How much of this holiday and country do you know?

While it is true that the first line of the National Anthem is “O, Say Can You See” the title of the song is”The Star Spangled Banner”. The words were written by Francis Scott Key after he witnessed the bombardment of FortMcHenry by the British during the War of 1812. The fort held and inspired Key to write his poetry. Later it was put to music and in 1916 was made the official National Anthem by President Wilson.

The First Amendment guarantees the right of free speech, the right to petition, the freedom of assembly, as well as the freedom of religion. The right to bear arms is granted by the second amendment. Both amendments were adopted as part of the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments) and were drafted to check the powers of a centralized government over its citizens.

A tradition carried over from England, the heads of City government are called Mayors. In some American cities there is a city court of which the mayor is chief judge.

One of the complaints leveled against England when America declared its independence was the overreaching power the monarch had over the military. Fearful that even a President could abuse this power, the ability to declare war was given to Congress.Since then the office of the President has been able to work around this in several cases using the Emergency Powers of the Presidency. For instance, American troops were committed and served in Kosovo during the country’s conflict, yet America never officially declared war.

The Constitution has no term limits specified for any office (except for the President – see Question 6). Term Limits have become a hot topic in the last 10 years. Some states have tried to impose term limits on their candidates but this was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The only way term limits at the federal level will ever come about is by the ratifying of an amendment to the constitution.

As the first President, George Washington set many precedents that later Presidents followed. One of these traditions was the voluntary limit to two terms in office. After Franklin Roosevelt broke this tradition and held the office four times,some policy makers moved to keep this from happening again. The 22nd amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1951 and turned Washington’s two term tradition into binding law.

The length of a full term for a member of the House of Representatives is set by the Constitution at 2 years.

The fourth amendment ratified to clarify voter’s rights was a result of protests against the war in Viet Nam. The argument was that a person old enough to fight for their country should be old enough to vote in its elections. Before its adoption the voting age was 21.

In 1947 Congress thought it necessary to sketch out a line of succession in the case of both the President and Vice President becoming unable to perform their duties. This was in response to the realization that a nuclear attack could effectively wipe out large portions of our government. Policy makers wanted to ensure that the office holder was an elected official rather than an appointed official if at all possible. Thus the Speaker of the House and the Senate Pro Tempore were selected to be next in line for the Presidency.

The American Colonies were in the possession of Great Britain until America declared its Independence as a new nation on July 4th, 1776. Though most Americans still say we declared our Independence from England, this is technically incorrect.

Wary of a system in which one person can hold too much power, the drafters of the Constitution separated the powers of government among 3 branches: The Executive (President), The Legislative (The Congress), and The Judicial (The Supreme Court).

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. It interprets the meaning of laws set forth by Congress and it determines if these laws, as well as State laws that come before it, are legal under our Constitution.

This question does not seem as difficult after the 2000 Presidential election. The electoral college came under scrutiny after it was illustrated that a candidate can win the election without having a majority of the vote. In 2000 Al Gore won the popular vote and George Bush won the Electoral College vote.

There are 50 states in the United States. The last, Hawaii was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959. There is a political movement for a 51st state, Puerto Rico, to be added.

There are 13 stripes on the American flag that stand for the original 13 American Colonies.

By the time Lincoln was inaugurated into the office of President 7 states had seceded and the Civil War was on its way. He was shot during his second term of office and died on April 15, 1865. He lived long enough to see the end of the Civil War but was unable to implement his plans for the rebuilding of the nation.

Barack Obama is the 44rd President of the United States. He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.

Joe Biden is the current VP of the United States. Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., was born November 20, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the first of four siblings. At age 29, he became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate.

While this statement is considered the correct answer on the Citizenship Test and is the most correct out of the multiple answers, it is not entirely true. The Pilgrims did leave England to avoid religious persecution but first went to Holland. This was not to their tastes either as the more radical religious groups insulted their sensibilities. The solution was to create their own colony where they were free to practice their own beliefs and free from the tainting of other belief systems.

The Constitution provides for 2 Senators from each state no matter its size or population. With 50 states that makes 100 Senators. This provides an advantage for small states. For instance Rhode Island, our smallest state, has 2 Senators, the same number of Senators that represent California or Texas. This balances out the House of Representatives where the number of Rep’s a state receives is based on population.

Amendments to the Constitution began immediately after its ratification. An amendment must pass the House and Senate by 2/3rds vote and then be passed by no less than 3/4ths of the States.

Six Amendments have been proposed by Congress but never gained enough States’ votes to be ratified. They are: One of the first amendments in the Bill of Rights laying out representation, one outlawing titles of nobility, one guaranteeing a state’s right to practice slavery, one that gives the Federal Government control over child labor laws, The Equal Rights Amendment, and one that would have given DC full representation in the House and Senate. All of these amendments failed.

While the 19th amendment guarantees a woman’s right to vote, the Equal Rights Amendment, guaranteeing their equal protection under the law was never passed. This does not mean women have no rights, it is now considered implied elsewhere in the Constitution. Making flag desecration illegal was given much discussion in the early 90’s but never passed the House or Senate. President Bush supports an amendment to ban gay marriage, but, again, that has never passed the House or Senate. The 21st amendment repealed the 18th amendment that prohibited the consumption and sale of alcohol. To ensure a State’s right to maintain the ban, the 21st also made it illegal to import liquor into dry states.

When the amendment process began, no time limits were put in place for ratification. The 27th amendment, putting delays on Congressional pay hikes, was originally proposed with the Bill of Rights. It sat without ratification until 1992, when Gregory Watson, an aide to a Texas legislator, took up the cause and won the required States to pass the proposed amendment.

The United States has no official language; it is a right reserved for the States. Currently 29 States have English as an official language. Louisiana includes French, Hawaii includes Hawaiian, and New Mexico includes Spanish as official languages.

When selected for the job, Adams wrote that the Vice President was “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.” It seems little has changed with the office over time.

Legend says that when the Virginia legislature was balking at committing troops during the Revolutionary War, it was Patrick Henry’s speech that inspired them to change their mind. As an interesting note, Henry was a critic of the Constitution and campaigned against its adoption. He believed it gave the Federal Government too much power and was instrumental in the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

While John F Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln easily come to mind, there are two other Presidents who were assassinated in office. James Garfield was shot only 4 months after taking office and died 80 days later. William McKinley was shot at the Pan-American Exposition while greeting the public and died soon after. Four other Presidents have died in office of natural causes. Four other presidents (Reagan, Truman, Ford, and Jackson) all survived attempted assassinations.

A trick question. While George W. Bush is associated with Texas and lived there his adult life, he was born in Connecticut. Nixon was our only president born in California, and Reagan (though Governor of California at one time) was born in Illinois.Eisenhower grew up in Kansas, but was born in Texas. Texas was also the birth place of one other president, Lyndon B. Johnson.

Two Presidents have been impeached, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Andrew Johnson took office after Lincoln’s assassination. His conciliatory policies toward the South and his blocking of Civil Rights legislation caused a bitter confrontation that resulted in his impeachment. Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Both Presidents were eventually acquitted. Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached, though proceedings to do so were underway.