Citizenship: What is it?

Citizenship

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What is it? ​

Already a U.S. Citizen?

Citizenship means being a member of a country and having full rights and responsibilities under that country’s law. Some people are born a United States citizen. People who are born in the United States are automatically citizens at birth. So are people born outside the U.S. to parents who are both citizens. The rules can get a bit complicated for people born outside the U.S. who have only one citizen parent, but generally they are also citizens at birth. 

Multiple Select

Select all of the ways that you can be a U.S. citizen below.

• If your parents are U.S. citizens.

• If you are born on U.S. soil.

• If you have been a permanent legal resident of the U.S. for the past 5 years.

• If you marry a U.S. citizen.

• If you have a child with a U.S. citizen.

Multiple Choice

Birthright citizenship means:

• If you are born in the US you are a citizen

• If you take a naturalization test you can be a US citizen

• If you graduate from HS you can become a US Citizen

• None of these

Multiple Select

How do you become a citizen automatically ?

• born in the US

• take a test

• born outside of the US to parents who are citizens

• swear an oath of allegiance

Multiple Choice

The Dred Scott decision of 1857 confirmed which of the following:

• Black people were Citizens of the U.S.

• Black people could sue in federal court

• Enslaved people were considered property, not people

Multiple Choice

Which amendment to the Constitution said all persons born in the United States were citizens of the United States?

• 2nd

• 5th

• 13th

• 14th

Multiple Choice

The Chinese Exclusion Act prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What was the ruling in Wong Kim Ark's court case?

• Wong was guilty of trespassing and sent to China.

• Anyone born in the United States is a citizen of the United States.

• People from Asian countries cannot be citizens of the United States.

• You can only be a citizen of the United States if your grandparents were born in the United States.

Multiple Choice

What year did Native Americans become citizens of the United States, even though they were the original "citizens"?

• 1776

• 1812

• 1865

• 1924

Becoming a U.S. Citizen

What if you weren’t born in the U.S. and neither of your parents are U.S. citizens? You can still become a citizen through a process called naturalization. 

Multiple Choice

What is naturalization ?

• process to become a U.S. citizen if you were born outside of the United States

• when you are born in the United States and automatically become a citizen

• when you take a test

• When Americans sing “The Star-Spangled Banner"

Poll

Do you know anyone who has become a US citizen using the naturalization process?

• Yes

• No

• I know someone who is going through the process right now

Multiple Select

Choose the correct requirements needed for naturalization

• 18 years old

• 21 years old

• speak English

• permanent residents of the United States for 10 years

• permanent residents of the United States for 5 years

Multiple Choice

If you are of a certain age (usually a little older) and have lived in the United States for a long time, what requirement might you be able to avoid?

• Having to take an oath of loyalty.

• Having to speak English.

• Having to have a basic understanding of U.S. History.

• Having to establish continual residence.

Multiple Select

What is the final step to becoming a naturalized citizen?

• Learn to speak English

• take an Oath of Allegiance swearing loyalty to the United States and our Constitution.

• go through an interview

• pass a civics test

Multiple Choice

What does the Oath of Allegiance explicitly require new U.S. citizens to do?

• Vote.

• Say the Pledge of Allegiance.

• Attend at least one town meeting where they live to better understand local government.

• Support and defend the United States and the Constitution

​Only one in three Americans (36 percent) can actually pass a multiple choice test consisting of items taken from the U.S. Citizenship Test, which has a passing score of 60, according to a national survey released today by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.(2018)

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The citizenship test is also one of the easiest parts of naturalization. 

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By the time they're eligible to take the test, immigrants have had to spend five years as legal permanent residents, i.e. green-card holders. 

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Depending on their work and family situations, they had to spend several years before that in the legal status that ultimately made them eligible for a green card (or waiting outside the country for their number to come up in the family backlog). 

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Hardest of all, they have to have found a way to immigrate legally to the United States to begin with.

Rights in the United States

The United States is known for the rights and freedoms given to those who live here. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. They list important rights that are guaranteed to all people in the United States—not just citizens!

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These are rights like the freedom of expression and the freedom to worship, assemble peacefully, and petition the government, as well as the right to be free from unreasonable searches by government officials. But some rights are only for U.S. citizens. These include the right to vote in federal elections, the right to run for federal political office, and the right to serve on a jury.

Multiple Select

What are 3 rights only for US citizens?

• freedom of assembly

• voting in federal elections

• serve on a jury

• freedom of speech

• run for federal office

Multiple Select

What are 3 rights for all US residents?

• freedom of assembly

• voting in federal elections

• serve on a jury

• freedom of expression

• free from unreasonable search and seizure

Responsibilities, Too!

Along with all these freedoms come some responsibilities. Everyone in the U.S. is responsible for obeying laws. Citizens are also responsible for voting in elections and serving on juries when asked. (Yes, these are both rights and responsibilities!)

Fill in the Blank

Everyone in the US is responsible for obeying the

Multiple Select

Citizens are also responsible for...(choose 2)

• voting in elections

• having a job

• serving on juries

• going to school

Multiple Choice

What amendment prohibited the federal government from denying the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude?

• 14

• 15

• 19

• 26

Multiple Choice

This amendment gave women the right to vote.

• 15th

• 26th

• 14th

• 19th

Multiple Choice

This amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971

• 14th

• 15th

• 19th

• 26th

Open Ended

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