Letters to the Editor
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Other things Franklin is known for...
I wonder what would have happened to you had you said that Franklin is notable for saying "those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither"???? Rendition?
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I was once asked by TV news 'Who the statue of Liberty is?'
Naturally my answer was 'Liberty, it's the statue OF Liberty'. But that's actually the wrong answer. It's "Columbia". Ok exile me, it's no so great living here anyway, I don't care.
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# of Amendments
What's the relavence of the number of amendments in the now-defunct Constitution, anyway (only one provision remains, the right to carry a gun), Or Ben Franklin? They are so "pre9/11".
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When my mom took the citizenship test
. . .she was really nervous (didn't speak English well), and she bumbled a couple of questions. So, being a history buff, she told the guy that she was good at history.
His question in response? "When is Columbus Day?"
Yeah, this is the kind of stuff you need to know to become a citizen.
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credentials
Tim--Who cares who you studied under or where you went to law school? George Bush went to Yale and Harvard Business School. Does that make him bright? We know the answer there.
Why don't you say that you are "an educated American" or are you that insecure?
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No child left behind
For what it's worth, when you prepare to take the Naturalization exam, they give you a list of all the questions and all the answers. One need only memorize those five facts about Franklin.
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What if...
I don't actually have a representative? Would I still pass? Or are residents of DC not actually citizens anyway (or at least not ones who count) so what does it matter? Sorry, clearly still bitter.
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You passed the test
It would be extremely unlikely that a random sample of 10 questions out of 100 would include all 4 of the questions you missed. Even if it did, you would still pass the test. And if you didn't pass you could re-take the test. The fact that they publicize the questions shows that the test isn't supposed to assess the prospective citizens knowledge of the U.S., it is supposed to encourage them to learn how our political system works. It may not be important that there are 27 amendments, but it is important to know that there aren't 500, which would imply that the Constitution was frequently amended.
In all honesty, I think that we would be better off as a nation if we required all American's to pass the citizenship test before they could vote. Yes, I know we can't do this because some idiots used tests to reduce minority voting in the past, but it would still be a good idea if it were applied to everybody, not just minorities. Anybody who can't identify what congress is should not be allowed to vote for a congressperson.
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thanks Tim
I found this exercise, your account of it, to be very refreshing. We, collectively, have lost touch with what it means to be good citizens, I feel. This little exercise really says quite a lot, doesn't it?
Happy Friday, and thanks for uplift
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Regarding Questions 70 and 73
Let's take Question 73 first -- "Name the U.S. war between the North and the South." The two answers listed as acceptable are "the Civil War," and "the War between the States." There are at least a couple other choices that I've heard over the years -- probably the most memorable being "the War of Northern Aggression."
Now, since questions and answers are given ahead of time for prospective citizens to study, there's little reason to fail the test -- but no doubt some rabid fans of the Confederacy would dispute the given answers as the ONLY acceptable ones!
Now, for Question 70 -- George Washington WAS the first President of the United States under terms of the U.S. Constitution, but John Hanson of Maryland could legitimately be considered the REAL "first President of the United States," having served in the office of President of the Continental Congress during 1781-1782 under the Articles of Confederation which preceded the Constitution. Yes, that's little-known trivia, but it IS true.
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Question 23
The right answer for question 23, "name your representative" should be, "No one". If this is a test to opt for citizenship, it means that the person taking it is not a citizen yet. Therefore this person doesn't have the right to vote. If the respondents can't vote, How could they have Representatives in Congress?
Somehow I doubt that "no one" is the "officially acceptable answer" to Question 23, but it should.
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All the questions?
Is there somewhere I can find all 100 of the questions posted?
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Voting test
@jebldmm,
I've often thought the same thing, except that our final score would weight the value of our votes. So no one fails, but those who put the effort into understanding our government would have more say in how it operates. Those who elect to not take the test start out with a fixed weight of, say, 1 while those who take the test have the opportunity to add a multiplier percentage.
As it is now, my vote can be exactly canceled by the worst sort of ignorant person who votes based on fear and false propaganda. It is entirely conceivable that democracy can reach a tipping point where the most corrupt and power-hungry win by entirely legitimate yet conniving means, and then change the rules to keep themselves in power. The past six years were a pretty good sample of that sort of behavior.
Of course, the big contention with voting tests is who gets to write and score the test itself, but that should be a public process and less subject to outright manipulation that the current (flawed) voting system itself.
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NCLB -- No Citizen Left Behind?
SIX out of TEN is a passing grade -- on what is essentially an open-book test? Good grief -- here in Ohio, each school achievement test requires 75% correct for passage. 60% is a pretty low bar.
Now, to answer "debpet", here is a link to the entire test:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf
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@jebldmm
I think that we would be better off as a nation if we required all American's to pass the citizenship test before they could vote. Yes, I know...
Theoretically, kids start learning these things in elementary school. How appalling is it that they don't? School children should recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, but heaven forbid they should know anything about civics. We don't have a draft or any form of national service but we ought to have some common set of historical knowledge that binds us together.
But on a more specific and less rant-y note, they should pass out little booklets with these questions and answers while you're waiting in line to vote. It passes the time, you can hold quiz-offs with your fellow citizens in line (and build comraderie) and pick up a little knowledge. Neato!