U.S. Citizenship Quiz
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DIRECTIONS.
Below are the questions and the possible correct answers designated
with '>'. From this list only some will be selected. The question will be
identical to that in the text below, but the answer choices will
be placed into a multiple-choice format:
A: Select this if it is the only correct answer as listed below
B: Select this if it is the only correct answer as listed below
C: Select this if both A & B above are listed as correct
D: Select if neither A or B are correct
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
Principles of American Democracy
1. Name one important
idea found in the Declaration of Independence.
>People are born with natural rights.
>The power of government comes from the people.
>The people can change their government if it hurts their
natural rights.
>All people are created equal.
2. What is the supreme law of the land? *
>The Constitution
3. What does the Constitution do?
>It sets up the government.
>It protects basic rights of Americans.
4. What does “We the People” mean in the Constitution?
>The power of government comes from the people.
5. What do we call changes to the Constitution?
>Amendments
6. What is an amendment?
>It is a change to the Constitution.
7. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
>The Bill of Rights
8. Name one right or freedom from the First Amendment. *
>Speech
>Religion
>Assembly
>Press
>Petition the government
9. How many amendments does the Constitution have?
>Twenty-seven (27)
10. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
>Announce the independence of the United States from Great
Britain
>Say that the U.S. is free from Great Britain
11. What does freedom of religion mean?
>You can practice any religion you want, or not practice at
all.
12. What type of economic system does the U.S. have?
>Capitalist economy
>Free market
>Market economy
B: System of Government
13. What are the
three branches or parts of the government?
>Executive, legislative, and judicial
>Congress, the President, the courts
14. Name one branch or part of the government.
>Congress
>Legislative
>President
>Executive
>The courts
>Judicial
15. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
>The President
16. Who makes federal laws?
>Congress
>The Senate and House (of Representatives)
>The (U.S. or national) legislature
17. What are the two parts of the United States Congress?
>The Senate and House (of Representatives)
18. How many United States Senators are there?
>100
19. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years? *
>Six (6)
20. Omitted
21. How many U.S. Senators does each state have?
>Two (2)
22. Omitted
23. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
>Two (2)
24. Who does a U.S. Senator represent?
>All people of the state
25. Who does a U.S. Representative represent?
>All people of the district
26. What decides each state’s number of U.S. Representatives?
>The state’s population
27. How is each
state’s number of Representatives decided?
>The state’s population
28. Why do we have three branches of government? *
>So no branch is too powerful
29. Name one example of checks and balances.
>The President vetoes a bill.
>Congress can confirm or not confirm a President’s nomination.
>Congress approves the President’s budget.
>The Supreme Court strikes down a law.
30. We elect a President for how many years?
>Four (4) years
31. How old must a President be?
>Thirty-five (35) or older
>At least thirty-five (35)
32. To become President of the United States, what must the person
be at birth?
>A citizen
33. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
>The Vice President
34. Who becomes President if both the President and the Vice
President can no longer serve?
>The Speaker of the House
35. Who is the Commander-in-Chief of the military?
>The President
36. How many full terms can a President serve?
>Two (2)
37. Who signs bills to become laws?
>The President
38. Who vetoes bills?
>The President
39. What is a veto?
>The President refuses to sign a bill passed by Congress.
>The President says no to a bill.
>The President rejects a bill.
40. What does the President’s Cabinet do? *
>Advises the President
41. Name two Cabinet-level positions.
>Secretary of Agriculture
>Secretary of Commerce
>Secretary of Defense
>Secretary of Education
>Secretary of Energy
>Secretary of Health and Human Services
>Secretary of Homeland Security
>Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
>Secretary of Interior
>Secretary of State
>Secretary of Transportation
>Secretary of Treasury
>Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs
>Attorney General
>Secretary of Labor
42. What Cabinet-level agency advises the President on foreign
policy?
>The State Department
43. What does the judicial branch do? *
>Reviews and explains laws
>Resolves disputes between parties
>Decides if a law goes against the Constitution
44. Who confirms Supreme Court justices?
>The Senate
45. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
>Nine (9)
46. Who nominates justices to the Supreme Court?
>The President
47. Name one thing only the federal government can do.
>Print money
>Declare war
>Create an army
>Make treaties
48. What is one thing a state government can do?
>Provide schooling and education
>Provide protection (police)
>Provide safety (fire departments)
>Give a driver’s license
>Approve zoning and land use
49. What does it mean that the U.S. Constitution is a constitution
of limited powers?
>The federal government has only the powers that the
Constitution states that it has.
>The states have all powers that the federal government does
not.
50. What are the two major political parties in the U.S. today?
>Democrats and Republicans
51. What is the highest court in the U.S.?
>The Supreme Court
52. In what month are general presidential elections held in the
United States?
>November
53. When must all males register for the Selective Service?
>At age 18
>At 18
C: Rule of Law
54. What is
self-government?
A: Powers come from the people.
A: Government responds to the people.
55. Who governs the people in a self-governed country?
A: The people govern themselves.
A: The government elected by the people.
56. What is the “rule of law”?
A: Everyone must obey the law.
A: Leaders must obey the law.
A: Government must obey the law.
57. What are “inalienable rights”?
>Individual rights that people are born with
D: Rights and Responsibilities
58. There are four
amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of
them.
>Any citizen over 18 can vote.
>A citizen of any race can vote.
>Any male or female citizen can vote. (Women and men can
vote.)
>You don’t have to pay to vote. (You don’t have to pay a poll
tax to vote.)
59. Name one responsibility that is only for United States citizens.
>Vote
>Serve on a jury
60. Name two rights that are only for United States citizens.
>The right to apply for a federal job
>The right to vote
>The right to run for office
>The right to carry a U.S. passport
61. Name two rights of everyone living in the U.S.
>Freedom of expression
>Freedom of speech
>Freedom of assembly
>Freedom to petition the government
>Freedom of worship
>The right to bear arms
62. What is the Pledge of Allegiance?
>The promise of loyalty to the flag and the nation
63. Name one promise you make when you say the Oath of Allegiance.
>To give up loyalty to other countries (I give up loyalty to
my [old][first][other] country.)
>To defend the Constitution and laws of the United States
>To obey the laws of the United States
>To serve in the United States military if needed (To fight
for the United States [if needed].)
>To serve the nation if needed (To do important work for the
United States [if needed].)
>To be loyal to the United States
64. Who can vote in the U.S. presidential elections?
>All citizens 18 years of age and older
>All registered citizens 18 years of age and older
65. Name two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy.
>Vote
>Join a political party
>Help out with a campaign
>Join a civic group
>Join a community group
>Tell an elected official your opinion on an issue.
>Call your Senators and Representatives
>Publicly support or oppose an issue or policy
>Run for office
>Write to a newspaper
66. When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?
>April 15
67. Name two of the natural, or inalienable, rights in the
Declaration of Independence.
>Life
>Liberty
>The pursuit of happiness
AMERICAN HISTORY: A: Colonial and
Independence
68. Who wrote the
Declaration of Independence?
>Thomas Jefferson
69. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
>July 4, 1776
70. Name one reason why the colonists came to America?
>Freedom
>Political liberty
>Religious freedom
>Economic opportunity
>To practice their religion
>To escape persecution
71. What happened at the Constitutional Convention? *
>The Constitution was written.
>The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution.
72. Why did the colonists fight the British?
>They had to pay high taxes but did not have any say about it.
(Taxation without representation.)
>The British army stayed in their houses. (boarding,
quartering)
>The British denied the colonists self-government.
73. When was the Constitution drafted?
A: 1787
74. There are 13 original states. Name three.
>Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, and Virginia.
75. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
>Africans
>People from Africa
76. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
>The Native Americans
>American Indians
77. Where did most of America’s colonists come from before the
Revolution? *
>Europe
78. Why were the colonists upset with the British government?
>Stamp Act
>They had to pay high taxes but did not have any say about it.
(Taxation without representation.)
>The British army stayed in their houses. (boarding,
quartering)
>Intolerable Acts
79. Name one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for.
>U.S. diplomat
>Oldest member of the Constitutional Convention
>First Postmaster General of the United States
>Writer of “Poor Richard’s Almanac”
80. Who is called the “Father of Our Country”?
>George Washington
81. Who was the first President?
>George Washington
82. Name one of the writers of the Federalist Papers? *
>James Madison
>Alexander Hamilton
>John Jay
>Publius
83. What group of essays supported passage of the U.S. Constitution?
>The Federalist Papers
B: 1800s
84. Name one war
fought by the United States in the 1800s. *
>War of 1812, Mexican American War, Civil War, or
Spanish-American War.
85. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
>The Louisiana Territory
>Louisiana
86. What country sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States?
>France
87. In 1803, the United States bought a large amount of land from
France. Where was that land?
>West of the Mississippi
>The Western U.S.
>The Louisiana Territory
88. Name one of the things that Abraham Lincoln did.
>Saved (or preserved) the Union.
>Helped free the slaves
>Led the U.S. during the Civil War.
89. Name the U.S. war between the North and the South. *
>The Civil War
90. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
>Slavery
>Economic reasons
>States’ rights
91. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
>Freed slaves in the Confederacy
>Freed slaves in the Confederate states
>Freed slaves in most Southern states
92. What did the abolitionists try to end before the Civil War?
>Slavery
93. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
>She fought for women’s rights.
C: Recent American History and Other Important Historical
Information
94. Name one war
fought by the United States in the 1900s.
>World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, or Gulf
(or Persian Gulf) War
95. Who was President during World War I?
>Woodrow Wilson
96. The United States fought Japan, Germany, and Italy during which
war?
>World War II
97. What was the main concern of the United States during the Cold
War?
>The spread of communism
>The Soviet Union [USSR and Russia are also acceptable.]
98. What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United
States?
>Terrorists attacked The United States.
99. What international organization was established after World War
II (WWII) to keep the world at peace?
>The United Nations
100. What alliance of North America and European countries was
created during the Cold War?
>NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
101. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
*
>Franklin Roosevelt
102. Which U.S. World War II general later became President?
>Dwight Eisenhower
103. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream for America. What was his
dream?
>Equality for all Americans
>Civil rights for all
104. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
>The civil rights movement
105. Name one of the major American Indian tribes in the United
States.
>Cherokee, Seminoles, Creek, Choctaw, Arawak, Iroquois,
Shawnee, Mohegan, Chippewa, Huron, Oneida, Sioux, Cheyenne, Lakotas,
Crows, Blackfeet, Teton, Navajo, Apaches, Pueblo, Hopi, Inuit
[Adjudicators will be supplied with a complete list.]
INTEGRATED CIVICS: Geography
106. Name one of the
two longest rivers in the United States.
>The Missouri River
>The Mississippi River
107. What ocean is on the west coast of the United States?
>The Pacific Ocean
108. What country is on the northern border of the United States?
>Canada
109. Where is the Grand Canyon?
>Arizona
110. What country is on the southern border of the United States?
A: Mexico
111. Name one large mountain range in the United States.
>The Rocky Mountains
>The Appalachians
>The Sierra Nevada
>The Cascades
112. What is the tallest mountain in the United States?
>Mt. McKinley
113. Name one U.S.
territory.
>American Samoa
>The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands
>Guam
>Puerto Rico
>U.S. Virgin Islands
114. Name one state that borders Canada. *
>Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New
Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, or
Washington
115. Name one state that borders on Mexico.
>Arizona, California, New Mexico, or Texas
116. What is the capital of the U.S.?
>Washington, D.C.
B: Symbols
117. Why does the
flag have 13 stripes?
>Because there were 13 original colonies
>Because the stripes represent the original colonies
118. Why does the flag have 50 stars?
>There is one star for each state.
119. What is the name of the National Anthem?
>The “Star-Spangled Banner”
C: Holidays
120. On the Fourth of
July we celebrate independence from what country?
>Great Britain
121. When do we
celebrate Independence Day?
>July 4
122. Name two national U.S. holidays.
>New Year’s Day
>Martin Luther King Day
>Presidents’ Day
>Memorial Day
>Independence Day
>Labor Day
>Columbus Day
>Veterans Day
>Thanksgiving
>Christmas