What An American Hopeful Should Know

In the 4th and last of the Detroit Free Press's United States trivia entries, here are some facts about American government, history, and geography that may come up on the US Citizenship test.

Would you pass the test? :)

1. The Constitution sets up the government, defines the government, and protects the basic rights of Americans.

2. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution: "We the people".

3. The First Amendment outlines the freedom of speech, religion, assembly, press, and petition of the government.

4. The Constitution has 27 amendments.

5. America uses a capitalist economy (market economy).

6. The "rule of law" is that everyone must follow the law; leaders must obey the law; government must obey the law; no one is above the law.

7. Some of the reasons that the colonists came to America were freedom, political liberty, religious freedom, economic opportunity, and to escape persecution.

8. The Constitution was written in 1787.

9. The US bought the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803.

10. The US fought four wars in the 1800s: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War.

11. There were several problems that led to the US Civil War, including slavery, economic reasons, and states' rights.

12. The Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the Confederacy.

13. Woodrow Wilson was president during World War I.

14. The two longest rivers in the US are the Mississippi River and the Missouri River.

15. The US flag has 13 stripes to represent the 13 original colonies.

Know all that? I don't know if I would pass a citizenship test, to be honest! Lucky for me I was born here!

Thanks Detroit Free Press for all your fun facts!