What's your U.S. IQ?

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

Related stories Answers to the quiz

On this Fourth of July, what could be more American than taking a test?

Better yet, a citizenship test. So, join the huddled masses cramming for exam time.

What follows are some sample questions applicants for citizenship might be asked, courtesy of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

A snap, you say? Maybe. It's also a chance for all of us to brush up on some basics of American life.

If you come through the sample questions with flying colors (that's kind of a hint about one of the questions), we've got a bonus round for you: a few more questions, from the 2001 Advanced Placement United States History Exam, provided by the Bellevue School District.

Those are a little bit tougher.

No matter how you do, consider this a warm-up for the big check-off that all of us lucky enough to have the rights of citizenship will be looking at this fall:

Our chance to vote.

— Lee Moriwaki, associate editorial page editor

1. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?

2. Who was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence?

3. What is the basic belief of the Declaration of Independence?

4. In what year was the Constitution written?

5. What is the Constitution?

6. What are the duties of Congress?

7. How many representatives are there in Congress?

8. Can you name the two senators from your state?

9. Who is the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court?

10. How many Supreme Court justices are there?

11. Who elects the president of the United States?

12. According to the Constitution, a person must meet certain requirements in order to be eligible to become president. Name one of these requirements.

13. Who becomes president of the United States if the president and the vice president should die?

14. Who has the power to declare war?

15. What are the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution called?

16. Name one right guaranteed by the First Amendment.

17. How many changes or amendments are there to the Constitution?

18. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?

19. Why did the Pilgrims come to America?

20. Who helped the Pilgrims in America?

21. What holiday was celebrated for the first time by the American colonists?

22. Can you name the 13 original states?

23. What kind of government does the United States have?

24. What color are the stripes of the U.S. flag?

25. How many stars are there in our flag.

26. Name one benefit of being a citizen of the United States.

27. What is the most important right granted to U.S. citizens?

Bonus round

1. Jacksonian Democracy was distinguished by the belief that

(A) an aristocracy posed no danger to the Republic

(B) the National Republicans alone knew what was right for the people

(C) political participation by the common man should be increased

(D) political rights should be granted to women

(E) franchise restrictions should be racially neutral

2. The Republican Party originated in the mid-1850s as a sectional party committed to which of the following?

(A) Opposition to the further extension of slavery into the territories

(B) Immediate emancipation of the slaves

(C) Repeal of Whig economic policies

(D) Restriction of immigration

(E) Acknowledgement of popular sovereignty as the basis for organizing federal territories

3. Alexander Hamilton's financial program was most favorable to

(A) Western farmers

(B) war veterans

(C) Southern planters

(D) Eastern merchants

(E) state bankers

4. The Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) did which of the following?

(A) Denounced business combinations in restraint of trade

(B) Sanctioned separate but equal public facilities for African Americans

(C) Declared that the 14th Amendment applied principally to the protection of corporations

(D) Defined the Constitution as color-blind

(E) Empowered Congress to cancel treaties with American Indian tribes unilaterally

5. Which of the following is true of the case of Marbury v. Madison?

(A) It established that Congress had the sole right to formulate national legislation

(B) It supported Thomas Jefferson in his claim to have "executive review"

(C) It backed William Marbury in his request for a bank charter

(D) It affirmed the principle of judicial review

(E) It determined the Senate's right to "advise and consent"

6. The Federalist Papers challenged the conventional political wisdom of the 18th century when they asserted that

(A) a republican form of government could succeed only in small countries

(B) limitations on the popular will led to tyranny

(C) a weak central government was the only guarantee of individual rights

(D) a large republic offered the best protection of minority rights

(E) political parties were crucial to the success of the new government

7. Which of the following transportation developments opened the West to settlement and trade between 1790 and 1830?

(A) Turnpikes and canals

(B) Railroads and steamships

(C) Turnpikes and railroads

(D) Clipper ships and turnpikes

(E) Canals and railroads

8. In 1890 the most important source of revenue for the federal government was

(A) income taxes

(B) inheritance taxes

(C) sales taxes

(D) liquor taxes

(E) customs duties

9. In the decade following the Second World War, the Supreme Court decision that had the most widepread consequences concerned which of the following?

(A) Immigration policy

(B) Congressional reapportionment

(C) The rights of minority groups

(D) The jurisdiction of courts in determining war guilt

(E) The federal government's powers of taxation

10. Progressive reformers rejected Social Darwinism because they believed that

(A) all races were equal in ability

(B) personal development was influenced solely by hereditary factors

(C) conflict and competition did not necessarily improve society

(D) science had no role in society

(E) society was fixed by the laws of nature and incapable of significant change

Answers to the quiz