1. What is the supreme law of the land?
▪ the Constitution

2. What does the Constitution do?
▪ sets up the government
▪ defines the government
▪ protects basic rights of Americans

3. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
▪ We the People

4. What is an amendment?
▪ a change (to the Constitution)
▪ an addition (to the Constitution)

5. What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
▪ the Bill of Rights

6. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?*
▪ speech
▪ religion
▪ assembly
▪ press
▪ petition the government

7. How many amendments does the Constitution have?
▪ twenty-seven (27)

8. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
▪ announced our independence (from Great Britain)
▪ declared our independence (from Great Britain)
▪ said that the United States is free (from Great Britain)

9. What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
▪ life
▪ liberty
▪ pursuit of happiness

10. What is freedom of religion?
▪ You can practice any religion, or not practice a religion.

11. What is the economic system in the United States?*
▪ capitalist economy
▪ market economy

12. What is the “rule of law”?
▪ Everyone must follow the law.
▪ Leaders must obey the law.
▪ Government must obey the law.
▪ No one is above the law.

13. Name one branch or part of the government.*
▪ Congress
▪ legislative
▪ President
▪ executive
▪ the courts
▪ judicial

14. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
▪ checks and balances
▪ separation of powers

15. Who is in charge of the executive branch?
▪ the President

16. Who makes federal laws?
▪ Congress
▪ Senate and House (of Representatives)
▪ (U.S. or national) legislature

17. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?*
▪ the Senate and House (of Representatives)

18. How many U.S. Senators are there?
▪ one hundred (100)

19. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
▪ six (6)

20. Who is one of your state’s U.S. Senators now?*
▪Su respuesta depende de su lugar de residencia

21. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
▪ four hundred thirty-five (435)

22. We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
▪ two (2)

23. Name your U.S. Representative.
▪Depende de su lugar de residencia

24. Who does a U.S. Senator represent?
▪ all people of the state

25. Why do some states have more Representatives than other states?
▪ (because of) the state’s population
▪ (because) they have more people
▪ (because) some states have more people

26. We elect a President for how many years?
▪ four (4)

27. In what month do we vote for President?*
▪ November

28. What is the name of the President of the United States now?*
▪ Barack Obama
▪ Obama

29. What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now?
▪ Joseph Biden
▪ Joe Biden
▪ Biden

30. If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
▪ the Vice President

31. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
▪ the Speaker of the House

32. Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?
▪ the President

33. Who signs bills to become laws?
▪ the President

34. Who vetoes bills?
▪ the President

35. What does the President’s Cabinet do?
▪ advises the President

36. What are 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 the Interior
▪ Secretary of Labor
▪ Secretary of State
▪ Secretary of Transportation
▪ Secretary of the Treasury
▪ Secretary of Veterans Affairs
▪ Attorney General
▪ Vice President

37. What does the judicial branch do?
▪ reviews laws
▪ explains laws
▪ resolves disputes (disagreements)
▪ decides if a law goes against the Constitution

38. What is the highest court in the United States?
▪ the Supreme Court

39. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
▪ nine (9)

40. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?
▪ John Roberts (John G. Roberts, Jr.)

41. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
▪ to print money
▪ to declare war
▪ to create an army
▪ to make treaties

42. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states?
▪ provide schooling and education
▪ provide protection (police)
▪ provide safety (fire departments)
▪ give a driver’s license
▪ approve zoning and land use

43. Who is the Governor of your state now?
▪ La respuesta depende de su lugar de residencia

44. What is the capital of your state?*
▪ La respuesta depende de su lugar de residencia

45. What are the two major political parties in the United States?*
▪ Democratic and Republican

46. What is the political party of the President now?
▪ Democratic (Party)

47. What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?
▪ (John) Boehner


48. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
▪ Citizens eighteen (18) and older (can vote).
▪ You don’t have to pay (a poll tax) to vote.
▪ Any citizen can vote. (Women and men can vote.)
▪ A male citizen of any race (can vote).

49. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?*
▪ serve on a jury
▪ vote in a federal election

50. Name one right only for United States citizens.
▪ vote in a federal election
▪ run for federal office

51. What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
▪ freedom of expression
▪ freedom of speech
▪ freedom of assembly
▪ freedom to petition the government
▪ freedom of worship
▪ the right to bear arms

52. What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
▪ the United States
▪ the flag

53. What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?
▪ give up loyalty to other countries
▪ defend the Constitution and laws of the United States
▪ obey the laws of the United States
▪ serve in the U.S. military (if needed)
▪ serve (do important work for) the nation (if needed)
▪ be loyal to the United States

54. How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?*
▪ eighteen (18) and older

55. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?
▪ vote
▪ join a political party
▪ help with a campaign
▪ join a civic group
▪ join a community group
▪ give an elected official your opinion on an issue
▪ call Senators and Representatives
▪ publicly support or oppose an issue or policy
▪ run for office
▪ write to a newspaper

56. When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?*
▪ April 15

57. When must all men register for the Selective Service?
▪ at age eighteen (18)
▪ between eighteen (18) and twenty-six (26)

58. What is one reason colonists came to America?
▪ freedom
▪ political liberty
▪ religious freedom
▪ economic opportunity
▪ practice their religion
▪ escape persecution

59. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
▪ American Indians
▪ Native Americans

60. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
▪ Africans
▪ people from Africa

61. Why did the colonists fight the British?
▪ because of high taxes (taxation without representation)
▪ because the British army stayed in their houses (boarding, quartering)
▪ because they didn’t have self-government

62. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
▪ (Thomas) Jefferson

63. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
▪ July 4, 1776

64. There were 13 original states. Name three.
▪ New Hampshire
▪ Massachusetts
▪ Rhode Island
▪ Connecticut
▪ New York
▪ New Jersey
▪ Pennsylvania
▪ Delaware
▪ Maryland
▪ Virginia
▪ North Carolina
▪ South Carolina
▪ Georgia

65. What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
▪ The Constitution was written.
▪ The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution.

66. When was the Constitution written?
▪ 1787

67. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
▪ (James) Madison
▪ (Alexander) Hamilton
▪ (John) Jay
▪ Publius

68. What is 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”
▪ started the first free libraries

69. Who is the “Father of Our Country”?
▪ (George) Washington

70. Who was the first President?*
▪ (George) Washington

71. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
▪ the Louisiana Territory
▪ Louisiana

72. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.
▪ War of 1812
▪ Mexican-American War
▪ Civil War
▪ Spanish-American War

73. Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
▪ the Civil War
▪ the War between the States

74. Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
▪ slavery
▪ economic reasons
▪ states’ rights

75. What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?*
▪ freed the slaves (Emancipation Proclamation)
▪ saved (or preserved) the Union
▪ led the United States during the Civil War

76. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
▪ freed the slaves
▪ freed slaves in the Confederacy
▪ freed slaves in the Confederate states
▪ freed slaves in most Southern states

77. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
▪ fought for women’s rights
▪ fought for civil rights
C: Recent American History and Other Important Historical Information

78. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.*
▪ World War I
▪ World War II
▪ Korean War
▪ Vietnam War
▪ (Persian) Gulf War

79. Who was President during World War I?
▪ (Woodrow) Wilson

80. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
▪ (Franklin) Roosevelt

81. Who did the United States fight in World War II?
▪ Japan, Germany, and Italy

82. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
▪ World War II

83. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
▪ Communism

84. What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
▪ civil rights (movement)

85. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?*
▪ fought for civil rights
▪ worked for equality for all Americans

86. What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States?
▪ Terrorists attacked the United States.

87. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.
[USCIS Officers will be supplied with a list of federally recognized American Indian tribes.]
▪ Cherokee
▪ Navajo
▪ Sioux
▪ Chippewa
▪ Choctaw
▪ Pueblo
▪ Apache
▪ Iroquois
▪ Creek
▪ Blackfeet
▪ Seminole
▪ Cheyenne
▪ Arawak
▪ Shawnee
▪ Mohegan
▪ Huron
▪ Oneida
▪ Lakota
▪ Crow
▪ Teton
▪ Hopi
▪ Inuit

A: Geography
88. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
▪ Missouri (River)
▪ Mississippi (River)

89. What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?
▪ Pacific (Ocean)

90. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
▪ Atlantic (Ocean)

91. Name one U.S. territory.
▪ Puerto Rico
▪ U.S. Virgin Islands
▪ American Samoa
▪ Northern Mariana Islands
▪ Guam

92. Name one state that borders Canada.
▪ Maine
▪ New Hampshire
▪ Vermont
▪ New York
▪ Pennsylvania
▪ Ohio
▪ Michigan
▪ Minnesota
▪ North Dakota
▪ Montana
▪ Idaho
▪ Washington
▪ Alaska

93. Name one state that borders Mexico.
▪ California
▪ Arizona
▪ New Mexico
▪ Texas

94. What is the capital of the United States?*
▪ Washington, D.C.

95. Where is the Statue of Liberty?*
▪ New York (Harbor)
▪ Liberty Island
[Also acceptable are New Jersey, near New York City, and on the Hudson (River).]

96. Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
▪ because there were 13 original colonies
▪ because the stripes represent the original colonies

97. Why does the flag have 50 stars?*
▪ because there is one star for each state
▪ because each star represents a state
▪ because there are 50 states

98. What is the name of the national anthem?
▪ The Star-Spangled Banner

99. When do we celebrate Independence Day?*
▪ July 4

100. Name two national U.S. holidays.
▪ New Year’s Day
▪ Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
▪ Presidents’ Day
▪ Memorial Day
▪ Independence Day
▪ Labor Day
▪ Columbus Day
▪ Veterans Day
▪ Thanksgiving
▪ Christmas