You Got That Right!

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Question #1

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 #2

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 #3

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 #4

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 #5

At 16, Benjamin Franklin faked being a 40-year-old widow.

True: Franklin pretended to be an older woman so that his articles could get published in a newspaper. Talk about being a rebellious teen.

Question #6

Civil liberties are protections for the people against government actions.

True: Civil liberties are rights that are so important that the Constitution says that the government cannot take those rights away from the people. Remember that the Framers, knowing how people could suffer under a government ruled by a king, wanted to prevent the government from becoming too powerful.

Question #7

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 #8

According to the Constitution, the people of the United States elect the President.

False: The President is elected by the Electoral College; each state and the District of Columbia has a certain number of electoral votes and a president needs at least 270 electoral college votes to win. But don’t get this wrong, every person’s vote still counts!

Question #9

Since the Constitution was first signed, Congress has passed 33 amendments, but only 27 of these have been ratified by the states.

True: We only have 27 amendments to the Constitution. That means even though Congress would have made 33 changes to the Constitution, not enough states agreed on the six that didn’t get ratified.

Question #10

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 #11

The Constitution is an app.

False: If you had to think about this one you need to start studying!

Question #12

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 #13

In America, everyone has the freedom not to pray.

True: The first Amendment guarantees the right to pray and the right not to pray. So it's up to you to pray or not pray when you're in school, but the school can't force you to pray and, as long as you are not disturbing class time, your school can't stop you from praying either.

Question #14

All of our Presidents in the U.S. have been U.S. born citizens.

False: The first U.S. born citizen to become President was Martin Van Buren, the 8th President; he was born after the American Revolution. The first seven Presidents before Van Buren and the 9th President were all originally "British subjects" before the revolution.

Question #15

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 #16

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 #17

The Constitution is the highest law of the land.

True: In America, federal and state judges must uphold the Constitution, and the rest of us better as well.

Question #18

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 #19

The Constitution states that all men are created equal.

False: The Constitution does NOT say this. This is one of the most famous sentences of the Declaration of Independence. Don’t worry, many people confuse the two documents too.

Question #20

The Constitution established that all US citizens can vote.

False: The Constitution did not spell out who can vote.  That’s one of the reasons it took years of struggle for Blacks, women, Native Americans, and many others to be able to exercise their right to vote. People are still fighting for the right to vote to this day! Of course, kids under 18 still can’t vote.