I hope this quiz will encourage people to read and study the world's oldest written constitution that is still in force.

I got this idea from another site that had a quiz about the U.S. Constitution. Many answers were taken out of context or gave a particular interpretation of a controversial section. Sometimes one answer even contradicted another. The author appeared to be trying to push a particular political line.

This saddened me.  The Constitution does not belong to one party or persuasion more than another. It protects all of us and safeguards our rights.

When I was young a teacher told my school class to watch a television interview of a famous Supreme Court Justice. The reporter asked him about some controversial rulings he had made. He pulled a worn copy of the Constitution out of his suit coat pocket, opened it, and read a section from it. When the reporter tried to press him further, he glared at the young man and said firmly "That's what it says, and that's what it means."

I was just a kid, but I could understand what it meant. The U.S. Constitution is not only brief and readable, it is simple enough to be understood by a typical, educated person who has never been to law school. It is so well written that it is a pleasure to read.

More recently I learned how few Americans have actually read their own Constitution. I felt ashamed. Our Constitution tells us how to run our government. We sign loyalty oaths to it. It is important not only for Americans but for the whole world. The British Parliament is rightly called the "Mother of Parliaments," and the American Constitution might well be called the "Mother of Constitutions."

This quiz is not supposed to be a very difficult quiz with a lot of detailed, specialized questions. It is not intended for a Constitutional Law course, or a Political Science seminar.  It is just a  test of  knowledge of the Constitution, which you should be able to pass just by reading the document carefully. I have tried to include not only sections of the Constitution that one political persuasion likes to quote, but a selection of those that are favorites of patriotic Americans of various political persuasions.

But before you read the Constitution, find out how much you already know about it:

  1. When originally passed, the First Amendment to the Constitution: 

restricted states' rights. only restricted the federal government. gave Americans new rights. passed over George Washington's veto. outlawed school prayer.

 
 

  2. Amendments to the U. S. Constitution are passed by conventions called by two-thirds of the states and by Congress, or by two-thirds of each house of Congress and: 

signed by the president.  approved by the Supreme Court. national referendums.  three-fourths of the states. the military.

 

  3. The Bill of Rights (first ten amendments to the Constitution) guarantees not only the rights specifically mentioned in it but also: 
 

nothing. other rights not mentioned. tells people not to abuse them. denies them to communists or anarchists. that the government can never take your property away.

 

  4. The U. S. Constitution says that the U. S. government is set up by the people to: 

promote the Christian religion. use English as its official language. attack other countries. be based on God's will and divine law. guarantee themselves peace, freedom, justice and a better society.

 

  5. United States Senators are elected for: 

two years at a time. four years at a time. six years at a time. as long as they live. as long as their state governors let them serve.

 

  6. Members of the House of Representatives are elected for: 

two years at a time. four years at a time. six years at a time. as long as they live. as long as their state governors let them serve.

 

  7. To become a federal law a bill must be: 

passed by the Senate. passed by the House of Representatives. signed by the president. or passed by two-thirds of each house of Congress if the president vetoes it. all of the above.

 

  8. The president of the United States is elected to serve for: 

two years at a time up to four times. four years at a time up to two times. six years at a time up to two times. four years at a time as many times as re-elected. as long as Congress approves of his policies.

 

  9. The president is ordinarily elected by: 

a majority of the people who vote in an election in November. a majority of the Electoral College voting in December. a majority of the next Congress as soon as they meet. a majority of the House of Representatives every four years. a majority of the state legislatures.

 

  10. Treaties with foreign countries and international bodies like the United Nations are: 

made by the president and approved by the Senate. made by the Senate and approved by the president. made by the president and approved by the House. made by the Congress and approved by the state governors. made by the President alone.

 

 

 
  Please click on the button below to get explanations for the answers
  (or if your browser can't do Java).
 
 
 
 
 
  Please click here to go to part II.

 

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   Special thanks to all the political scientists and lawyers who commented on this quiz.