U.S. Citizenship Practice Test 3 (20 Questions)

Most of the Declaration is a list of wrongs blamed on Britain's King George III, which the colonists used to justify independence. France was not a target; it later helped the Americans win the war.

To win enough votes for ratification, Federalists such as James Madison promised to add a list of protected rights. Congress proposed those amendments in 1789, and the states ratified ten of them as the Bill of Rights.

Congress proposes an amendment with a two-thirds vote in each house. Three-fourths is the share of states (38 of 50) needed afterward to ratify it, which is the common mix-up.

The Constitution gives the House the power to impeach and the Senate the power to try impeachments. Removal requires a two-thirds vote of the senators present; the Supreme Court does not decide impeachment cases.

Each state gets one elector for each of its senators and representatives, so 2 + 8 = 10. Counting only the House members gives 8, which is the usual mistake.

The Attorney General heads the Department of Justice, which includes the FBI and federal prosecutors. The Chief Justice is a judge who leads the Supreme Court, part of the judicial branch, and is not in the Cabinet.

The 20th Amendment, ratified in 1933, starts the President's term at noon on January 20. Before that change, new Presidents took office on March 4.

The Constitution requires a census every 10 years, and after each count the House seats are reassigned among the states. A state that grows faster than others can gain seats, while the total stays at 435.

The Constitution lets the President grant pardons for federal crimes, except in cases of impeachment. A governor can pardon only crimes under his or her own state's laws.

The First Amendment protects the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances," which means asking officials to fix a problem. Sending a signed petition to Congress is a direct use of that right.

The 26th Amendment (1971) made 18 the voting age in all elections. The 19th Amendment gave women the vote, and the 24th banned poll taxes in federal elections.

Each of these promises in the oath ends with the words "when required by the law." It is not a regular yearly duty; it applies only if the law calls on citizens to serve, for example in a draft.

The Stamp Act required printed papers in the colonies to carry a paid tax stamp. Colonists protested that Parliament could not tax them without representation, and the law was repealed in 1766; the Tea Act came later, in 1773.

All 85 essays were signed "Publius," after a founder of the ancient Roman Republic. "Poor Richard" was Benjamin Franklin's almanac character, and Common Sense was the title of Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet.

Thomas Jefferson, the third President, approved the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Washington and Adams had already left office, and Jackson did not become President until 1829.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention with Lucretia Mott and others and was the main author of its Declaration of Sentiments. Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Orville and Wilbur Wright flew their airplane on December 17, 1903. The airplane is often named as one of the most important American innovations.

United Flight 93 crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The other hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

Key's 1814 poem became the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner," which Congress made the national anthem in 1931. The Pledge of Allegiance was written much later, in 1892.

The holiday falls on the third Monday in February, close to George Washington's birthday on February 22. January has New Year's Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and July has Independence Day.