BEDJ 5: Smart Enough to be an American?

Yesterday, my local paper (The Daily Item, my sworn enemy, so don't tell anyone I'm reading them) published 100 questions immigrants seeking citizenship to the United States must be able to answer, asking: "Are you smart enough to be an American?"

Here are the questions and my answers. The 16 questions highlighted in bold are the questions I got wrong and the correct answer and my response to the correct answer is italicized. There were several questions I misunderstood or seemed too broad to accomplish a correct answer. There are really only a handful of questions I'm disappointed in not knowing. Otherwise, I'm satisfied with my results.

1. What are the colors of our flag? Red, white, and blue.
2. How many stars are on our flag? 50.
3. What do the stars on the flag represent? the 50 states.
4. What color are the stars on our flag? White.
5. How many stripes are on the flag? 13
6. What colors are the stripes? red and white.
7. What do the stripes of the flag represent? the 13 original colonies.
8. How many states are there in the Union? 50
9. What is the Fourth of July? When the colonists declared their independence
10. What is the date of Independence Day? July 4, 1776.
11. Independence from whom? England.
12. What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War? England.
13. Who was the first president of the United States? George Washington.
14. Who is the president of the United States today? Barrack Obama
15. Who is the vice president of the United States today? Joe Biden
16. Who elects the president of the United States? the people or the electorate college
17. Who becomes the president of the United States if the president should die? the vice president
18. For how long do we elect the president? four years.
19. What is the Constitution? a document of laws
20. Can the Constitution be changed? yes.
21. What do we call a change to the Constitution? an amendment.
22. How many changes or amendments are there to the Constitution? more than 20. (right answer: 27.)
23. How many branches are there in our government? three (technically four, the press is often considered the fourth branch of government AKA the "Watch Dogs.")
24. What are the three branches of our government? executive, legislative, judiciary
25. What is the legislative branch of our government? Congress
26. Who makes the laws in the United States? Congress. 
27. What is the Congress? the legislative branch or the lawmakers. (right answer: The Senate and the House of Representatives. Which I knew, I just misunderstood)
28. What are the duties of the Congress? to make the laws
29. Who elects the Congress? the people
30. How many senators are there in the Congress? 100
31. Can you name the two Senators from Pennsylvania? Spector and Casey (right answer: Casey and Toomey. I forgot that Spector got the boot)
32. For how long do we elect each senator? two years. (Right answer: six years)
33. How many representatives are there in Congress? no idea. (right answer: 435)
34. For how long do we elect the representatives? two years.
35. What is the executive branch of our government? the president (right answer: I should have also included the vice president, the Cabinet and departments under the cabinet members)
36. What is the judiciary branch of our government? the Supreme Court
37. What are the duties of the Supreme Court? to interpret the law 
38. What is the supreme court law of the US? the final authority... I'm not sure if I understand the question. (right answer: The Constitution)
39. What is the Bill of Rights? the first ten amendments of the Constitution
40. What is the Capital of Pennsylvania? Harrisburg
41. Who is the governor of Pennsylvania? Tom Corbett.
42. Who becomes president of the United States if the president and the vice-president should die? the secretary of state Hillary Clinton (right answer: the Speaker of the House of Representatives. I was actually surprised about this one. 
43. Who is the chief justice of the Supreme Court? Clarence Thomas (right answer: John Roberts)
44. Name the 13 original states. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North and South Carolina, Georgia
45. Who said, "Give me liberty or give me death"? Patrick Henry
46. Which countries were our enemies during WWII? Germany and Japan and Russia (which eventually became our ally) (Right answer: Italy should have also been included there. They didn't say Russia though, so they're wrong, too.)
47. What are the 49th and 50th states of the Union? Alaska and Hawaii
48. How many terms can the president serve? two four year terms.
49. Who was Martin Luther King Jr.? a civil rights leader
50. Who is your congressman? Tom Marino.
51. According to the Constitution, a person must meet certain requirements in order to be eligible to become president. Name one. Natural-born citizen.
52. Why are there 100 senators in the Senate? two from every state.
53. Who selects the Supreme Court justice? the president
54. How many Supreme Court justice are there? 11 (right answer: nine)
55. Why did the Pilgrims come to America? escape from religious persucution.
56. What is the head executive of state government called? governor
57. What is the head executive of city government called? mayor
58. What holiday was celebrated for the first time by the American colonists? Thanksgiving.
59. Who was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson.
60. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted? July 4, 1776.
61. What is the basic belief of the Declaration of Independence? that a government should be of, for, and by the people. All men are created equal with certain rights. declaring  independence from England. I'm not sure what this is looking for to be honest.
62. What is the national anthem of the United States? Star Spangled Banner
63. Who wrote the national anthem? Francis Scott Key.
64. Where does the freedom of speech come from? the first amendment of the Bill of Rights
65. What is the minimum voting age in the United States? 18.
66. Who signs bills into law? the executive of the governing body. the president for nation, the governor for state
67. What is the highest court in the United States? The Supreme Court.
68. Who was president during the Civil War? Abraham Lincoln.
69. What did the Emancipation Declaration do? freed all slaves in the south in order to cripple the rebellion
70. What special group advises the president? his cabinet
71. Which president is called the "Father of our Country"? George Washington
72. What Immigration and Naturalization Service form is used to apply to become a naturalized citizen? no idea (right answer: Form n-400, application to file petition for naturalization. Who would know this other than someone who needs to apply?)
73. Who helped the Pilgrims in American? The natives
74. What is the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America? Mayflower.
75. What are the 13 original states of the US called? I'm guessing you're looking for colonies.
76. Name three rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights? Speech etc, right to bear arms, right to not incriminate yourself (I plead the fifth)
77. Who was the power to declare war? Congress
78. What kind of government does the United States have? democracy
79. Which president freed the slaves? Abraham Lincoln
80. In what year was the Constitution written? 1788 (right answer: 1787. Oh, I was one year away. In terms of millions of years, that doesn't matter, right?)
81. What are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution called? The Bill of Rights.
82. Name one purpose of the United Nations? THIS is on an American citizenship test...? Wow. Okay. To regulate the use of nuclear weapons. (Right answer: for countries to discuss and try to resolve world problems, to provide economic aid to many countries)
83. Where does Congress meet? In the capitol building in DC
84. Whose rights are guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? Every American (right answer: everyone (citizens and non-citizens) living in the United States)
85. What is the introduction to the Constitution called? The preamble.
86. Name one benefit of being a citizen of the United States. Right to vote and right to think you're better than every one else in the world. (right answer: obtain federal government jobs, travel with U.S. passport, petition for close relatives to come to the U.S. to live. C'mon, this question was so broad.)
87. What is the most important right granted to U.S. Citizens? I feel like this is opinion and shouldn't be on a test to qualify to be American, but I'd probably say you're looking for right to vote.
88. What is the U.S. Capitol? the building where Congress meets in the Washington, DC
89. What is the White House? the building were each president lives during their term
90. Where is the White House located? 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C.
91. What is the name of the president's official home? The White House.
92. Name the right guaranteed by the first amendment? freedom of speech, press, religion, petition, and peacefully assemble
93. Who is the commander in chief of the U.S. military? the president
94. Which president was the first commander in chief of the U.S. military? George Washington
95. In what month do we vote for the president? November
96. In what month is the new president inaugurated? January
97. How many times may a senator be re-elected? unlimited
98. How many times may a congressman be re-elected? unlimited
99. What are the two major political parties in the U.S. today? Republican and Democrat.
100. How many states are there in the United States today? 50.
------------------------------------
VEDJ: a granola bar
         : Snapple Apple
         : Spaghetti and tomato sauce
         : Corn
         : Ice cream
         : at least five bottles of water, and several glasses
EEDJ: two mile walk n read
         : walk to the local festival for supper