You Got That Right!

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Question #1

No one in the country even knew about the new Constitution until after it was signed by the delegates.

True: People in Philadelphia found out that a new Constitution had been written when it was published on September 19, 1787 – two days after it was signed!

Question #2

The President has to be at least 35 years old and have lived in the U.S. for 14 years.

True: The youngest President however, was 42 years old. That sounds old to you now, but time flies when you are young. When the school day starts to feel long, then you're getting old.

Question #3

In the United States, we have a federal Constitution and each state has its own constitution.

True: Today all 50 states have their own constitutions, but that wasn’t always the case!

Question #4

George Washington is the only delegate to have his face on US money.

False: Take at look at your own money! We have several delegates on the bills and coins. Ben Franklin is on the $100 bills. Gee, which bill do you want in your wallet? Think about that...

Question #5

Each branch of the American government can work independently of the other two branches.

False: Each branch is supervised by the remaining two; this is called a "check and balance" system. For example, Congress can pass a law, but the Supreme Court can declare the law unconstitutional and Supreme Court judges are appointed by the President. Think of your school's safety patrols: the patrols tell you where it's safe to cross the street; a patrol supervisor can change where students can cross the street and patrol supervisors are chosen by the principal.

Question #6

Children do not have the same rights as adults.

True: Children don't have all the same rights as adults until they turn 18, like voting, for example. And anyway, if your baby sister, Ticonderoga, who your parents lovingly nicknamed No. 2, could vote, she would probably just drool everywhere.

Question #7

The reason the Framers set up three branches of the U.S. government is to make it easier for the government to control the people in America.

False: No way! The people in America control the government by voting for the people they want as representatives and by deciding what the government will control.

Question #8

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are just suggestions.

False: The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are much more than a suggestion; they are the highest laws that guarantee our personal freedoms.

Question #9

The US Constitution is the youngest national Constitution in the whole world.

False: Actually, even though the U.S. is a young nation, it has the oldest and shortest Constitution of any nation on earth. We can’t say for sure it’s the oldest in our galaxy, but as far as we know, it is.

Question #10

George Washington was really pumped about becoming the first president.

False: Washington was not looking forward to being President at all. Wouldn’t you be nervous to become the first president ever of a new country?

Question #11

The people didn’t get to see the Constitution until it was posted on Facebook.

False: The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser published a copy of the Constitution on September 19, 1787—two days after it was signed. Come to think of it, newspapers were the closest things to Facebook back then.

Question #12

In 1787, Congress was happy that the delegates had saved them the trouble of having to write the new Constitution.

False: The delegates didn’t have the authority to write a new Constitution! They had been asked to fix the Articles of Confederation. That’s one of the reasons they were so secretive about writing a Constitution.

Question #13

The Bill of Rights isn’t important, that’s why it was a later addition to the Constitution.

False: The Bill of Rights is very important! It protects our individual rights and freedoms. That’s one bill we can’t do without.

Question #14

The Constitution became the law of the land as soon as the delegates signed it on September 17, 1787.

False: Not so fast. The states that the delegates represented still had to agree to the new Constitution and 9 out of the original 13 states had to approve it before it could go into effect. That finally happened on June 21, 1788.

Question #15

Thomas Jefferson signed the Constitution.

False: He was in France as the American minister when the Constitution was signed. Do you know which founding document Thomas Jefferson wrote and signed? HINT: It’s the document most often confused with the Constitution!

Question #16

The Constitution affects everyone in the U.S. even students like you.

True: Everyone in the U.S. is affected by the Constitution every single day of their lives. Did you know that the ramps at sidewalk intersections are there because of the Constitution? How else would disabled children get to school or other places?

Question #17

When the delegates signed the Constitution they were in the largest city of all the colonies.

True: At the time, Philadelphia was the largest city with about 40,000 people. Today, over 1.5 Million people live in Philadelphia.

Question #18

About half of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention at one time owned slaves.

True: Talk about irony: writing a document about freedom while having slaves. Slavery was hotly debated during the Constitutional Convention. In 1865, the 13th amendment finally abolished slavery.

Question #19

The Constitution protects your friends and enemies equally.

True: Even though you might not like someone, he or she still gets the same rights as you! This is a good thing.

Question #20

You have to be a citizen to go to school in America.

False: Any child living in America has the right to attend grade school. Feel free to do some extra homework and tests too, if you like.