Test your Americanism for the Fourth
To become a naturalized American, an applicant must meet certain criteria. He or she must be at least 18 and to have lived in the country a minimum of five years as a permanent resident (three if married to an American).
There’s an application to be filled out and a fee to be paid. There’s fingerprinting, followed by an FBI background check. There’s an English language competency test and a second quiz consisting of questions drawn from American history and civics.
The government doesn’t care about basic math skills or a familiarity with science, the geography of New York City, the life and times of Little Richard, the who, what and where of “Seinfeld,” college basketball bracketology, the lyrical mysteries of “Louie Louie,” or a host of other things a new American might find useful to know.
The government does care, however, whether or not a wanna-be American knows the first three words of the Constitution: “We the people.”
On the eve of July 4, 2022, of the independence of the United States the year 246, here are some of the 100 questions those seeking to live in this (currently) crazy country are told to study and learn (in anticipation of answering six of 10 questions thrown their way by an officer of the Customs and Immigration Services).
I have not included the answers. If you don’t know the answers (1) shame on you and (2) look them up.
So, we’re off. First is the American Government category of the test:
What is the supreme law of the land? What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment of the Constitution? (Hint: there are five.) How many constitutional amendments are there?
To continue: What did the Declaration of Independence do? What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence? (There are three.)
Also: What is freedom of religion? What is the economic system in the United States? What is the rule of law? (OMG, entire books and doctoral dissertations have been written on these three topics.)
Let’s move on to the System of Government category:
Name one branch of the federal government. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful? (A trick question, no doubt.) How many senators and members of the House of Representatives are there?
Here are more: Why do some states have more representatives than other states? (The answer is not gerrymandering.) If both the president and vice president can no longer serve, who becomes president?
Still more System of Government questions: What does the judicial branch do? (What doesn’t it do?) What is the highest court in the land? (A good but wrong answer would be the court of public opinion.) Under the Constitution, what is one power of the states? (Gee whiz, do we really want to get into that?)
The naturalization test contains a section on Rights and Responsibilities. Some questions:
There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them. What is one responsibility that is only for U.S. citizens? Name one right only for U.S. citizens. What are two rights of everyone living in the U.S.? What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy? (I’ll give you one of 10 possible answers – write to a newspaper.)
The American History part of the quiz contains 20 questions. Here are six of the 20:
What is one reason colonists came to America? (Comedian Flip Wilson, channelling Christopher Columbus, joked “To discover Ray Charles.”) Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived? Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? Name one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for? Name one war fought by the U.S. in the 1800s. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
The recent American History part of the quiz poses these questions, among others:
Who was president during World War I? World War II? Who did the U.S. fight in World War II? What war was President Eisenhower a general in? During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the U.S.? What movement tried to end discrimination? Name one Indian tribe in the United States.
Finally, there’s a Geography section:
Name one U.S. territory. What is one state that borders Canada? Mexico? Name one of the two longest rivers in the U.S. What ocean is on the West Coast of the U.S.? On the East Coast? What is the capital of the U.S.? Where is the Statue of Liberty located?
There you have it. Did you pass?
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown. He can be reached at dick.l.robbins@gmail.com.