USCIS 100 QUESTIONS RECAP

[AlwaysSunny 5]

When I got the brochure and started to study the 100 questions, it seemed like they were all over the place. I like everything to be structured, so I wrote up this "story" that has all the answers in it. Just wanted to share it with you guys.

 

USCIS 100 QUESTIONS RECAP

Before the colonists came to America, the land was inhabited by the Native Americans/American Indians (Q59). Some of the tribes were Cherokee/Blackfeet/Crow (Q87). The first colonists came to America to escape religious persecution/get religious freedom and political liberty (Q58). They started forming colonies, such as Pennsylvania/Massachusetts/Virginia (Q64). At some point, the colonists made the decision to fight the British because of taxation without representation/quartering/no self-government (Q61). A man named Thomas Jefferson wrote the official Declaration of Independence (Q62). It was adopted on July 4^th, 1776 (Q63), which is now celebrated every year (Q99). The Declaration of Independence announced the country’s independence from Great Britain (Q8). It also proclaimed that every person has a right to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness (Q9). At that time, there were 13 colonies (states), so shortly after independence was declared, the national flag got 13 stripes (Q96).

Eleven years later, in 1787, the Constitutional Convention took place where the Founding Fathers wrote the US Constitution (Q65, Q66). To promote the new Constitution, authors named Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, under a collective pseudonym “Publius”, wrote a collection of essays called “The Federalist Papers” (Q67). At the Constitutional Convention, George Washington was elected by the delegates to preside over the Convention, and later elected President of the United States, therefore becoming “The Father of the Country” (Q69, Q70). Also at the Convention was present Benjamin Franklin, famous for being the oldest member of the Convention (70 years old)/first Postmaster General of the US (Q68).

The Constitution that was adopted is now the Supreme Law of the land (Q1). It defines how the government branches are organized and protects the basic rights of Americans (Q2). In the beginning it says that “We the People” of the United States have established this Constitution, and these words encompass the idea of self-government (Q3). Over time, changes and additions can be made to the Constitution, they are called “amendments” (Q4). Since the Constitution was created, there have been a total of 27 amendments (Q7). The first 10 amendments were adopted simultaneously and are referred to as “The Bill of Rights” (Q5). The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights states that no law can be issued that limits the freedom of speech, religion, press, peaceful assemblies, or prohibits petitioning the government (Q6). According to the principle of the freedom of religion, one can practice any religion, or not practice a religion at all (Q10).  Also, there are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote: citizens of 18 or older/they don’t need to pay a poll tax to vote/both women and men citizens can vote/male citizens of any race can vote (Q48). According to other amendments to the Constitution, everyone living in the United States, has rights and freedoms of expression, speech, press, assembly, religion, to petition the government and to bear arms (Q51). Out of all people who live in the United States, only its citizens have a right to vote in a federal election and to run for federal office (Q50). Voting in a federal election is not just a right, but also a responsibility of US Citizens, as well as serving on a jury (Q49).

After the United States became independent, it started expanding and developing. In 1803, the United States purchased a gigantic territory that is as large as 15 modern-day states, from France, known as “The Louisiana Purchase” (Q71). In the 1800s, the US participated in several wars, from which it gained a stronger sense of independence (the War of 1812), gained new territories (the Mexican-American War), helped some countries fight against others (the Spanish-American War), or fought over its own internal issues (the Civil War) (Q72). During the War of 1812, the American flag flew over Fort McHenry, inspiring a poem which later became the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” (Q98).

As part of the economy at that time, people from Africa were taken to America and sold as slaves (Q60). The slavery, along with economic reasons and the struggle of states against the federal government when it came to slavery regulations, lead to the Civil War (Q74). It was a war between the Northern and the Southern states (Q73). After Abraham Lincoln, leader of the newly created Republican Party, won presidential election, seven southern states seceded from the United States and formed their own Confederacy. The northern states were called the Union. Lincoln led the United States in this war, made sure that the Union stayed together and eventually freed the slaves (Q75). Abraham Lincoln issued an Executive Order called the Emancipation proclamation, in which he proclaimed the slaves who lived in the Southern states to be free people (Q76). Around the same time, there were activists who fought for the rights of other minorities, such as Susan B. Anthony, who fought for women’s rights (Q77).

In the 20^th century, the US first took part in World War I, when the President was Woodrow Wilson (Q79). After that war, following an economic rise, the Great Depression hit. Shortly after that, World War II started, where the enemy of the US was Japan, Germany and Italy (Q81). During the Great Depression and WWII Franklin Roosevelt was President (Q80); the second highest rank of the Army, a five star general, belonged to Dwight Eisenhower, who later became a US President in the 1950s (Q82). After WWI and WWII, the US participated in a few more wars during the 20^th century: War in Korea, War in Vietnam, War in the Persian Gulf (Q78). Also the Cold War, where the main concern of the United States was Communism (Q83).

At the same time, in the mid-20^th century, a movement started to grow that opposed racial discrimination, or any form of discrimination whatsoever, which is called the Civil Rights Movement (Q84). The most prominent leader of this movement was Martin Luther King, Jr. (Q85).

In 1960, when Hawaii became the 50^th US State, the flag got its 50 stars, where each star represents a state (Q97).

On September 11, 2001, a terrorist attack happened in New York City (Q86).

The economic system of the United States is market economy, or capitalism (Q11). The government, as defined by the Constitution, consists of three separate entities, that perform checks on each other, so that the responsibilities are separated (Q14). There are three branches of the government (Q13). The Legislative branch is represented by the Congress, which proposes bills and creates federal laws (Q16). The Judicial branch is represented by the courts, and the purpose of this branch is resolve disputes, review laws and make sure the laws don’t contradict the Constitution (Q37). The third branch is the Executive branch, represented by the President (Q15), who signs bills to become laws (Q33), has a right to veto (stop) bills (Q34), and acts as Commander in Chief of the military (Q32).

The President is elected every four years (Q26) in November (Q27). In 2018, it’s Donald Trump (Q28), representing the Republican party (Q46). The President has advisors – the President’s Cabinet (Q35). Every member of the Cabinet is responsible for a certain field; for example, there’s a Secretary of Education, a Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Transportation, Attorney General (Q36). The Vice President is also a member of the Cabinet, in 2018 it’s Mike Pence (Q29). The Vice President becomes President if the President can no longer serve (Q30).

The highest court of the United States is the Supreme Court (Q38). There are nine justices on the Supreme Court (Q39), one of them being the Chief Justice and heading the federal court system – John Roberts (Q40). The Rule of Law is a principle, according to which the law must govern the nation, and not decisions made by individual government officials, and must be followed by everyone, even the leaders and the government, and no one is above the law (Q12).

The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government. It consists of two parts: the lower House of Representatives and the upper house of the Senate (Q17). Their functions are similar, but there are differences. The House of Representatives is closer to the people, there are 435 members total (Q21), the number of representatives from each state depends on the population of that state (Q25), and is more responsive to the people due to the fact that they are elected every two years (Q22). The presiding officer of the House of Representatives is called the Speaker of the House – Paul Ryan (Q47), and this person becomes President if both the President and Vice President can no longer serve (Q31). In 2018, one of the Representatives for Pennsylvania is Brendan Boyle (Q23).

The Senate represents the states, meaning that a Senator represents the interests of all people of the state (Q24). There are only two Senators from each state, a Republican and a Democrat, making it a total of 100 Senators (Q18). Because a Senator serves for six years, the decisions the Senate makes consider the long-term effect of law (Q19). The Vice President presides over the Senate. In 2018, the Senators for Pennsylvania are Bob Casey, Jr. and Pat Toomey (Q20).

There are two levels of government – the federal and the state government. The federal government makes decisions that affect the entire country, for example, it can print money, declare war, create an army and make treaties (Q41). The state government makes decisions that affect only that state, for example, provide schooling and education, provide protection by having a police force, have fire departments to provide safety, issue driver’s licenses, and approve zoning and land use (Q42). The Governor of Pennsylvania is Tom Wolf (Q43); the capital of Pennsylvania is Harrisburg (Q44).

All government positions that are elective are voted for by the citizens who can vote at the age of 18 (Q54). Citizens can also participate in the political life by joining a political party or a civic group, give elected officials, such as a Senator or a Representative, their opinion on an issue, be it support or opposition, or run for office themselves (Q55). The US has two major political parties: Democratic and Republican (Q45).

When a person becomes a US Citizen, they promise to be loyal to the country and give up loyalty and titles in other countries, follow the US laws and Constitution, and do military or civil work if needed (Q53). People express their support of the country by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, which states that the person reciting it will be loyal to the US Flag and the Republic which it represents, with liberty and justice for all (Q52). However, non-citizens (legal residents) also have responsibilities, such as filing taxes before April 15^th of each year (Q56) and for men, register for selective service between the ages of 18 and 26 (Q57).

The US is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west (Q89), and the Atlantic Ocean on the east (Q90), and shares land borders with Canada to the north (Pennsylvania, Montana (Q92)), and Mexico to the south (New Mexico, Texas (Q93)). The most famous city in the US is New York City, with the iconic Statue of Liberty (Q95), but it’s not the capital, which is Washington D.C. (Q94). It also has some dependent territories in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Caribbean Sea, islands and atolls and reefs, five of which are permanently inhabited: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands (Q91). The US has a river system that’s the fourth longest in the world – the Missouri-Mississippi river system, which consists of two longest US rivers. It starts in Montana as Missouri river, and then, after flowing through the Midwest, joins the Mississippi river in Illinois and empties in the Gulf of Mexico (Q88).

National US holidays are: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, etc (Q100).

[Unshakable Faith 493]

That's great!  Thank you for sharing!

 

Best wishes to you!