U.S. Citizenship Practice Test 4 (20 Questions)

George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights protected freedoms such as a free press and trial by jury, and James Madison drew on it when he drafted the Bill of Rights. The Mayflower Compact dates from 1620, and the other two documents from the 1800s.

Article VII of the Constitution required 9 of the 13 states. New Hampshire became the ninth in June 1788, and the new government began work in 1789; the last of the 13 states ratified in 1790.

The Declaration says that when a government becomes destructive of people's rights, "it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it" and set up a new one. This idea that government rests on an agreement with the people is often called the social contract.

The President makes treaties "with the Advice and Consent of the Senate," and two-thirds of the senators present must agree. The House has no vote on treaties, so this check on the President belongs to the Senate alone.

The Constitution says the Chief Justice presides when the President is tried in the Senate. The Vice President normally leads the Senate but would have a conflict of interest, since he or she would become President if the President were removed.

Under the Electoral College, each state chooses electors who cast the official votes, so neither Congress nor a single nationwide vote picks the President. Today the voters in each state decide which electors are chosen.

The Secretary of State leads the State Department, which handles diplomacy, embassies and passports. Despite its name, the Department of the Interior manages land and natural resources at home.

Under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the president pro tempore of the Senate is third in line, followed by the Secretary of State and other Cabinet members. The Senate majority leader and the Chief Justice are not in the line at all.

A governor leads each state's executive branch, much as the President leads the federal one. U.S. senators belong to Congress, and mayors lead city governments.

The Fourth Amendment protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures, so a search usually needs a warrant that a judge issues based on probable cause. Mayors and city councils cannot approve searches.

The Fifth Amendment says no one can be forced to be a witness against himself in a criminal case, which is why people speak of "pleading the Fifth." The 1st Amendment protects speech, religion and the press, not silence in court.

The 16th Amendment made the modern federal income tax possible, and income taxes are now a major source of federal money. The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments came right after the Civil War and deal with slavery, citizenship and voting.

The win at Saratoga convinced France that the Americans could succeed, and France signed an alliance with them in 1778. The war did not end until the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and Washington became President in 1789.

Alexander Hamilton designed the national bank and the plan to repay the war debts to put the new government on a firm financial footing. Thomas Jefferson opposed the bank, arguing that the Constitution did not allow it.

James Madison was President from 1809 to 1817, and the British burned the White House in August 1814. Jefferson's presidency ended in 1809, before the war began.

Taking Vicksburg gave the Union control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two. The war went on until 1865, and Britain never entered it.

The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 paid for the Interstate Highway System, a national network of highways. The first transcontinental railroad was finished in 1869, and the Panama Canal opened in 1914.

About 250,000 people joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. The Montgomery bus boycott took place in 1955-1956, and the Selma marches in 1965.

The armistice that ended the fighting of World War I took effect on November 11, 1918, so the day was first called Armistice Day. In 1954 it was renamed Veterans Day to honor everyone who has served.

Hawaii became the 50th state in August 1959, and the 50-star flag became official on July 4, 1960. Alaska joined earlier that same year as the 49th state, and Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, not a state.