Let’s see how much you really know about the United States Constitution. (No peeking at a copy of the Constitution.) Answers will be published along with the results. Click to start the quiz:
Which of the following words does not appear in the Constitution?
- Slave (48%, 63 Votes)
- Magazines (42%, 55 Votes)
- Migration (8%, 11 Votes)
- Ballot (7%, 9 Votes)
- Money (6%, 8 Votes)
- Treaties (2%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 148
Loading ...A president of the United States must have resided within the US for
- 14 years. (78%, 98 Votes)
- 7 years. (15%, 19 Votes)
- 35 years. (13%, 16 Votes)
- 21 years. (3%, 4 Votes)
Total Voters: 137
Loading ...The Supreme Court is tasked with advising Congress as to the constitutionality of proposed legislation.
- False (88%, 120 Votes)
- True (15%, 20 Votes)
Total Voters: 140
Loading ...Which of the following words appears in the Constitution including amendments (either in singlular or plural form)?
- Alcohol (56%, 65 Votes)
- Negro (21%, 24 Votes)
- Erection (15%, 17 Votes)
- Parent (12%, 14 Votes)
- White (8%, 9 Votes)
Total Voters: 129
Loading ...What is a "bill of attainder"?
- Legislation declaring someone guilty without a trial. (73%, 87 Votes)
- Legislation relating to liens on real property. (18%, 21 Votes)
- Legislation allowing troops to acquire lodging in a private home. (11%, 13 Votes)
- Legislation to raise taxes. (8%, 9 Votes)
- Legislation relating to commercial fisheries. (2%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 132
Loading ...Which of the following is not explicitly listed as a power of Congress in the Constitution?
- Protect individual privacy (56%, 68 Votes)
- Promote Science (33%, 40 Votes)
- Punish pirates (7%, 9 Votes)
- Determine the qualifications of its own members (7%, 8 Votes)
- Regulate interstate commerce (4%, 5 Votes)
- Borrow money (2%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 133
Loading ...Which of the following is Congress explicitly prohibited from doing by the Constitution?
- Taxing exports (55%, 61 Votes)
- Making regulations for the Army (35%, 39 Votes)
- Borrowing money (14%, 16 Votes)
- Declaring war (6%, 7 Votes)
- Remove a sitting president from office (1%, 1 Votes)
Total Voters: 124
Loading ...Ah Yuk was summarily sentenced to 30 days hard labor under the Chinese Exclusion Act (an act prohibiting Chinese immigrants from becoming US citizens, and regulating their travel and employment) for being in the US illegally.
This was held to be unconstitutional because:
- It was not unconstitutional. (45%, 54 Votes)
- It violated the equal protection clause. (28%, 34 Votes)
- It was an "ex post facto" law. (11%, 13 Votes)
- It violated the 5th and 6th amendments. (8%, 10 Votes)
- It violated the 8th amendment. (3%, 4 Votes)
- It violated the racial equality clause. (3%, 3 Votes)
- It violated the Law of Nations. (2%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 120
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You didn’t tell us there was going to be a pop quiz! My dog ate my home work…
wow, I got 100%
Actually, you didn’t get 100% 😉 (There might be a debate ensuing here.)
I would have missed a couple myself.
Congratulations to Expelliarmus and Paul Pieniezny for the two perfect scores among blog commenters.
Going to post the correct answers at some point? Re-reading the test again, I looked at one and went- ‘hey what the hell was I thinking when I read this yesterday…”
I didnt finish answering yet
i’m just happy i’m not alone in my answers.
So when do we get our results (I’m not going to assume the popular answer is necessarily the correct one)?
and will my former conlaw professor hang her head in disgust?
OK, let’s confess. I played eenie-meenie-miney-mo on the first question (two that I thought might be correct) and the last one (three I could not eliminate). In these new-fangled multiple choice tests where you also have to fill in how sure you are, I would not have dared to put more than the minimum score choice on the last one.
I would love to say the fact that I live in Belgium helped me on the last one, but no. And 4 I only got right by elimination.
Yeah, I’m still baffled. Where are the correct answers?
I think the “words used in Constitution” part requires keeping in mind that words can have multiple meanings — i.e., that “magazines” are not always something you read, that “erection” usually has nothing to do with sex. I do crossword puzzles a lot in my spare time, so I think I tend to to naturally think in terms of keeping in mind a mental list of various possible definitions of words.
The first one is tricky because the 13th amendment does refer to slavery — it just doesn’t happen to use the word “slave”.
Also, I have a little bit of an issue with the “explicitly prohibited” question — I think the answer is worded too broadly. But there is only one answer that fits, since all of the others are things that are expressly authorized in Article 1, Section 8 (Enumerated powers of Congress).
@ PaulG et al:
An answer sheet will be posted this evening.
Do you grade on a curve?
“Which of the following words does not appear in the Constitution?”
a) birther
b) de Vattel
c) born to two citizen parents
d) dual citizenship
e) Apuzzo, Taitz, Donofrio or Berg
f) all of the above
F) all of the above
I left out long form! Oh well.