Thomas Jefferson – chief author of the Declaration of Independence we celebrate tomorrow – had a lot to say about an informed electorate. On one occasion, he wrote: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
On another occasion: “The information of the people at large can alone make them the safe as they are the sole depositary of our political and religious freedom.”
Native-born Americans can, if they choose, remain ignorant as stumps about their government. Maybe that’s a luxury of living in a country that enjoys political stability unheard of in many parts of the world.
But what a dubious perk if ignorance keeps Americans marginalized on the periphery of civic life. They cannot hope to hold government accountable from that vantage point.
This week, more than 6,000 immigrants will become citizens. They have demonstrated a grasp of U.S. history and government that sadly eludes many Americans for whom citizenship is a birthright, not a privilege.
Here are a few question from the citizenship test that naturalized citizens must pass. Test your own knowledge and see how “free” you really are.
1. What is the supreme law of the land?
2. Who is one of your state’s U.S. senators now?
3. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
4. If both the president and the vice president can no longer serve, who becomes president?
5. Who is the chief justice of the United States now?
6. Name one U.S. territory.
7. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
8. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
9. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
10. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
11. Who was president during World War I?
12. Why does the flag have 13 stripes? ANSWERS:
1. The U.S. Constitution.
2. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray
3. We the people
4. Speaker of the House
5. John Roberts
6. Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands
7. Election officials cannot charge a poll tax, citizens 18 years of age and older can vote, a male citizen of any race can vote, any citizen of either gender can vote
8. Slavery, states’ rights, the economy
9. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Publius
10. Fought for women’s and civil rights
11. Woodrow Wilson
12. For the 13 original colonies.
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