memorizing our history would make a better citizen. Many of our elected leaders are morally bankrupt. I would like to see where prospective citizens stand morally and ethically. Many of us would not pass this litmus either.
Also most average people who wont pass would never even read this article. I doubt to many completely uneducated people read things like these, you find those people on on the streets like they do on t.v.
I missed two - # of amendments - guessed between 23 and 27 - got it wrong... And the state not in the original 13 - I knew it was either Vermont or New Hamphire - Vermont was the 14th state, Kentucky was the 15th and Tennessee was the 16th. Actually I take this test annually..I find it interesting. Most in my office would be lucky to get 50% correct.. I believe that most in the US could not get 70% correct - even with mutiple choice which gives you a 1 in 4 chance to guess correctly. It was fun! Next year...I'll get them all.
I had no idea that Georgia was one of the original 13 colonies.
Easy you should know the 24th amendment it is rather important look it up.
My apologies to New Hampshire. I missed the question. I knew it had to be New Hampshire or Vermont and I chose Vermont and her Green Mountain Boys.
I missed that one too. Actually, they give you the answers at the end, if you scroll down. The correct answer was Delaware, which I never would have gotten.
WTF are you smoking Mike from AZ? Delaware was the FIRST state. And you read that at the bottom of the test? You guys always complain about the illegals crossing the border down there, but you obviously like the illegal green stuff making it's way up from Mexico.
Hey Rose, Vermont was the correct answer. I too chose New Hampshire and it was marked as wrong.
Uh Canemah...she said she "missed the question" and "she chose Vermont". I think she gets it. You dipping into Mike's stash too?
New Hampshire and Vermont were one colony at the time of the revolution which is why most of us missed it. Nowif you watched How the states got their shapes on the History channel they explained the split. I just forgot What the name of the colony was at the time of the revolution.
Most people on here pass....but that is why we are posting. We actually pay attention to the news. Bet if you asked the average Joe on the street, you would get different results.
Missed 2 -- # of amendments and guessed New Hampshire instead of Vermont.
I'm going to guess that most people who did well on this probably took their history/government/civics classes many years ago.
You are correct.
I missed 1. I wasn't sure who became President if the Vice-President died too. I'm from Vermont, though, so kind of had an edge on that one.
See you never lived through a presidential assasination for three days they kept telling us the US line of succession. It got drilled into our brain. Thank You Chet and David.
Ok, I'll give, I failed! Ten wrong, ten right. Oh well, does honesty count?
Yes just me honesty dores still count! Thanks for your forthrightness. Next time, I give odds you will do better. Best regards! PS. oh yes, I got all 22 right!
no, learn your history!
YES!!!!!!!! Those of us that didn't ace it can at least say we could read and comprehend the questions which is more than I can say for a lot of people!!!
Doesnt matter - the country outlined in the constitution is not the country we live in today. What people are told to remember is not what we actually have.
Blah blah blah.
I missed 2- who was president during WWI, and number of years between senatorial elections. I chose 4 instead of 6. And I am 55 years old; graduated HS in 1974. Didn't think I would do this well!
I passed. I missed one- the one about whom becomes the leader in the event the president and the vp fall out. All be it I nearly missed the Susan B. Anthony one- till I remembered Betty Ross. LOL guess im getting old. And BTW, I am a 48 yr. old master mechanic, with a minor in both American History and Philosophy. Goes to show, none of us can remember every thing. I bet most kids of today would fail this test, not that they are stupid- just uneducated and/or do not care. Happy 4th. :)
I can't forget Betsy Ross that was my girlfriends name. Can you imagine the look on the cops face the time he stopped her?
Passed with an 80, missed 3 for not thinking and that Vermont/New Hampshire one, which was rough!
If these were "some of the more difficult" questions, as indicated in the text before the quiz, what are the easier ones? Yes, I got all of them correct and only had to think for a minute on one -- others just were there. Admittedly, I'm a trivia buff, but the only answer that would have been changed since I passed my (state-required to pass 7th grade) US Constitution test more than 45 years ago was the number of amendments to the Constitution.
Easy questions on the citizenship test:
What are the colors of the American Flag?
How many stars are on the flag?
What do the stars mean?
Who is the current president of the United states?
Who is the current vice president of the United States?
Where is the capital of the United States?
Stuff like that. Those are the easy ones.
Oh, and another note--if you are over the age of 65, there is a 'simpler test' with half the number of questions and you have the option of taking it orally, as in someone asking you the questions, written, or computer.
The hard part? Coming up with the $595 plus $85 fingerprint fee just to file the application to take the test. And waiting for them to approve the application. And then waiting after you take the test for them to schedule the exam. I saw an article earlier this week where a 102 year old man named Guzman finally got to take the Oath of Citizenship and he decribed it as the best day of his life.
The day I was finally allowed to take the Oath of Citizenship was the best day of my life until then; after hree years of being punished for calling myself an American, I was finally allowed to claim being American without fear of reprisal. It was the best day of my life--until years later, when I met and married my husband, and then later when my first son was born, and then eleven months later when my second son was born. Now I just focus on them and staying out of trouble so my naturalization won't be revoked and I find myself back in deportation.
(I was adopted as an infant, not told before my parents died in a car accident, then when USCIS lost my adoption paper and I couldn't give them a copy they placed me in deportation for three years until I found it. Those three years were the worst of my life. Prison would have been better than deportation.)
Even we Aussies can answer most of these questions. I got 70%.
That is because Aussies and Americans bleed and die with one another bud:)
Actually I think it is because Aussies take education seriously, while in this country it is a case of pushing the kids along so they won't feel bad and everybody gets a trophy for participating. I can't wait for the day that all those helicopter parents run out of gas in their helicopter.
Amanda, I have always enjoyed reading your intelligent and well-written posts. I thank you for sharing your story with us:)
Amanda try this besides the stars and the stripes what do the colors of the flag stand for?
So I decdied to take a look at that and ended up sadly with some mistakes that I kick myself for not remembering. From just memory I did manage to come out with 9/20 correct. Looking at a couple of things after seeing the correct answer I feel like I should have actually remembered.
All in all I would have to say that I think some of these new citizes likely know more about our country than we do unless of course we major in History or US History. :)
I barely passed LOL i got 70%...
the ones i missed were the ones like, which president it was during WWI a, which state wasnt part of the original 13 (New Hampshire vs Vermont), and succession of the President thing (I chose Secretary of Defense)...
But I got everything else - I was pretty surprised I remembered them from Government class in High school. My grandmother passed the citizenship test, like 20 or 30 years ago? She barely knew English at the time she took it; she speaks Korean and some Japanese (Japanese because of the whole Japan taking over Korea bit).
In Government class, my teacher passed out a paper with 100 questions pertaining to the citizenship test and no one in class passed LOL (I'm quite worried about my generation and the upcoming generation, oh dear)
In all honesty though, who would know the 8 or 9 people after the VP in the succession list?
I only knew the next in line of succession because when Ms. Pelosi was sworn in as Speaker it was the closest a woman has ever been to the Presidency.
Well, unless you count Hilary...
For me, the next in line question was easy. I'll never forget Al Haig's wacky quote:
http://www.inthe80s.com/quotes.shtml
You will know how much I love America, the greatest!: I passed with 70% and I haven't yet studied for the citizenship test!!
70% I got 95%. People are always commenting about government and the constitution and know the bear minimum about it or our country.
80% not bad for a Canadian.
It's a shame that Civics is no longer taught to our children in school. Somehow, it is viewed as being too political, rather than essential information for being a good citizen. This kind of information may or may not be covered in history classes, but even if it is, we still need a good grounding for our kids to learn how our government is SUPPOSED to work. I don't believe they wouldn't do well on this test because they don't care. Who of us understood world events enough as young kids/teenagers to really engage with what was happening in lands far removed from our lives? Yes, it would be helpful if our children were interested in watching the news each evening (and I mean the NEWS--not the political pundits on various cable channels!), but world events are pretty esoteric to them if there isn't some sort of grounding context for them to understand what they are hearing/seeing. Oh, by the way, I answered all the questions correctly, but looking at the comments, it looks as though that those of us who did so had civics and government classes in school. It makes a difference!
Civics isn't a NCLB test. There are pretty much no social sciences on the NCLB test because civics and social sciences teach "higher order thinking skills," which as Texas tells us, is just a tricky way to get children to question what their parents tell them and to rebel.
You can thank Texas for taking Thomas Jefferson out of the history books (which is why the children would have gotten the Declaration of Independence wrong) and for manipulating other historical facts that aren't convenient (like how many founding fathers were in no way "Christian" according to the current definition).
The children today are being taught, in part, inaccuracies. Again, you can thank the textbook publishers catering to Texas, though Texas has stopped buying textbooks for the most part because the publishers won't flatly lie, and so Texas is probably going to start creating its own curriculum. Don't blame the children for learning what they are taught.
When I talk about my 9th grade civics class my kids look at me like what the heck are you talking about!!! Had to explain what "civics class" was, then they understood the kind of thing I was talking about, sort of.
When an immigrant joins us legally, they posess a firm understanding of our history. The history that shapes the nation that we are. I wonder what type a score these illegal aliens who storm our borders would get on this test.
Civics? Is that about Hondas?
Hi,
I'm a 16 year old from Los Angeles. I scored a 100%. I would like to mention I go to a private school where things like these are highlighted in our curriculum. Even though I got a 100% I doubt most of my classmates would. My highschool is small so once I asked about half of them if they new the vice presidents name, 50% had no clue, and 25% thought it was either Dick Cheney or Sarah Palin. Only about 25% new it was Joe Biden, and some of these people were straight A honor roll students getting it wrong.
I graduated in 1979 and made a 100 . You folks need to learn more about your own country ! Nyah ! Nyah ! Nyah !
Hey...me, too, on both counts!
My brother, who graduated in '76 scored a 95...
I guess the last class of the Seventies was a classic example of "saving the best for last"!
Aren't we glad we "know things"...I admit, I missed Vermont...was trying to look at the map of the thirteen colonies that was in my old textbook stored somewhere in my long term memory...I'm 62. My adult kids, both of whom are pretty smart, I think, daughter college graduate, son owns his own business and is pretty well-read...think I'll spring this on them tomorrow when they visit us for the 4th...see if they're as "smart" as their old mother...as for their old father, he scored 100%, and he became a citizen in 1956!
Sue you missed that because both were actually part of the thirteen colonies it was one and they split after the revolution.