Are you smart enough to be a U.S. citizen? Take this quiz and find out

David Keyes

| July 28, 2008 9:00 PM

Just in time for the Fourth of July holiday, comes the new game show “Are You Smart Enough to be An American Citizen?”

Based loosely on the show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?”, the folks at MSNBC have selected questions from the U.S. citizenship test.

To be fair, the real test is an interview, not multiple choice, and my guess is most people taking the citizenship test didn’t take U.S. history growing up and speak English as a second (or third?) language.

So anything less that 100 percent means you might want to brush up on your history on this holiday. Circle the right answer. Go out and buy more newspapers so the rest of your family and friends can compete:

1. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

• George Washington

• Thomas Jefferson

• James Madison

• John Hancock

2. When was the Constitution written?

• 1774

• 1776

• 1787

• 1865

3. What are the first words of the Constitution?

• When, in the course of human events

• In order to form a more perfect Union

• To whom it may concern

• We the People

4. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?

• The Preamble

• The Bill of Rights

• The Statute of Liberty

• Declaration of Independence

5. Which of the following is NOT a right outlined in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence?

• Life

• Liberty

• Right to bear arms

• Pursuit of Happiness

6. Which one of these is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment?

• Freedom of the press

• Right to trial by jury

• Right to bear arms

• Right to happiness

7. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

• 10

• 17

• 23

• 27

8. Why does the United States flag have 13 stripes?

• One for each state in the Union

• The number of seats in the Cabinet

• They represent the 13 original colonies

• One for each article of the Constitution

• 9. Which of these was NOT among the original states?

• New Hampshire

• New York

• Delaware

• Maine

10. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?

• Louisiana

• Vermont

• Alaska

• Maine

11. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. Which of the following is NOT a federal power?

• To declare war

• To print money

• To declare treaties

• To provide education

12. Which of the following is NOT one of the three branches of the government?

• Federal

• Judicial

• Executive

• Legislative

13. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?

• 100

• 365

• 435

• 646

14. We elect a U.S. senator for how many years?

• 2

• 4

• 6

• 8

15. In what month do we vote for president?

• January

• February

• September

• November

16. If both the president and vice president can no longer serve, who becomes president?

• Secretary of State

• Secretary of Defense

• The Speaker of the House

• President Pro Tempore of the Senate

17. Who was president during World War I?

• Theodore Roosevelt

• Warren G. Harding

• Franklin Roosevelt

• Woodrow Wilson

18. How many justices are there on the U.S. Supreme Court?

• 3

• 5

• 7

• 9

19. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States?

• John Paul Stevens

• John G. Roberts Jr.

• Antonin Scalia

• Samuel Alito

20. What did Susan B. Anthony do?

• Hid John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln

• Designed and made the original U.S. flag

• Designed the original U.S. currency

• Fought for women’s rights

Just so you know, the publisher of the local paper scored a perfect 20 of 20. I won’t waste paper and ink by writing the answers here but if you took a few guesses, look up the answers and learn a little bit more about history.

Also, if you were to put together a game show called “Are You Smart Enough To Be A Bonner County Resident?” what would some of the questions be?

One might be: “Please explain what goes on at the Colburn Mall?”

E-mail me the questions at: dkeyes@bonnercountydailybee.com or call me at 263-9534.

n David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee.