I thought I would make everyone’s post-holiday Monday morning even brighter by reintroducing a grade-school favorite: the Monday morning pop quiz. The subject this week is American Civics. Upon reading, many people may feel that there is a distinctly Libertarian skew to the questions, but I guarantee that ideology will not effect your grade. There are no trick questions, and no partial credit will be given, as every question has one distinct correct answer. Alright everyone, you may begin.1. Fill in the blank from the choices provided.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, ________________, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
A. “guarantee the general Welfare”
B. “insure the general Welfare”
C. “subsidize the general Welfare”
D. “promote the general Welfare”
2. Finish the sentence from the choices provided.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and _________________."
A. “government provided Happiness”
B. “state sponsored Happiness”
C. “Glee as a birthright”
D. “the pursuit of Happiness”
3. The Constitution gives this branch of government the responsibility of allocating wealth and resources:
A. The Executive Branch
B. The Legislative Branch
C. The Judicial Branch
D. This is not a constitutional role of government
4. The Constitution gives this branch of government the responsibility of providing for the physical health and ensuring the financial success of the citizenry:
A. The Executive Branch
B. The Legislative Branch
C. The Judicial Branch
D. This is not a constitutional role of government
5. True or False?
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
A. False
B. True, but the federal legislature can make exceptions
C. True, but the Supreme Court can delegate the federal government new powers
D. True, no buts
Alright, pencil’s down. If you hadn’t already guessed, the correct answer for every question is D. Again, this was not meant to be confusing - every question has one unambiguously correct answer. If you answered D for all of the above, you have a good root understanding of American civics, and the role of government. You also are probably unsatisfied with the current state of American politics and the distribution of power. If you did not get 100% on the quiz above, you still have some studying to do (and are quite possibly a member of the current congressional majority). Please complete tonight’s reading, the United States Constitution (Articles 1 through 7 and Amendments 1 through 27).
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3 comments:
I want to take this to local high school civics classes and administer the test (with permission of course), then publish the results with % response for each answer.
I'll be called a rabble-rouser and probably be blackballed by the teachers' union and the PTA, but so be it.
This has to happen, I need to know how bad our situation really is.
You may not like what you see. Just think back to the civics lessons you had. I had one in middle school social studies class that was just a week devoted to basic civics (voting, obeying the law, the existence of a Constitution and Declaration of Independence) that didn't touch on the Founders much at all.
In high school I was fortunate that have AP Government, but the average student was not. And on top of all of this, most of what I know about our nation's founding, the Founders themselves, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence is self-taught.
At least they let you into AP Gov - I wasn't even permitted that!
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