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FAU Civic literacy test Preparation # 1 — Transcript

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0:04Hello. Welcome to our civic literacy
0:08workshop number one at Florida Atlantic
0:10University.
0:12My name is Jennifer Bebergal. I'm the
0:14Associate Dean for
0:16retention and academic support here at
0:18FAU. And I have prepared these workshops
0:22to help prepare you for one of your
0:24graduation requirements, the civic
0:26literacy exam.
0:28So, we're going to go ahead and get it
0:30started. This is workshop number one,
0:32the US Constitution and the founding of
0:34our country. It's a focus on history and
0:38government.
0:44So,
0:45we're going to cover in this workshop
0:47the civic literacy requirement and the
0:49prac- and you'll take a short practice
0:51test. Then we'll get into the basics of
0:53US history. We'll start from when the
0:55colonists came to the U- to the United
0:58States, why they came here, why they
1:00declared their independence, the
1:02creation of the Constitution and the
1:04amendments. There's a heavy emphasis on
1:06the civic literacy exam on the
1:08Constitution and the amendments, so
1:10we'll spend quite a bit of time on that.
1:13And then we're going to cover some other
1:14areas related to history. So, a little
1:16bit we'll touch on the wars, uh the
1:18presidents, other key figures that you
1:20would need to know. Then the latter half
1:22of this workshop will focus on basic
1:24concepts of government. So, the three
1:26bra- branches of government, what each
1:28branch is responsible for,
1:30the balance between state and federal
1:32government, the powers of each,
1:33separation of powers, and the concept of
1:37federalism.
1:38Then we'll review the practice test, see
1:40how you did, and how you would do now
1:42after you've received this information.
1:44And then we're going to talk about
1:46future workshops and some testing
1:47reminders. So again, this is the first
1:50workshop. There are two additional
1:51workshops. Workshop number two uh
1:54focuses on 22 landmark Supreme Court
1:57cases that are also heavily emphasized
2:00on the civic literacy test. And the
2:02third workshop is a practice test for
2:05the exam. We go over some games, some
2:08Kahoot's to help you learn the
2:09information.
2:10Basically a review session.
2:13So what is the civic literacy
2:14requirement? So the civic literacy
2:16requirement was passed by the Florida
2:18Florida legislature in 2018
2:21and it requires that all students since
2:23fall of 2018
2:25uh in order to receive any degree,
2:27associates or bachelor's degree from a
2:30Florida State College or State
2:32University, they're required to
2:34demonstrate proficiency in civic
2:36literacy. So you can do that through
2:38several different ways. There are
2:39courses you can complete to meet that.
2:41Uh while you were in high school, you
2:42could have passed a couple of different
2:44AP tests to satisfy that. However, if
2:46you're here, chances are you haven't
2:48done either of those and you don't
2:50intend to take the government of the US
2:52or the US history course that can
2:54satisfy this. So the civic literacy test
2:57is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest
2:59way. In fact, it's completely free to
3:02satisfy this requirement. So the civic
3:04literacy test, and I will show you at
3:06the end of this workshop how to sign up.
3:08It is offered through the FAU Office of
3:10Testing and Evaluation. It is completely
3:13free to take the test on campus. You
3:16just sign up, go to the testing center.
3:18It is offered every day that the
3:20university is open Monday through
3:21Friday. Um typically every hour between
3:249:00 and 2:00. You have 2 hours to take
3:27the exam,
3:28but most students finish it in well
3:30under an hour.
3:31The exam is 100 multiple choice
3:34questions. There is no penalty for
3:36guessing and you only need to get 60%
3:39correct. Worst case, if you don't pass
3:42it on your first attempt, you can take
3:43it again as soon as you are ready and it
3:46is no charge to take it again.
3:48So out of 100 questions to earn 60%
3:51clearly you only need to get 60 of the
3:53questions right. Um and it doesn't
3:55matter what you score. A 60 is just as
3:58good as a 98 on that test. It doesn't
4:01show on your transcript that you scored
4:03a certain score. It just shows the civic
4:05literacy requirement has been met.
4:08So, we're going to start off today
4:10finding out what you already know. We do
4:12have a practice test available to you
4:14online.
4:17And
4:19I'm going to switch over
4:21to the doc cam.
4:25So, what I'm going to do in a moment is
4:27going to ask you to stop the recording.
4:31We will pause and for you to go onto the
4:33Canvas site and download the practice
4:35test. It is about 20 questions. Um you
4:38may see
4:40about 31 questions on yours. You can
4:42answer all 31 of them or just go through
4:44the first 20. Once you complete that, um
4:48then you can unpause the video and
4:49continue. When you take the test, I
4:51would like to encourage you to put a
4:54star next to the ones you feel really
4:56confident about. Like if I took the test
4:58right now, I know that I got the right
5:00answer on this. And then the questions
5:02you're not quite sure about, put a
5:03question mark next to and hopefully by
5:05the end of this workshop, those question
5:07marks will turn into stars.
5:09So, you can go ahead and pause this
5:12video now, download and take your quiz,
5:15and then restart when you are ready.
5:26Okay, welcome back.
5:28So, how did you do?
5:30It's okay if you didn't know a lot of
5:32them because again, that's why you're
5:34taking this test this course this
5:36workshop.
5:37So, we're going to start again with the
5:38basics of US history. So, everything
5:41from the founding of the United States
5:42from the colonists coming from Great
5:44Britain, declaring their independence
5:46from Great Britain,
5:47the original Constitution, maybe you
5:50remember what that was called, and then
5:52the US Constitution, which we know of
5:53today and for last over 200 years. The
5:56amendments of those of the US
5:59Constitution and the first 10
6:00amendments, which are called hopefully
6:02you know the Bill of Rights. And then uh
6:05a little bit of how the Constitution set
6:07up the structure of government, although
6:08the structure of government will be the
6:10second part of this workshop. And then
6:12we'll go over some other things that are
6:14in the study guide for this workshop
6:15that you may see a few questions on.
6:17Things like presidents, political
6:18parties, wars, key figures, and how we
6:21grew the United States from the original
6:22colonies to the 50 states we have today.
6:26So, as we get started, I'm going to tell
6:29you which questions you probably want to
6:31put the most emphasis on studying or the
6:33concepts you want to emphasize studying,
6:35and those that you might not put as much
6:38time if you don't remember, because you
6:40might only see one or two questions. So,
6:42if you get a question on the civic
6:43literacy test and you're not sure of the
6:45answer, hopefully through process of
6:47elimination you can narrow it narrow
6:49down some of the incorrect choices and
6:51have a good chance of guessing the right
6:52answer. But, don't get too hung up if
6:55you don't know something. You have 99
6:57other questions that you can hopefully
6:59get it right. So, one question you're
7:01likely to find is about the colonial
7:03period and the 13 original colonies. So,
7:05again, there were 13 original colonies.
7:07In the 1600s, groups of people came from
7:10Great Britain to the new land and they
7:13established these 13 colonies. If you
7:16don't remember them, you may not spend
7:17too much time studying this, but the
7:20original 13 colonies are listed on your
7:22screen here. Um you also should have,
7:24and if you haven't done that, you can
7:26pause this now and download the
7:28PowerPoint. You may want to even print
7:29that out so you can take notes alongside
7:32um and study right along while we're
7:34going through this through this
7:35presentation. The PowerPoint that you
7:37see here is available for you on the
7:38Canvas site in my the first module.
7:43Um so there are 13 original colonies.
7:45They pretty much formed along the
7:47eastern seaboard of what is now the
7:49United States. Make sense, right? The
7:51boats came over from Great Britain, they
7:53landed, and they established along the
7:55water. Water also made it easier for
7:57travel and for trade. So, if you're
8:00asked a question, usually it's uh which
8:03of the following were not colonies or
8:06all of the following were original
8:08colonies except, and you would find the
8:11one that is not correct. So, remember
8:13there are three colonies that started
8:15with new: New Hampshire, New York, and
8:18New Jersey. There is only one uh of the
8:21colonies that had a V in it, and that is
8:23Virginia. So, if you see West Virginia,
8:25you know that can't be right. If you see
8:27Vermont, you know that can't be right.
8:30Um so the colony stretched as far north
8:32as New Hampshire, which means Vermont
8:34and Maine were not original colonies. It
8:37went from New Hampshire all the way down
8:39the southern coast through to Georgia.
8:41Florida was not part of the original
8:43colonies, neither was Alabama, but these
8:45are the colonies to know. So, many of
8:47them you probably heard about in your
8:49history classes if you took US history
8:51at any point during your education. So,
8:53things like uh state colonies that are
8:56now states like Massachusetts, Rhode
8:58Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania,
9:00Virginia were big colonies that had a
9:03lot to do with the forming of the United
9:04States.
9:07So, why did the colonists come to
9:09America? So, there are three main
9:10reasons that you should remember. And
9:12again, you are often asked this as a
9:14question that might say, "Colonists came
9:16to America for all of the following
9:18except." So, the reasons that would be
9:21correct, that are reasons they did come
9:23to the United States, religious freedom
9:25was a main one. So, if you think about
9:27what was happening in Europe in the
9:281600s, many of the countries in Europe
9:32had state religions or religion for
9:35their country. To live in that country,
9:36you had to practice and follow the
9:38religion that was established. And they
9:40wanted religious freedom, and that is
9:41one of the key founding principles of
9:44the United States. They also wanted to
9:46escape persecution, whether it was for
9:48their religious beliefs, their political
9:49beliefs, and to find new economic
9:51opportunities in the New World.
9:54So, you may see a question about the May
9:57that includes the Mayflower Compact.
9:59They might be asking about original
10:01forms of government. So, when the
10:03colonists came to America, they created
10:04this Mayflower Compact to try to create
10:07some kind of self-government, but it
10:09didn't really hold a tremendous amount
10:10of water because they were still bound
10:13to the rules of the mother country in
10:15Great Britain.
10:17So, that is part of what then led the
10:20colonists to want to declare their
10:22independence. So, after about 100 years
10:25of British rule in the New World,
10:28the colonists started to be upset. They
10:30said, "You know, here we are an ocean
10:32away, and we're still bound by rules of
10:34people
10:36they're taxing us, we don't have
10:37representation." You might have
10:38remembered the Boston Tea Party, right?
10:40The big cry, "No taxation without
10:42representation." That was one of the
10:44main reasons we declared independence.
10:46So, you don't want to confuse why we
10:48came to the colonies versus why we
10:51declared independence from Great
10:52Britain. So, we declared our
10:54independence from Great Britain for
10:55different reasons. We came to the
10:57colonies for religious freedom, to
10:59escape persecution, for economic
11:01opportunity, but then we declared our
11:03independence for reasons like trying to
11:06not be taxed without representation. Our
11:09voice isn't heard. How can you determine
11:11how to tax us?
11:12Also, they had something called
11:14quartering. Quartering is a concept you
11:16want to remember because when we go
11:18through the amendments, the Third
11:19Amendment prohibits quartering. So, your
11:21quarters, if you think of quarters, it
11:23is your home, right? You stay in your
11:24quarters. So, back in this time,
11:28um when the British soldiers came to the
11:31states, usually to protect the citizens
11:34here in the colonies, but sometimes to
11:36keep order. They didn't have Holiday Inn
11:39or Marriott. They didn't have army
11:41barracks, so many of them would stay in
11:43the homes of the colonists. And I don't
11:46know about you, but I wouldn't really
11:47feel good if all of a sudden I got a
11:48knock on my door and was forced without
11:51my um
11:52decision to house the uh
11:56the British soldiers. So, that was
11:58called quartering. So, we did not want
11:59So, we did we wanted to break from
12:01British rule because of taxation without
12:04representation, quartering of soldiers,
12:06and we wanted our own self-government.
12:09Why are we under British rule when we're
12:11an ocean away? We wanted to create our
12:13own government. So, not everyone
12:15believed what was going on. They didn't
12:18Not everyone felt that we should break
12:19from British rule. So, one of the things
12:22that you should know is Common Sense by
12:24Thomas Paine. It was actually pamphlets
12:27that Thomas Paine um wrote and
12:29distributed trying to convince the
12:32colonists to declare independence and
12:34break from British rule. In a little
12:36while when we're talking about ratifying
12:38the Constitution, we'll talk about
12:40another sense set of papers that was
12:42written to try to get by in to ratify
12:45the Constitution and we'll come back to
12:47Common Sense by Thomas Paine.
12:50Okay. So, we weren't happy because we we
12:54didn't like quartering soldiers, we
12:55didn't like being tax taxed without
12:57representation, and we wanted
12:59self-government. So, we were convinced
13:01that we are going to go ahead and
13:04declare our independence. So, hopefully
13:06you know Independence Day in the United
13:08States is celebrated on July 4th. So, in
13:11July 4th, 1776,
13:13when the Second Continental Congress was
13:15meeting, they they voted to accept this
13:18Declaration of Independence, which
13:20announced our independence from Great
13:22Britain.
13:23So, the Declaration of Independence has
13:25some ideas about the American system of
13:27government that we wanted to create. So,
13:29you may know some of this language. It
13:31might sound familiar to this. So, in the
13:33Declaration of Independence, we'll find
13:35some language such as, "We hold these
13:37truths to be self-evident, that all men
13:40are created equal.
13:42They have certain unalienable rights um
13:45which are endowed by their creator." So,
13:47let's look talk really quickly about
13:49some of those concepts.
13:51So, when we talk about all men being
13:53created equal, remember this is 1776.
13:57They probably meant white males, right?
14:00They didn't mean all men, but the
14:02concept was that we're breaking from
14:04what we saw in Britain, which was a
14:06monarchy, that people were born into
14:08certain social classes. And here we're
14:10saying, "All people are born into this
14:12equal system that anyone can become a
14:14leader in our country. You don't have to
14:16be born into it." These are unalienable
14:18rights endowed by our creator by their
14:20creator. So, they're given to us by that
14:24overpowering being, which I find it
14:26interesting. We wanted religious
14:28freedom, but endowed by their creator, I
14:30think implies some kind of religious
14:32belief in there, that there is a higher
14:34being. Um but they're given to each of
14:36us at birth. These are unalienable
14:38rights no one can take away from us.
14:40So, these were some of the concepts that
14:42we would find in our Declaration of
14:43Independence.
14:45Um the Declaration of Independence also
14:48stated that all people have a right to
14:52life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
14:55So, that was one of the quiz questions
14:56maybe you got right.
14:58And I find that really a great concept
15:00that our founding fathers thought it was
15:02so important that certainly it makes
15:04sense that we have life and liberty, but
15:06that our happiness was just as important
15:09to be uh
15:10in such a seminal document. So, the
15:13Declaration of Independence was signed
15:15on July 4, 1776. The main author was
15:18Thomas Jefferson, but it was signed by
15:2055 men. Um the one that you might
15:23recognize is John Hancock. His signature
15:26was a large Hancock on was a large
15:28signature on the Declaration of
15:30Independence, and you may hear it
15:32referred to um, when someone asks for
15:34your signature, give me your John
15:35Hancock. That's because his signature
15:37was so easily recognized.
15:41So, now we've declared our independence,
15:43we fought in the Revolutionary War, we
15:45won, we declared independence from Great
15:47Britain. Now, what are we going to do?
15:49We had these colonists, and they had to
15:51set up some kind of self-government. We
15:53no longer have British rule. What is our
15:55government structure going to look like?
15:58So, they disestablished they established
16:00these Articles of Confederation. This
16:02was our original plan for government in
16:04the United States, and it looked at all
16:07the things that we didn't want to be
16:09like Great Britain. So, they were so
16:11afraid of uh,
16:13having too much federal power, too much
16:15power in one body, that they gave very
16:18little control to the federal
16:20government, and left a lot of the power
16:22to the states. Well, unfortunately, this
16:25weak central government didn't really
16:27work. It was hard to build a nation when
16:29there was nothing holding it together.
16:32So,
16:33it really failed. So, after about 10
16:36years later, we declared independence in
16:381776,
16:40and in 1989 or sorry, 1789,
16:44we had our US Constitution.
16:47So, the US Constitution basically they
16:50looked at the Articles of Confederation,
16:52and it's kind of like when you write a
16:53rough draft of a paper, sometimes you
16:55can make edits to improve that paper,
16:57and other times you say, "I'm going to
16:59crumple that paper up, throw it away."
17:01Or in modern times, just hit delete or
17:03new document, and start over from
17:06scratch. And that's what they decided to
17:07do. They really got rid of the Articles
17:10Confederation and built an entirely new
17:12document as the US Constitution. The US
17:15Constitution has been standing since
17:161789, so it's over 230 years old and it
17:21is called the supreme law of the land.
17:23If you see a test question asking about
17:25the supreme law of the land, you know
17:27they are referring to the US
17:28Constitution. So it was written in 1787
17:32and in 1789 it was ratified, which means
17:34it was accepted and voted on and passed
17:37by this the states as the supreme law of
17:40the land. It establishes what we call a
17:43representative democracy. So we are a
17:46democracy, which means people vote and
17:47make decisions and it is representative.
17:50You may see a question that asks you
17:53which part of our government is the
17:55closest illustration of representative
17:57democracy. And they'd be talking about
17:59the areas of government, the branches of
18:01government being the executive, the
18:03judicial, and then the two houses of
18:06Congress, Senate and the House of
18:08Representatives. The House of
18:09Representatives is the most
18:10representative part of our democracy
18:13because they are most closely related,
18:15right? We We would vote for two senators
18:18from the entire state of Florida, but in
18:20Palm Beach County we have several
18:21representatives just for our area alone.
18:25So when they created the Constitution,
18:27it was listing some rights of all
18:29citizens and the Constitution, an
18:32important thing to know is it protects
18:34the rights of all citizens and people
18:37living in the United States. So that
18:39includes someone who might have a green
18:41card, illegal aliens or undocumented
18:44citizens. If you live in the United
18:46States, you are protected by the
18:48Constitution.
18:49So the In addition to the representative
18:51democracy, we set up and defined a
18:54federalist government. So the concept of
18:56federalism comes up on the civic
18:57literacy test pretty often. Federalism
19:00means a balance of powers. It is a
19:02balance between state and federal
19:05rights. So if you remember when we
19:07established the first Constitution,
19:09which was called
19:10the Articles of Confederation. The
19:13Articles of Confederation gave all of
19:14the power to the states and that didn't
19:16work. But we were afraid of giving too
19:18much power to the federal government
19:20because we didn't want to have a type of
19:22government like we had in Great Britain.
19:24So how are we going to get that balance?
19:26And it's the concept called federalism.
19:28So federalism is that balance of state
19:31and national power, state and federal
19:33power.
19:34Um another thing that you should be
19:36familiar with that will is most likely
19:39going to show up on your civic literacy
19:40test is they might ask a question what
19:43words in the Constitution set up this
19:46concept of self-government?
19:48And that is we the people. We the
19:50people, the first three words in the
19:52preamble of our Constitution is
19:55basically saying we are um giving you
19:59permission
20:00we the people of these United States are
20:03saying this is the government that we
20:04want.
20:05This is the government that we have
20:07selected. So that's almost always a uh
20:10concept that's asked about on the civic
20:12literacy test.
20:14So when they wrote the Constitution,
20:17um they wrote that this is a country a
20:20government of laws and not of men and no
20:23person or group is above the law. It
20:26means that everyone um
20:28everyone in these United States must
20:30follow the law. There is no person or
20:32position in the land that is not bound
20:35by these laws. And you can imagine which
20:37position in the United States might
20:41people might feel that they might be
20:42above the law.
20:44In fact, uh when I'm recording this
20:46video in 2020, I don't know how long
20:48this video will be around, but this
20:50phrase has been used quite frequently um
20:53in our Congress in the past few months
20:57as Nancy Pelosi who is our current
20:59speaker of the house and some other
21:01Congress people are talking about um the
21:05impeachment hearings for President uh
21:07Donald Trump and saying that no one is
21:10above the law and Trump has to follow,
21:13the President has to follow the law of
21:14the land.
21:15When you get to workshop two, you will
21:17see there is one of the 22 cases is US
21:20versus Nixon, which talks about when
21:23Nixon was President and he felt that he
21:25was above the law and they came out and
21:27said no one is above the law. That is
21:29called the rule of law. So, if you see
21:31on your civic literacy test a question
21:33about what is the rule of law, it should
21:35simply state no one is above the law.
21:38Everyone must follow the law.
21:40Okay, so when we talked about earlier
21:43when we were declaring our independence,
21:44we said that there were some pamphlets
21:46written. Hopefully you remember what
21:48that pamphlet was called and who the
21:50author was.
21:51So, we're going to talk about another
21:52writing now. The original writing that
21:55was to help convince the people to
21:58declare independence from Great Britain
22:00was Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Now,
22:04we're talking about the Federalist
22:05Papers. So, the Federalist Papers were
22:08trying to convince the ratification or
22:11acceptance of the US Constitution.
22:14So, this was a series of 85 essays
22:17written to support passing the US
22:18Constitution.
22:20They were primary primarily written by
22:22Alexander Hamilton with James Madison
22:25and John Jay. They were written under a
22:26pen name, which is Publius, and they
22:29were published in New York papers to get
22:30the people in New York to agree to
22:33ratify the Constitution. So, very famous
22:36set of writings that talked about why we
22:39should have this type of government. So,
22:41remember that concept of federalism is
22:43that balance that there were some powers
22:45that the state has and some powers the
22:47federal government has. So, neither one
22:49could be too strong, but they were
22:51strong enough each on their own so that
22:54we could make our government work.
22:56Anti-Federalists were people who opposed
22:59the Constitution because they really
23:00wanted that weak federal government.
23:02They wanted the powers to remain in the
23:04states. But ultimately the federalists
23:07won out because we do have the
23:08constitution that we have today.
23:11Okay, so when the constitution was
23:13written and you typically won't see a
23:15question about the structure of the
23:16constitution but it is a preamble that
23:19starts with We the People. Hopefully you
23:21remember sets up that concept of
23:23self-government and then there are it is
23:24followed by seven articles. Each of
23:26those articles define a function of
23:29government. So article one established
23:32the legislative branch, article two the
23:34executive branch, article three I
23:37believe the judicial branch and then
23:38some of the concepts in our
23:40constitution. You usually aren't asked
23:43what each article does on the test so I
23:44wouldn't spend too much time worrying
23:46about that but something as a citizen
23:47you should know.
23:49Um but they looked back four years after
23:52this was ratified so the constitution
23:54was ratified in 1789.
23:56It was written in 1787 and a couple
23:58years later they said you know the
24:00constitution's great but it doesn't do
24:01enough to protect the people. It really
24:04just set up the structure of government.
24:05So in order to protect the rights of our
24:07citizens we need to make some changes.
24:10So an amendment is considered a change
24:13or an addition. So amendments become
24:16part of the constitution and the first
24:1810 amendments are called the Bill of
24:20Rights. All 10 of those amendments the
24:23Bill of Rights were ratified or passed
24:26at the same time in 1791 just two years
24:29after the constitution was ratified.
24:32It is not easy to change our
24:33constitution, right? We said this is the
24:35supreme law of the land. You wouldn't
24:37want people to easily change it. There's
24:39only been about 30 to 32 times that
24:44something has made it on a ballot
24:46to be approved by voters in order to
24:50become an amendment to the US
24:51constitution but there have only been
24:54the first 10 and then there are a total
24:57of 27 amendments, so 17 times since the
25:00Bill of Rights has an amendment passed.
25:03So, to make it not easy and this is
25:05often a test question, they may ask you
25:07which of the following are required in
25:09order for to make it amendment to or for
25:13an amendment to be ratified
25:15to the Constitution. So, amendments can
25:17only be made and it's listed on your
25:19handout and on the screen here, 2/3 vote
25:22in Senate and the House or by a special
25:24convention requested by the states. Um
25:27so far all of our amendments that have
25:29passed have come from the 2/3 vote in
25:31the Senate and the House of
25:32Representatives.
25:33And then once they have that amendment
25:36that passes through both houses, then it
25:39goes on the ballot for each of the
25:40states in a in a federal election and
25:42the amendments must then be ratified by
25:443/4 of the states. It's a pretty hefty
25:47process to get one passed and like I
25:48said, there are currently 27 total
25:51amendments.
25:53So, we're going to spend a significant
25:55amount of time on the amendments because
25:57probably about a third of your test
25:58questions will be in some way related to
26:01the amendments, possibly even more
26:03because many of the Supreme Court cases
26:05are
26:06related to amendments as well. So, we
26:08want to make sure you have a really
26:09strong understanding of these
26:11amendments. So, the first amendment is
26:13probably the one that many people are
26:15familiar with and has the most kind of
26:18independent pieces in it. So, the first
26:20amendment deals with all things related
26:22to your freedom of expression. You
26:24express yourself in many different ways.
26:25You express yourself in your oral
26:27communication, your written
26:28communication, so speech and writing, in
26:31how you practice religion,
26:34um
26:34how you assemble, how you petition
26:36government. So, there are five major
26:38category four major categories here,
26:41freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
26:43freedom of assembly, freedom of the
26:45press, I was right, five, and freedom to
26:47petition the government. So, one of
26:49those concepts that you will see time
26:51and time again on your civic literacy
26:53test is this concept of freedom of
26:55religion, which is called the free
26:57exercise clause. So, if you are asked a
27:00question, what does the free exercise
27:02clause do? It is part of the First
27:04Amendment. And if you remember, one of
27:06the main reasons the colonists came to
27:08the colonies, which became the United
27:11States, was for this freedom of
27:13religion. They did not want to have a
27:14set state religion. So, what the free
27:17exercise clause says is that anyone in
27:20the United States has the right to
27:21practice any religion they choose or no
27:25religion at all. And that's an important
27:27concept there. So, free exercise means
27:30the freedom to practice any religion you
27:32choose or no religion at all.
27:35Um
27:36So, we will talk more about the First
27:38Amendment as we go through these. So,
27:41your next few slides are going to be
27:43specifically the different amendments.
27:45The first slide here is the first 10
27:47amendments, which is called referred to
27:49as
27:50the Bill of Rights.
27:52Um so, we talked about the First
27:53Amendment, which deals with freedom free
27:55exercise, right? Free exercise of
27:58religion, freedom of speech, freedom of
27:59the press, right to peacefully assemble,
28:02and right to petition the government.
28:04And remember, these are rights for
28:05everyone in the United States regardless
28:08of citizenship. So, anyone living in the
28:10United States, an undocumented
28:13uh immigrant would have the opportunity
28:15to petition the government. They have
28:17the right to peacefully assemble.
28:19Um Second Amendment is one that's very
28:22controversial. It comes up quite often,
28:24particularly when there are mass
28:26shootings. Um and many of you may know
28:29the biggest proponent for this
28:31amendment, which is the NRA or the
28:33National Rifle Association. So, the sec-
28:36Second Amendment protects the right to
28:39keep and bear arms. So, a lot of debate
28:42has been about this, and you will we
28:43will talk about uh in the second
28:45workshop also landmark Supreme Court
28:47case that deals with this. But, what did
28:50the founding fathers mean when they said
28:52the right to bear and keep arms? Was it
28:54so that in these new United States, we
28:56were able to establish an army and a
28:58militia to protect ourselves? Or it is
29:00for the is it for the individual right
29:02of the individual person to protect
29:04themselves? Or what does it mean?
29:07So, that's something that's continually,
29:10but it basically deals with the right to
29:12bear arms for guns.
29:14The Third Amendment we talked about a
29:15little bit earlier is prohibits the
29:18quartering of soldiers in private homes.
29:20So, remember one of the reasons that we
29:22declared our independence was we didn't
29:24like being required to house soldiers in
29:27our homes in the colonies. So, the Third
29:29Amendment prohibits this.
29:32The Fourth Amendment uh, prohibits
29:35unreasonable search and seizure, and it
29:37sets out requirements for search
29:39warrants. So, we will have two landmark
29:41Supreme Court cases we will talk about
29:43that deal with Fourth Amendment. When
29:44are they allowed to use evidence that's
29:46found in a in a search? What are the
29:48requirements for search warrants, etc.
29:51The Fifth Amendment, many of you may
29:53have heard of several of these things.
29:55The Fifth Amendment has several concepts
29:56in it. The first one um, that I'm going
29:59to talk about is eminent domain. Eminent
30:01domain is a little bit different here.
30:03So, eminent domain is the the concept
30:07that the government has the right to
30:09take land from private land owners as
30:13long as they compensate them fairly. So,
30:15the Fifth Amendment is really
30:17establishing different policies and what
30:19the steps are to do things. So, this set
30:21out what the policies are. So, when
30:24would this ever happen? When would the
30:25government come and take our private
30:27homes? So, for example, when we were
30:30when we were building and expanding the
30:32country, we had to put things in place
30:34like highways and railroads. So, imagine
30:36you're building a railroad as you're
30:38moving west through these, you know,
30:39treacherous mountain ranges, and it's
30:41really hard to navigate, and you have
30:43the perfect path, but someone's house is
30:45sitting right on that path you need for
30:46that railway. And if you don't build
30:48through where that house is, you would
30:50have to go around mountains and cause
30:52months of additional labor and might
30:55never finish this railroad. So, you can
30:57then go, as long as you provide fair
30:59compensation for that individual, take
31:02their home to continue the work. It is
31:04not done often as far as I know. Um and
31:07I do want to establish one thing, I am
31:09not a political scientist, I am not a
31:12historian. I learned this content when
31:14this became a requirement for students
31:16to graduate, so that I could help you
31:18learn the material you need to graduate.
31:20So, certainly if you want more
31:21information, talk to a historian, talk
31:24to a constitutional law expert. And
31:26they'll be happy to share with you.
31:28Um but the Fifth Amendment also deals
31:30with a lot of things in legal realm. So,
31:32it set it protects rights of due
31:33process. So, what is due process? Due
31:35process make sure that every person gets
31:39follows the same requirements. So, for
31:41example, if someone is arrested, there
31:43is a process that has to be followed.
31:46How long can you hold them before you
31:47press charges? What happens once you
31:50have pressed charges? How long do they
31:52have until they can be arraigned? What
31:54is the process for all this? What is the
31:55process for bail? So, all of these
31:57things to keep equity, to keep fairness
31:59in the system, so we don't have one set
32:01of rules for one person and a different
32:02set for another. That's called due
32:04process. We'll see due process come up
32:06again in the 14th Amendment. Um the
32:08Fifth Amendment also
32:10protects people against
32:11self-incrimination and double jeopardy.
32:14So, we're going to talk about double
32:15jeopardy first. Double jeopardy is the
32:16concept that if you are accused of a
32:18crime and then you are later acquitted
32:21of that crime, you are found not guilty,
32:24they cannot then find different new
32:26evidence and come back and try you for
32:28the same crime twice.
32:30So, for example, if I were accused of
32:33murder and I went to trial and I was
32:36acquitted, and later they came back with
32:37new DNA evidence, or they came back with
32:40a video showing that I had actually
32:42committed that murder, they could not
32:44charge me with that same crime. Now, if
32:46there was evidence for a new crime, they
32:48could certainly do that. And that's
32:50called double jeopardy when you can't be
32:51tried for the same crime twice. The
32:53other concept in the Fifth Amendment is
32:55self-incrimination.
32:57So, that means that if I am being
32:59questioned and I know that the answer to
33:01my question is going to show my guilt, I
33:04do not have to answer it. So, you may
33:06have heard people on a witness stand in
33:08the movies saying, "I plead the fifth."
33:12That's saying that they're pleading the
33:13Fifth Amendment. They're using their
33:14right to not self-incriminate.
33:17So, that is in there. And we will be
33:18dealing with a landmark Supreme Court
33:20case, uh Miranda versus Arizona. You may
33:22have heard your Miranda rights, which
33:24tells you you have the right to remain
33:26silent. That is uh for the Fifth
33:28Amendment, and that is one of the
33:29Supreme Court cases we'll discuss.
33:31The Sixth Amendment deals with things
33:34like a fair and speedy public trial by
33:36jury. So, it says that you're not going
33:37to have one judge necessarily
33:40um making decisions, but that it will
33:42the
33:43the justice will proceed quickly, and
33:45that you do have the right to a jury
33:47trial in many cases.
33:48Um you also have the right to know who
33:52accused you, to confront the accuser, to
33:55have witnesses, things like that. Um and
33:58the other piece that's really important
33:59is the ability to retain counsel, right?
34:02So, we know from if you've watched
34:04television like I do, Law & Order,
34:06hopefully you don't know this from
34:07personal experience, the Miranda law,
34:09which says you have the right to remain
34:10silent, right? That's that Fifth
34:12Amendment self-incrimination. Anything
34:13you say can you can and will be used
34:15against you. And you have the right to
34:17an attorney. This is the ability to
34:20retain counsel in the Sixth Amendment.
34:22We will talk about a second landmark
34:23Supreme Court case that talked about
34:26what happens if you cannot afford an
34:27attorney. Um and we'll talk about that
34:29in the second workshop.
34:31The Seventh Amendment is to the Sixth
34:34Amendment, but Amendment, but it's
34:36dealing with in civil cases. So, a
34:38criminal case versus a civil case. A
34:40criminal proceeding, so for example, if
34:42there's a car accident and the person
34:44was driving under the influence and
34:46injured someone, that would be
34:47considered criminal and bound by the
34:49Sixth Amendment. In Seventh Amendment,
34:51if that person was in a car accident and
34:54it was just an accident, there was no
34:55real fault um
34:57that was criminally negligent, then they
35:00would have the right to a jury trial and
35:01things like that in civil cases.
35:04Eighth Amendment deals with um excessive
35:08fines, excessive bail, cruel and unusual
35:10punishment. Basically, this was
35:11establishing that um
35:14you can't have a
35:16punishment that doesn't fit the crime.
35:18So, you can't be accused of uh
35:21jaywalking and get a $10,000 fine for
35:24that or a year in jail for something
35:27that would be considered minor.
35:29The Ninth Amendment and the Tenth
35:31Amendment we're going to talk about
35:32together because they're really
35:33interesting. So, the Ninth Amendment
35:35protects rights not enumerated, which
35:37means spelled out, described in the
35:38Constitution. The Tenth Amendment
35:40reinforces that concept of federalism,
35:43saying that the federal government only
35:45has powers that are defined in the
35:47Constitution and not um anything that's
35:50not defined in the Constitution belongs
35:52to the state. So, remember we talked
35:54about this concept in the when the
35:57Constitution laid out what government
35:59can do.
36:01The Constitution only spells out what
36:04the federal government can do. Anything
36:06that is not in the Constitution is
36:08considered a state uh power.
36:11With a couple of exceptions. So, that's
36:13where we get into the the
36:15uh Ninth and Tenth Amendments. So,
36:18for example, I have my cell phone here.
36:21When they were writing the Constitution
36:23back in 1787,
36:25they didn't have a way to know that
36:27there would be video workshops and cell
36:30phones and computers. They didn't even
36:33have electricity, right? So, at that
36:36point, they couldn't necessarily think
36:38of every possibility that would be
36:39required. So, there is something in our
36:41Constitution called the necessary and
36:44proper clause or the elastic clause. And
36:47what that means is that the Constitution
36:50spells out what the what the federal
36:52government can do.
36:53But, there are also things that might
36:55not be spelled out in the Constitution
36:57that are necessary and proper for the
37:00government to carry out the work they
37:02need to do.
37:03So, we'll talk about that in one of the
37:05landmark Supreme Court cases where which
37:08deals with banks, right? So, the federal
37:10government has the power to print money.
37:13That is one of the powers described in
37:14the Constitution. They have the power to
37:16collect taxes. Well, it didn't say they
37:18have the power to create a bank.
37:20But, that is something that was
37:22necessary and proper for them to be able
37:24to do the business that is required
37:26under the Constitution for them. So,
37:28that is considered necessary and proper.
37:29And you can think of it, it's also
37:30called the elastic clause. When we
37:32stretch an elastic band, this allows us
37:35to stretch what the Constitution allows
37:37to fit in what we need to be able to do
37:40our jobs.
37:42So, but it is important to know that
37:44anything that is not spelled out in the
37:45Constitution and is not necessary and
37:47proper for the federal government to do
37:49the things that are required in the
37:51Constitution, that it is a power of the
37:53state.
37:55Okay. So, that was the Bill of Rights.
37:58Deep breath. We are moving on to the
38:00other amendments. So, the other 17
38:01amendments. The 11th 11th.
38:05This is where I talk too much. The 11th
38:06Amendment deals with uh sovereign
38:09immunity, which basically limits how um
38:12the accountability for different states
38:14for people who are outside of those
38:16areas.
38:18The 12th Amendment changed the
38:20presidential election process. Before
38:22the 12th Amendment, you would vote for
38:24two two for different candidates. The
38:26one who got the most votes became
38:27president, the second most would become
38:29vice president. You can imagine how that
38:31might not work, especially if they're
38:33from dueling parties. So, this changed
38:35it so that the president runs on a
38:37ticket. You elect a president and a vice
38:40president together.
38:42Haven't seen any questions on the 11th
38:44or 12th Amendment, but important for you
38:46to know anyway.
38:48Now we get into important stuff. So, the
38:4913th Amendment abolished slavery. So,
38:52think back. Who was president at the
38:54time?
38:55So, this was at the end of the Civil
38:56War. Abraham Lincoln was president. He
38:59wrote
38:59He stated the Emancipation Proclamation
39:02and the 13th Amendment Amendment which
39:04was passed, which is abolishes slavery
39:07and involuntary servitude except as a
39:09punishment for crime. So, when someone
39:11is in prison, we can require them to
39:14work while they are in prison, but they
39:16we cannot have slavery.
39:19After the 13th Amendment, these next
39:21couple that follow were things trying to
39:23put in place. So, we didn't just abolish
39:24slavery and all of a sudden everything
39:26was wonderful for black and African
39:28American citizens.
39:30Things didn't really change that
39:31quickly. So, the 14th Amendment was put
39:33into place. First, it defined
39:34citizenship. Before that, you might
39:36remember the 3/5 rule that slaves were
39:39were not even considered a person and we
39:41will talk about a Supreme landmark
39:43Supreme Court case, Dred Scott versus
39:46Sanford, where we see that they wouldn't
39:49even the Supreme Court wouldn't even
39:50rule because the African American slave
39:53wasn't considered a citizen. So, it
39:55defined citizenship.
39:57We see this word due process again
39:59again. So, this is looking at the rights
40:01for people and making sure things are
40:03fair. And the most important part of
40:05this would be what we call the equal
40:07protection clause. So, think about what
40:09we might mean by equal protection. Who
40:11might need equal protection? Obviously,
40:14in this time period we were talking
40:15about the ending of slavery. So, we were
40:17talking about equal protection in the
40:20eyes of the law for our black and
40:22African-American citizens, but that is
40:25also encompassing other
40:27um groups of people as well. So, equal
40:30protection can be applied in terms of
40:32gender. It can be applied in terms of
40:35race and ethnicity. It could be in terms
40:38of um
40:39uh disability or ability. It can be in
40:42terms of age discrimination. There are
40:45many ways sexual orientation. Many ways
40:47equal protection and the 14th Amendment
40:49is used. And we will have several
40:51Supreme Court cases when we talk about
40:53landmark Supreme Court cases that deal
40:55with the 14th Amendment. The first and
40:56the 14th Amendment have the most
40:58landmark Supreme Court cases you will
40:59need to know for the civic literacy
41:01test. So, an important one to know.
41:04So, now we abolish slavery. We've set up
41:07these things to provide them for equal
41:08equal protection. Right after that, the
41:1015th Amendment was passed which allowed
41:14blacks and African-Americans the right
41:15to vote. So, remember it's still only
41:16men who are voting. Right before this,
41:19it was white men. Now, we're allowing
41:20all men have the right to vote
41:23over certain age at this point.
41:26So, the 16th Amendment So, the 15th
41:28Amendment is important to know. It is
41:29one of four
41:31um amendments that deal with voting. So,
41:33you will often see a question, which of
41:35the following amendments deal with
41:36voting? The 15th Amendment was the first
41:39one and that dealt with um all men could
41:42vote. So, it took away the uh exclusion
41:45by race.
41:47The 16th Amendment looked at income
41:49taxes and how we can
41:51create taxes and the taxes were based on
41:54the US Census. So, if you are not
41:56familiar with the US Census, the US
41:58Census is the counting of the people in
42:00our country. It is part of our
42:02Constitution. It is a constitutional
42:04requirement that we have a census every
42:0510 years.
42:07So, in 2020, there will be a census and
42:09it will be again in 2030. The results of
42:11that census are then used for tax
42:14purposes, but also determine how many
42:17um
42:18uh
42:18House of Representative members each
42:20state has and where they are where they
42:23are coming from within that state.
42:26The 17th Amendment established direct
42:28election of senators by popular vote.
42:31So, you go to the polls, you vote for
42:33the senator, whoever gets the most votes
42:35then wins that seat. There is currently
42:37only one major position in the country
42:40that is not directly and not direct
42:43directly by popular vote. Do you know
42:45which position that is?
42:47So, that is the President of the United
42:48States. The President of the United
42:49States is still voted on. Um the people
42:52go to the polls and vote, and they are
42:54voting how they want their electoral
42:57uh representatives to vote for them. So,
42:59it is the President is not directly
43:02elected, it is elected by the Electoral
43:04College. So, you may see that on the
43:06test.
43:07The 18th Amendment is interesting
43:09because the 18th Amendment is the only
43:11amendment that is not currently active.
43:13So, if you get asked how many amendments
43:15there are, there are 27 amendments, but
43:17only 26 of them are active. You may have
43:19heard of prohibition. So, this was in
43:23right after World War I, um
43:26they repeal they sorry, they
43:29uh prohibited the manufacture or sale of
43:31alcohol in the United States. That
43:33lasted for about 10 to 15 years until
43:36the 21st Amendment repealed that and we
43:38were now allowed to manufacture and sell
43:40alcohol in the United States.
43:43The 19th Amendment is a second of our
43:44voting amendments and it allowed women
43:46to vote. So, we just celebrated at the
43:49time of this recording, we just
43:50celebrated the 100th anniversary in 2020
43:54of women getting the right to vote.
43:56That just happened a few weeks ago. So,
43:58now in with the 15th Amendment allowed
44:02voting by race, the 19th Amendment
44:04allowed by gender, so women could vote.
44:06The 20th Amendment just changes the date
44:08on which the president, vice president
44:10takes office, which is January 20th, and
44:13January 3rd when Congress starts their
44:15new session.
44:18Okay, the last few. The 21st Amendment
44:20was just repealing
44:22Oh, sorry. Repealing the 18th Amendment,
44:24so it stopped It ended prohibition.
44:27The 22nd Amendment is important. You
44:29will probably see a question on that. It
44:32limited the number of times that a
44:33person can be elected president. So,
44:35we'll talk about this a little later in
44:36the presentation, but um there are
44:41reasons why You can imagine, if you
44:43think about what we were concerned about
44:46with our original uh
44:49uh being under British rule. So, when we
44:51were under British rule, which was a
44:52monarchy, they had someone in power for
44:55a very long time. So, the 22nd Amendment
44:57was actually just after our only
44:59president who was elected to more than
45:01two terms
45:02uh had passed away. Do you know who that
45:04was?
45:05So, our only president who was elected
45:07to more than two terms was Franklin
45:09Delano Roosevelt, otherwise known as
45:11FDR. He was president during the Great
45:13Depression and World War II.
45:16He was a good leader. This was not
45:18passed because we did not think he was a
45:20good president, but people realized that
45:23without having limits, term limits, that
45:25someone could potentially get into power
45:27for a very long time. So, they passed
45:29this 22nd uh Amendment, which limits how
45:32many times someone can be elected to
45:34office.
45:35The 23rd Amendment grants the District
45:37of Columbia, so you should know that our
45:39capital is in Washington, D.C., but the
45:41District of Columbia is not part of a
45:43state. So, they actually do get electors
45:46in the Electoral College, equivalent to
45:48the least populous state. So, if the
45:49least populous state gets one electoral
45:51vote, then the District of Columbia
45:53would have one electoral vote.
45:5524th Amendment is a is related to
45:59voting, so I put it up there. That's why
46:01I say there are four amendments dealing
46:03with voting. It is not directly who is
46:06allowed to vote, but indirectly it is
46:08100% based on who can vote. So, the 24th
46:10Amendment made it illegal to charge a
46:12poll tax. A poll tax is a tax on people
46:15who are going to the voting polls. And
46:18these these poll taxes were often
46:20implemented in your lowest income areas,
46:23which were typically where you would
46:24have your underrepresented minorities.
46:27So, if you can think about this, this
46:28was really a way to sway the vote so
46:30that you were discounting the votes or
46:32not allowing the votes for our black and
46:35African-American citizens and other
46:36minorities
46:38and the poor. So, because if you go to
46:40the to to vote and they're going to
46:42charge you when you don't have money,
46:44you were turned away. So, the 24th
46:46Amendment made it illegal for poll
46:47taxes.
46:49The 25th Amendment and I have seen
46:51questions on the civic literacy test
46:53about this, addresses the the succession
46:56of office. So, what happens if the
46:57president can no longer complete their
46:59term. So, a president may not be able to
47:01complete a term because they die in
47:03office, that's happened a few times
47:04either natural death or assassination,
47:08or they step down from office. We've had
47:10one president who has resigned, that is
47:11Richard Nixon. So, if they're or if
47:13they're impeached and removed from
47:15office, what happens? So, the order of
47:18succession used to be president to vice
47:20president to the Secretary of State. The
47:2425th Amendment changed that from
47:26president to vice president to the
47:28Speaker of the House of Representatives.
47:30The current Speaker of the House is
47:32Nancy Pelosi. So, if both the president
47:34and vice president were unable to
47:37complete their term in office, then it
47:39would go to the Speaker of the House or
47:40Nancy Pelosi. It has happened nine times
47:43in our history that a president was
47:45unable to complete one of the terms they
47:47were elected for, but it has never gone
47:49beyond the vice president.
47:52The 26th Amendment is the final voting
47:54amendment. So, So had 15th Amendment
47:56which dealt with race, the 19th
47:59Amendment, which gave women the right to
48:00vote, the 24th Amendment, which got rid
48:03of poll taxes, and now the 26th
48:05Amendment, which um
48:08lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
48:12And then the final amendment delayed
48:14laws um
48:16based on congressional salaries. So
48:17basically Congress, if they wanted to
48:19vote that they would have a salary
48:20increase, they can vote at that it will
48:22go into effect for the next term. So the
48:25next time Congress takes office, they
48:27would get the salary increase. So
48:28they're technically not voting
48:30themselves a salary increase, although
48:32without term limits, many of our
48:34Congress representatives come back in
48:36every single year or every term, and so
48:39technically, in my opinion, they're
48:41still giving themselves a
48:43a salary increase.
48:45Those are our 27 amendments.
48:47Woo. You guys tired?
48:49So you've got this. We are getting close
48:51to the end. So we're just a quick
48:53refresher. I talked about this. There
48:55are four amendments about voting. The
48:5715th Amendment, which said American men
48:59of all races can vote. 19th Amendment,
49:01women can vote. 24th Amendment made poll
49:03taxes or fees to vote illegal. And the
49:0626th Amendment lowered the voting age.
49:09So you will often see a question that
49:11might say, "All of the following are um
49:15are
49:16are for US citizens only except" So
49:20there are three things that only US
49:21citizens can do. US citizen You must be
49:24a US citizen to vote in a federal
49:25election. You must be a US citizen to
49:28serve on a federal jury, and to run for
49:30federal office. So those are three
49:31things only citizens can do. But
49:33remember we talked about everyone living
49:35in the US regardless of citizenship is
49:38protected by the Constitution. So
49:40anything that is in the Bill of Rights
49:42protects all people in the United
49:44States.
49:45You may also see a question asking you,
49:48"Which of the following are
49:50uh not are ways that you can participate
49:54in your democracy. Or which of the
49:55following is not a way to participate in
49:57your democracy? So, think about when you
50:00see these questions, read them carefully
50:02and think about them. So, what are ways
50:04to participate in democracy? Anything
50:06that you're going to do that's going to
50:07have an impact on the democracy of our
50:09country. So, voting. That's your number
50:12one civic responsibility. You But if you
50:14want to have a stronger voice, running
50:16for office where you're going to
50:17represent other people, joining a civic
50:19group to get your word out. Writing an
50:22article, uh, letter to the editor of a
50:24newspaper, putting a blog online about
50:26some kind of a political belief that you
50:30have. Um, public, publicly supporting an
50:33issue or policy.
50:35Emailing your congressman, calling your
50:37congressman, working on a political
50:39campaign. Those are all ways. So, you
50:41might see a question, you can Americans
50:43can participate in democracy by all of
50:45the following except and it might give
50:47you any of these choices on there. And
50:50then it might say, volunteering at a
50:51soup kitchen or volunteering at an
50:54animal hospital. Those are all lovely
50:56things to do and you I encourage you to
50:58do them, but they are not necessarily
51:00participating in your democracy.
51:03Okay. So, the next few things are that
51:05are we're going to go through are things
51:06that are in the study guide. They are
51:08fair game for questions on the test, but
51:10I have very infrequently seen these
51:12topics come up. Um, you may get one or
51:15two questions, so we don't want to spend
51:16too much time on these. Um, but I don't
51:19want you to be caught off guard. So,
51:21knowing the political parties is
51:22something that, uh, is in the study
51:24guide. I have never seen a question
51:26asking about historic political parties.
51:29Um, currently the two major political
51:32parties in the United States are
51:33Democratic and Republican. There are
51:34hundreds of political parties. There's
51:36independents, there's green parties,
51:38there's parties for just about anything
51:40you can imagine. But if you are asked a
51:42question, Democratic and Republican are
51:43the two main parties that most of our
51:45representative government is based on.
51:48Before the modern times, there were
51:50plenty of other parties, but I have not
51:52seen questions about them. If you do
51:54take the test and see a question about
51:55the Whig Party, I apologize that we
51:57didn't prepare you for that. Some other
51:59things you might be question tested on,
52:01um the last day to file file federal
52:03income taxes to the IRS is April 15th.
52:06So, in a few minutes we'll talk about
52:08taxes. Taxes the only shared power that
52:11both the federal government has the
52:12right to tax and your state government
52:14has the right to tax, but your federal
52:16taxes are due April 15th. You may also
52:19see a question about the Selective
52:21Service. If you are not familiar with
52:23Selective Service, um this is a
52:25requirement that all men ages 18 to 26
52:28who are US citizens must register for
52:30this and this is for if we ever go to a
52:33draft. There was only a draft one time
52:35in our history and that was during the
52:36Vietnam era. Um it was very unpopular.
52:39They are not expecting to have to go
52:42back to a draft. However, it is a
52:44requirement that if we are to go to war,
52:46we want to make sure that we have people
52:48to serve in that war. I find it
52:49interesting that women are allowed to
52:51serve in the military, but they are not
52:54required to register for Selective
52:55Service. Um students, I believe when you
52:58apply for admission to university or for
53:01federal financial aid, you have to
53:03confirm that you are registered with
53:04Selective Service. You can do that when
53:06you get a library card, you could do
53:08that when you register at the DMV to get
53:10your driver's license. There are many
53:12ways to register for Selective Service.
53:15And if you are male and a resident uh
53:17citizen of the United States, hopefully
53:19you've done that already if you're
53:19between 18 and 26.
53:21Okay, you also may see a question about
53:23our economic system. So, we are
53:24considered a capitalist or a market
53:26economy. That means that most of our
53:28businesses are privately owned. We don't
53:30have all all of our businesses are not
53:32owned by the federal government where
53:34they set and regulate prices. Most of
53:37our businesses allow for competition,
53:39setting of prices, um supply and demand
53:41determines what we produce and how much
53:43of it and what we charge for things. Um,
53:46within legal realms, we can produce what
53:48we want, charge what we want for them,
53:49etc.
53:52You may also, again, these are not
53:54frequently on the test, but they're on
53:55the study guide, so you may be asked
53:56about them. Um, how did we grow the US?
53:59So,
54:00uh, we a huge amount of our we've
54:02doubled our space in the United States
54:05with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 for
54:08a mere $15 million, which was not a lot
54:11of money even at that time for what we
54:12got for that. Gave us a tremendous
54:15amount of land.
54:16Um, we also have five US territories. I
54:18learned this as I was preparing this
54:21presentation. I always knew that Puerto
54:23Rico and US Virgin Islands were
54:24territories. We also have American
54:26Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and
54:28Guam.
54:30Each of these has a representative in
54:31Congress. They are not voting members,
54:33but they do get to have their voice
54:35heard. They do not have senators, so
54:36they have a person in the House of
54:38Representatives who can be there to
54:41participate,
54:42but not vote. Um, and citizens of
54:44territories vote in the primary
54:46election, so they can determine who
54:48potentially who would be the candidate,
54:49um, for their party, but they don't get
54:52to vote in the general election.
54:54I'm not sure why. Again, you can
54:56certainly talk with, uh, someone who is
54:59a political scientist about that.
55:01You may be asked about our capital. The
55:03capital of the United States is in
55:05Washington, D.C. You also may be asked
55:07about the Statue of Liberty is located
55:08in New York Harbor or Liberty Island.
55:13Again, you may get one or maybe two
55:15questions about wars out of a hundred.
55:18So, if you don't want to spend a lot of
55:19time learning about the wars, there are
55:2199 or 98 other questions that you will
55:23get right. So, you don't need to
55:24necessarily spend too much time on this.
55:27And when I have seen a question about a
55:28war, it is usually very general. You
55:30don't need to know a lot of details, but
55:32here are the primary wars that we have
55:34been involved with, um, since the
55:36Revolutionary War, since our founding of
55:38the United States. Um, in the 1700s we
55:41had the Revolutionary War that is
55:43important to know. It was when we broke
55:45away from Great Britain to gain our
55:46independence. The Civil War, also known
55:49as the war of the North versus the
55:50South, Union versus Confederates, was to
55:52end slavery but also a huge economic
55:54war.
55:55Um, there were three other wars in the
55:571800s, the War of 1812, Mexican-American
56:00War, and Spanish-American War. I have
56:02not seen questions on that, but you can
56:04feel free to study for that as well.
56:06Um, World War I and when I I realized
56:09when I created this I put who our allies
56:11were for World War I and who are we
56:13fought against in World War II. Um, but
56:15in World War I we were with Britain,
56:18France, and Italy. It ended with the
56:19Treaty of Versailles. World War II, you
56:22might remember the Japanese bombing
56:23Pearl Harbor, Nazi Germany. So, that was
56:26the focus in there.
56:28Then, most of the wars after that have
56:30been trying to
56:32uh, stop the spread of communism and
56:34keep democracy. So, the Korean War was
56:37trying again to create a democratic, uh,
56:39government. Vietnam War, again trying to
56:42get rid of the communist government in
56:44Vietnam. So, this Cold War period, um,
56:48was trying to stop the spread of
56:50communism and went from like the '50s
56:52until the '80s.
56:54The Gulf War and the Persian Gulf War,
56:56this is when I was in college in the
56:581990s. Um, a heavy emphasis on oil to
57:01drive the Iraqi army out of Kuwait.
57:05You may be asked a few questions uh, key
57:07people. So, a few presidents you may
57:09want to know, George Washington, who was
57:10our first president, the father of our
57:12country, a general in the Revolutionary
57:14War.
57:15Thomas Jefferson was our third
57:16president. He was the major author of
57:18the Declaration of Independence. Abraham
57:20Lincoln was, uh,
57:22president who did the Emancipation
57:24Proclamation, which led to the 13th
57:26Amendment, the freeing of slaves.
57:28Uh, Woodrow Wilson, and I remember this,
57:31WW Woodrow Wilson was president during
57:34World War I.
57:36Uh FDR we talked about, he was Franklin
57:39Delano Roosevelt was president during
57:41the Great Depression and World War II.
57:43He was elected for a fourth term. He
57:46served for 12 years because he died
57:48right after being elected um right after
57:50starting his fourth term.
57:52And if you remember the 22nd Amendment
57:54was the amendment was passed after that
57:56in order to put term limits that no
57:58president can be elected for more than
58:00two terms.
58:02You may see a question about Benjamin
58:03Franklin. I have seen a question about
58:05him quite often. Um so it's typically
58:08added Benjamin Franklin was all of the
58:10following except So he was a US
58:13diplomat, he was never president, he was
58:15a US diplomat, he was the oldest member
58:17of the Constitutional Convention that
58:19started the the US Constitution.
58:22He was also our first postmaster general
58:24of the US, so I thank him when I get
58:25nice mail. I am sad when I get bills.
58:28Uh he wrote Poor Richard's Almanac and
58:30he started the first free library. So
58:31when you go to the Wimberley Library and
58:33you can check out 500 books, you can
58:35thank Benjamin Franklin. Um someone also
58:38who has attended these workshops shared
58:39that they saw a question about Benjamin
58:41Franklin that asked about something
58:43about uh discovering electricity with
58:44the kite and the key. So that might be a
58:46choice you find as well.
58:48Susan B. Anthony was a leader in the
58:51women's rights movement and Martin
58:53Luther King Jr. a leader of the civil
58:55rights movement.
58:57Okay, so we're switching gears for the
58:59rest of this workshop. We're going to be
59:00talking about basic concepts of US
59:02government. We are almost there folks.
59:04Hang in there, you are doing great. So
59:06basic concepts of US government, we're
59:08going to talk about the three branches,
59:10what each of their powers are, what the
59:12terms of office, those are frequent test
59:14questions. Um so remember the framers
59:17wanted to limit the powers of
59:18government. We were really afraid. Who
59:20were those people that were afraid of
59:22too strong of a government? They were
59:24called Anti-Federalists
59:26and the Federalists were people who
59:27wanted that balance of power. So, we
59:29wanted to make sure that there was this
59:31balance of power, but also checks and
59:33balances, separation of powers, who
59:36could do what, but checks and balances
59:38to make sure no one had too much power
59:39in any area.
59:41So, we're going to cover the executive
59:43branch, which is the president and the
59:45president's cabinet. The president, the
59:47executive branch, enforces laws. So, I
59:49like to remember E for executive
59:52enforces. Executive enforces laws.
59:55The legislative branch, which is
59:57Congress, House of Representatives and
59:59the Senate, they make the laws. So, the
1:00:01president isn't making laws, right? The
1:00:04The president can propose things for
1:00:05Congress to consider. Congress actually
1:00:08looks at bills, they will make the laws.
1:00:11The executive branch, we'll talk about
1:00:13the checks and balance that they have
1:00:14for that, that enforces them. And then
1:00:16finally, the judicial branch, which is
1:00:18the Supreme Court and the other court
1:00:20federal courts, they decide if laws and
1:00:22actions are following the Constitution
1:00:24or if things are in violation of the
1:00:25Constitution. So, when something makes
1:00:27it to the Supreme Court for review, it
1:00:29is weighing on whether or not that
1:00:32whatever that case is about is in
1:00:34violation of concept in the Constitution
1:00:37or amendments of the Constitution.
1:00:40Okay. So, executive branch. The
1:00:42president, the vice president, and the
1:00:44president's cabinet. So, it's the
1:00:45president plus 14 members of the
1:00:47cabinet. We'll look at those in a
1:00:48minute.
1:00:50The president or the executive branch
1:00:52enforces laws and make sure that all
1:00:54people follow the laws. And we remember
1:00:56no one is above the law, right? That's
1:00:58called the rule of law.
1:01:00So, you may be asked about which of the
1:01:02following are presidential powers.
1:01:04Presidential powers, and if you think
1:01:07through it, it makes sense that these
1:01:09are things that there should be one
1:01:10person in the country who's kind of the
1:01:12leader responsible for these things. So,
1:01:15the president or the executive branch is
1:01:17the one that signs treaties, sets
1:01:19national policies, selects ambassadors,
1:01:23proposes laws to Congress. Congress can
1:01:26move forward on those or not. That is a
1:01:28choice.
1:01:29Um the president names top leaders. So a
1:01:32federal department, Supreme Court
1:01:34justices. So if there is if they they
1:01:36could name the director of the FBI, the
1:01:39CIA, all of those. They name cabinet
1:01:41positions, who's going to be advising
1:01:43the president. And if there is a vacancy
1:01:45in the Supreme Court, they can nominate
1:01:48a Supreme Court justice. But one of the
1:01:50checks and balances says that although
1:01:52Senate the although the president is
1:01:55going to nominate this person, the
1:01:57Senate has the right to do what they
1:01:59call Senate confirmation hearings.
1:02:01They're going to vet that candidate,
1:02:03determine whether or not that candidate
1:02:04is qualified, and then they can reject
1:02:07that candidate or approve the president
1:02:09to um appoint that person. So that's for
1:02:12all federal departments, the cabinet
1:02:14positions, and Supreme Court justices.
1:02:17So that is a huge power of the executive
1:02:18branch to be able to appoint the next
1:02:21Supreme Court judges justices um because
1:02:24we'll learn about in a little while that
1:02:25Supreme Court justices they're
1:02:27potentially for the rest of their life.
1:02:29Um there's no term limits for a Supreme
1:02:31Court justice. So it's a huge power, but
1:02:33the Supreme Court does have that checks
1:02:35and balance.
1:02:36Um they also as a checks and balance,
1:02:38they sign bills from Congress to become
1:02:40law or they can veto the bill. So
1:02:42Congress can't just pass any law they
1:02:43want, the president has that final say
1:02:46whether or not that will become law or
1:02:48become vetoed.
1:02:50And then finally the president is
1:02:51commander-in-chief of the military. So
1:02:53the president oversees all the branches
1:02:55of the military. They're the head honcho
1:02:57in the military. But a checks and
1:02:59balance, only Congress has power to
1:03:02declare war. So the president can go and
1:03:04ask permission from Congress to declare
1:03:06war, but the Congress cannot take
1:03:09currently his or hope one day in the
1:03:11future possibly her military and go out
1:03:14um into war. They have to only Congress
1:03:17has the ability to declare war.
1:03:21So, terms. You will often be asked how
1:03:23long a term is for president or for
1:03:25senators or for House of
1:03:26Representatives. The president is
1:03:28elected to a four-year term and we
1:03:30remember from the 22nd Amendment, a
1:03:32maximum of two terms and you'll remember
1:03:34FDR is the only one who was elected more
1:03:35than two terms. We vote for the
1:03:37president on the Tuesday after the first
1:03:39Monday in November. That just sets up so
1:03:41we always know it'll be that first week
1:03:43in in November on a Tuesday. We always
1:03:46know when election day will be.
1:03:48If president can no longer serve,
1:03:49remember this is the 25th Amendment. It
1:03:51has happened nine times that the vice
1:03:53president um became president and then
1:03:56if both the president and vice president
1:03:58are unable to serve, then it would be
1:04:00the speaker of the house, which is
1:04:01currently Nancy Pelosi.
1:04:05Okay, we talked up a little bit about
1:04:06the president's cabinet. There are 14
1:04:08cabinet positions, one of which is the
1:04:10vice president and the attorney general
1:04:12who is like the lead lawyer for the
1:04:14country.
1:04:15The other 12 positions all begin with
1:04:17secretary. Um when George Washington was
1:04:20president, there were four cabinet
1:04:22positions. They have changed. You can
1:04:24probably see from some of the names,
1:04:26things like Secretary of Homeland
1:04:27Security did not exist when George
1:04:30Washington was here or Secretary of
1:04:32Housing and Urban Development or
1:04:34Secretary of Veterans Affairs. They
1:04:35didn't have veterans at that time. Well,
1:04:37I guess they kind of did after the
1:04:38Revolutionary War, but they didn't have
1:04:40a cabinet position for them. So, these
1:04:42are the 14 cabinet positions and
1:04:44remember the president will pick who the
1:04:47president wants to be on the as a
1:04:49cabinet member, but then it has to go to
1:04:51the Senate to as a checks and balance to
1:04:53confirm that.
1:04:55The second branch is the legislative
1:04:57branch. So, the legislative branch is
1:04:59Congress and it is made up of two
1:05:02houses. So, you may hear the term
1:05:04bicameral.
1:05:06So, if you see the term bicameral, know
1:05:07bi means two, like a bicycle has two
1:05:10wheels. The root
1:05:13means house, so two houses. You have
1:05:15your Senate and your House of
1:05:17Representatives.
1:05:19The Congress makes the laws, so
1:05:22back in my day we had the how does a
1:05:23bill become a law and it's all through
1:05:25Congress.
1:05:26So we have 100 senators and 435 members
1:05:29of the House of Representatives. That
1:05:30was one of your quiz questions.
1:05:32So let's talk about why.
1:05:34So first of all, when we were forming
1:05:36the country, there were 13 colonies.
1:05:38Remember those colonies? And we had the
1:05:41colonies that had smaller population or
1:05:44smaller colonies were saying, "Well,
1:05:46that's not fair. We want we should have
1:05:48as big as much of a say in our new
1:05:50government as these other states."
1:05:53And the other the larger states, the
1:05:54more populous states said, "Well, that's
1:05:56not fair. We want to have We have more
1:05:59people, we should have more
1:06:00representation."
1:06:02So you may have heard of the New Jersey
1:06:04Compromise. This was a compromise that
1:06:06the colonists came up with and they
1:06:07created these two houses to meet both of
1:06:10the needs of the smaller populations,
1:06:13now states, and the larger population
1:06:16states. So no matter what the population
1:06:19size is of your state, every state has
1:06:22two senators. Right now we have 50
1:06:24states in the US, so there are 100
1:06:26senators. Two senators times 50 states
1:06:29is 100. All states have equal powers in
1:06:32the Senate.
1:06:34The senators are elected to six-year
1:06:36terms. So it is even longer term than
1:06:38the president of the United States.
1:06:40Currently, there are no term limits in
1:06:42the legislative branch, so many of our
1:06:45senators have been serving there for
1:06:4620-30 year plus years. Um but being
1:06:49elected as a senator, one of the only
1:06:51two representatives for your entire
1:06:53state, comes with a lot of power, but
1:06:55there's also a lot to learn in that in
1:06:57the Senate. So by being there for six
1:06:59years gives you a chance to actually
1:07:02make things happen and learn the law the
1:07:04lay of the land.
1:07:05Um our current senators from Florida are
1:07:07Rick Scott and Marco Rubio. So, I put
1:07:09this up there as an example of why the
1:07:12Senate is not considered the most
1:07:15representative democracy as the House of
1:07:17Representatives. So, in Florida, we are
1:07:20about 50% Republican, 50% Democrat.
1:07:23However, the southern part of the state
1:07:25where FAU is located, typically is more
1:07:29Democrat than Republican. But, with
1:07:31about half and half, we elected uh a
1:07:34governor, Governor DeSantis, who is a
1:07:36Republican, and our two senators, Rick
1:07:39Scott and Marco Rubio, currently, who
1:07:41are Republican.
1:07:42If you look at the House of
1:07:43Representatives, just in in Palm Beach
1:07:47County, we have several Democratic
1:07:50representatives who are representing us
1:07:52in the House of Representatives. So, it
1:07:53is considered more representative. So,
1:07:56the House of Representatives has 435
1:07:58members. That number is going to be the
1:08:00same all of the time, but it changes how
1:08:03many each state has based on their
1:08:04population, which is done every 10 years
1:08:07based on the census.
1:08:09So, and so, we might decide, "Okay,
1:08:12well, we just had a lot of people who
1:08:14moved to North Dakota. So, North
1:08:16Dakota's going to gain an extra
1:08:17representative, but people moved away
1:08:20from Iowa, so they lose a
1:08:21representative." And they will make
1:08:22adjustments like that. It also will
1:08:24determine where within the state people
1:08:26are living. So, you might get more as
1:08:28more people are leaving Miami and moving
1:08:31to Broward County, Broward County might
1:08:33get more representatives in their area.
1:08:36So, representatives are only elected to
1:08:38a two-year term. And that's because if
1:08:41these are the people who are most
1:08:42closely having to represent our
1:08:44interests, and we want to make sure that
1:08:46they are doing what we want them to do,
1:08:48they are we the people are giving them
1:08:50this power,
1:08:51then we want to hold them accountable.
1:08:53And if they know they are up for
1:08:54re-election every two years, hopefully
1:08:56that holds them more accountable to the
1:08:58needs of the people in their
1:08:59constituents in their area.
1:09:04And our final branch, we're almost done,
1:09:06in the home stretch, is the judicial
1:09:07branch. The judicial branch is the
1:09:09Supreme Court and other federal courts.
1:09:11The judicial branch decides if laws and
1:09:13actions follow the Constitution. So,
1:09:16they are not going to rule on a car
1:09:17accident and determine whether someone
1:09:19was at fault. They're looking at things
1:09:21like, is this something that's in
1:09:23violation of the Constitution? That's
1:09:25pretty much it. They review laws, they
1:09:26explain laws, they resolve disputes,
1:09:28they determine if Congress passes a new
1:09:30law, is that in violation of the
1:09:31Constitution? If someone is being
1:09:34treated some way, is that in violation
1:09:36of the Constitution? There are only nine
1:09:38justices on the Supreme Court. One of
1:09:40your quiz questions,
1:09:42uh the current Chief Justice is John
1:09:44Roberts Jr. The other ones that were in
1:09:46those choices, you may have heard of
1:09:48more often, but John Roberts Jr. is our
1:09:49current Chief Justice.
1:09:51The Chief Justice and all of the just
1:09:54the nine justices of the Supreme Court
1:09:55are appointed when there is a vacancy
1:09:57only. They're appointed by the
1:09:59president, and then part of checks and
1:10:01balances, confirmed by the Senate, and
1:10:02they are appointed for life or until
1:10:04they can no longer serve.
1:10:09Some last concepts to remember, the
1:10:10state versus federal government, and
1:10:12this is almost always you'll see one or
1:10:14two questions about this, about who has
1:10:17what powers. So, we remember, we've
1:10:18talked about this many times, that
1:10:20division of power which gives that
1:10:21balance between national and state
1:10:23governments is called federalism.
1:10:26Uh the federal government has four major
1:10:29powers that you should know about. They
1:10:31have the power to print money, and these
1:10:32things make sense, right? We wouldn't
1:10:34want the states to have the power to
1:10:35print money. Can you imagine if the
1:10:37state of Florida printed Florida
1:10:39currency, and we drive up to Georgia,
1:10:41and we go to pay for something, and they
1:10:42say, "Oh, no, we're not taking your
1:10:44Florida money." Right? So, the US
1:10:45government prints a standardized
1:10:47currency. So, they have the power to
1:10:48print money. They have the power to
1:10:50declare war. We don't want Florida
1:10:52declaring war on Cuba. So, only the
1:10:54federal government has the power to
1:10:56declare war. We also don't want Florida
1:10:58creating an army. So, only the federal
1:11:01government can create an army and making
1:11:03treaties. Although, it would be lovely
1:11:04for different areas to create treaties
1:11:06with other countries, we want that to be
1:11:08something that's done at the federal
1:11:09government.
1:11:10So, there are several powers that are
1:11:12given specifically to the states.
1:11:14Remember, anything not specifically
1:11:16outlined in the Constitution is a state
1:11:18power. So, some of those powers are
1:11:20things that deal with our local success.
1:11:23So, providing schooling to making sure
1:11:25that education is taken care of for our
1:11:27people. Making sure people are safe. So,
1:11:29police protection, fire safety, those
1:11:32are things that are done at the state
1:11:34level. Licensing. So, driver's licenses.
1:11:37So, my daughter can get her driver's
1:11:40license at 16 years old in Florida. I
1:11:42grew up in New York, you had to be 17
1:11:44years old. That is a state decision. Um
1:11:47marriage licenses. That's why a lot of
1:11:48people go to Vegas to get married
1:11:50because marriage license requirements
1:11:52vary state to state. So, it is easier to
1:11:54get a marriage license, less hoops to
1:11:57jump through, in Nevada than it may be
1:11:59in other states.
1:12:01And other licenses as well. And then the
1:12:03final one, approving zoning and land
1:12:05use. So, zoning and land use means that
1:12:07um every part of the land in the state
1:12:10is determined that this can be used for
1:12:12commercial land, this is for
1:12:14agricultural land, this is for
1:12:16residential property. And those are
1:12:18decisions that are made on a state
1:12:19basis. The federal government does not
1:12:21need to be involved with that. We talked
1:12:23about one shared power, taxing.
1:12:26The federal government can tax.
1:12:27Remember, our taxes are due April 15th.
1:12:30And the state governments can tax
1:12:31people. And local governments can tax as
1:12:33well.
1:12:34We need to have some basis for being
1:12:36able to afford the structures of
1:12:38government. So, states need the money to
1:12:40be able to provide education and safety
1:12:42and policing. Um
1:12:44and the federal government needs money
1:12:46to do all the things they're required to
1:12:48do. And that's done through taxes.
1:12:50And then again, anything not specific
1:12:52specifically outlined as a federal power
1:12:54belongs to the state.
1:12:57Woo, that was a lot of information that
1:12:59we went over. So, how do you feel?
1:13:01Hopefully, you feel great. We're going
1:13:03to now go over the practice quiz.
1:13:06I'm going to switch here to our little
1:13:08doc cam.
1:13:16Okay.
1:13:19The first question, the US Constitution
1:13:20does all of the following except?
1:13:23Hopefully, you got these right. The US
1:13:25Constitution does all the following
1:13:27except define what states can do.
1:13:29Remember, we know what states can do
1:13:30based on what is not in the
1:13:32Constitution. The Constitution does
1:13:35protect the rights of Americans through
1:13:37the um
1:13:38amendments. It sets up the structure of
1:13:40government and defines what the federal
1:13:42government can do, but the correct
1:13:43answer is B. It does not define what
1:13:47states can do.
1:13:49The First Amendment gives the following
1:13:51rights except? So, First Amendment is
1:13:54the freedom of religion, right? That
1:13:55free exercise clause, the freedom of
1:13:57peaceful assembly, the freedom to
1:13:59petition the government. It does not
1:14:00deal with who can vote. So, the correct
1:14:02answer is D.
1:14:04How many amendments are there currently
1:14:05to the US Constitution? Correct answer
1:14:07C, 27.
1:14:11Freedoms not outlined in the US
1:14:12Constitution were outlined in? So,
1:14:15remember the Bill of Rights was written
1:14:16just a couple of years after the
1:14:18Constitution because they realized the
1:14:20Constitution set up the structure of
1:14:22government, but didn't do enough to
1:14:23protect the freedoms of the people. So,
1:14:25correct answer is B, the Bill of Rights.
1:14:27Question five, which of the following
1:14:30are rights in the Declaration of
1:14:31Independence? So, the Declaration of
1:14:34Independence gives the right to be life,
1:14:37liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
1:14:39So, C, the right to practice any
1:14:41religion or none at all is the free
1:14:43exercise clause. That is in the First
1:14:44Amendment, the amendment to the
1:14:46Constitution in the Bill of Rights. Same
1:14:48as right to petition the government. So,
1:14:49the correct answer for five is B.
1:14:52Question six, the idea of
1:14:53self-government is the first three words
1:14:55of the Constitution. What are these
1:14:58words? The correct correct answer is B,
1:15:01We the People.
1:15:02Question seven, the economic system in
1:15:05the US, we are considered a capitalist
1:15:07economy, B.
1:15:10Question eight, the rule of law states
1:15:11no one is above the law, that is A.
1:15:15Question nine, the proper order of
1:15:17succession if president is no longer
1:15:18able to serve, the correct answer is C,
1:15:22vice president then speaker of the
1:15:24house.
1:15:26Question 10, who makes federal laws? So,
1:15:29remember, executive enforces, they don't
1:15:32make the laws. The laws are made by A,
1:15:34the legislative branch.
1:15:36The legislative branch, Congress
1:15:37creates, that's how I remember it, CC.
1:15:39Congress creates law,
1:15:41executive enforces.
1:15:44Okay, next question 11.
1:15:47We elect a US senator for how many
1:15:49years? The correct answer is C, six
1:15:53years. Senators are elected for six
1:15:55years. Two years is the House of
1:15:57Representatives, and remember, we want
1:15:58to make sure they're continually
1:15:59accountable to us.
1:16:00Four years is the president, and we
1:16:02don't have anyone elected eight years in
1:16:04our federal government system.
1:16:06Question 12, there are how many voting
1:16:08members in the US House of
1:16:09Representatives? Answer is 435, C.
1:16:14Question 13, who is commander in chief
1:16:16of the military? Commander in chief is
1:16:18the president, A. But, remember checks
1:16:21and balance, only Congress can declare
1:16:23war.
1:16:24Who is the current chief justice of the
1:16:26US Supreme Court? Correct answer is A,
1:16:28John Roberts Jr.
1:16:31Question 15, which of the following is
1:16:33not a power of the states? So, remember,
1:16:36the states do provide education, they do
1:16:38provide it protection and safety, they
1:16:40do determine driver's license
1:16:42regulations. They do not print money.
1:16:45So, the correct answer is D. We will We
1:16:47don't want Florida money that can't be
1:16:49used in Georgia and Alabama, right?
1:16:52Question 16. All of the following are
1:16:54powers of the federal government except
1:16:57The federal government does not have the
1:16:58power to approve zoning and land use.
1:17:00That is something that is local uh a
1:17:02state state-level power.
1:17:05Question 17. Each of the following
1:17:06amendments to the Constitution deals
1:17:08with who can vote. This is a very likely
1:17:10question. Except The correct answer is
1:17:13A, the 13th Amendment. So, the 13th
1:17:15Amendment freed the slaves which
1:17:17eventually led to the 15th Amendment
1:17:20which gave blacks and African Americans
1:17:21the right to vote. But, the correct
1:17:23answer A does not deal with voting. 15th
1:17:26Amendment deals with blacks and African
1:17:28Americans voting. 19th Amendment gave
1:17:29women the right to vote. 26th Amendment
1:17:32lowered the voting age to 18.
1:17:35Question 18. The principle of American
1:17:38government
1:17:40I think I did my nails. The principle of
1:17:41American government that establishes
1:17:43concurrent state and national
1:17:44governments is known as federalism, C.
1:17:47If you didn't get that one right, study
1:17:50federalism. You will definitely see that
1:17:52on your civic literacy test. Question
1:17:5419. The Fifth Amendment protects
1:17:55citizens from all of the following
1:17:57except
1:17:59The Fifth Amendment does not prevent you
1:18:01from being tried for capital crime. A
1:18:02capital crime is something like murder
1:18:04or treason. There's nothing that's going
1:18:06to stop that. Remember, Fifth Amendment
1:18:08says you can't be tried for the same
1:18:10offense twice, which is double jeopardy.
1:18:12It says you don't have to
1:18:13self-incriminate yourself. Remember, I
1:18:14plead the fifth.
1:18:16And it does outline the requirements for
1:18:18due process.
1:18:20Which of the following are rights for
1:18:21anyone living in the US regardless of
1:18:23citizenship? Anyone who lives in the US
1:18:26um can petition the government. But, you
1:18:28must So, the correct answer is D. But,
1:18:30you must be a citizen in order to vote
1:18:33in a federal election, serve on a jury,
1:18:34or run for federal office.
1:18:37And these were on the attachment. I
1:18:39don't know if you all got them.
1:18:40Um
1:18:41what steps are taken to ratify an
1:18:43amendment? Remember, it's got to be
1:18:45pretty tough cuz we don't want to change
1:18:46the Constitution. So, it must be
1:18:48ratified by 2/3 of both houses or 2/3
1:18:52of the states and then rat- Nope. And
1:18:55then ratified by 3/4 of the states.
1:18:58So, the correct answer is A.
1:19:0022, all of the following are ways that
1:19:02Americans can participate in democracy
1:19:04except Remember we said volunteering to
1:19:06help needy in your community is a lovely
1:19:08thing to do, but it is not a way to
1:19:10participate in democracy. So, the
1:19:11correct answer is D.
1:19:1223, colonists fought the British for all
1:19:14of the following reasons except Remember
1:19:17we fought the British because we didn't
1:19:18want to quarter them, we wanted our own
1:19:20government, we didn't want to be taxed
1:19:22without representation. So, land
1:19:23ownership disputes, A is the correct
1:19:25answer.
1:19:26All of the following are original
1:19:27colonies except Vermont. D was not an
1:19:31original colony. Remember we said only
1:19:32one V and that's Virginia.
1:19:35The Federalist Papers were written by
1:19:36the following authors except Thomas
1:19:39Jefferson was not an author of the
1:19:41Federalist Papers.
1:19:43Question 26, Benjamin Franklin is known
1:19:45for the following except
1:19:47he was not the Secretary of State. He
1:19:50was a Postmaster General, he did start
1:19:52the first free libraries, and he did
1:19:53serve as a US diplomat. So, the correct
1:19:56answer would be C.
1:20:00All of following are reasons that led to
1:20:02the Civil War except So, why did we
1:20:05fight the Civil War?
1:20:07Taxation without representation was not
1:20:09a reason. So, slavery was the one that
1:20:11we most know, but it dealt with states'
1:20:13rights, right? So, which states States
1:20:15were saying can we prevent slavery or
1:20:17require slave have slavery? Um and it
1:20:19was definitely economic, right? If you
1:20:21didn't have slaves, you weren't you
1:20:23weren't you didn't have free labor to
1:20:24work in your on your ranches and all.
1:20:2728, Susan B. Anthony is best known for
1:20:29fighting for women's rights.
1:20:31President during World War I, correct
1:20:33answer W W Woodrow Wilson, B.
1:20:37Question 30, during the Cold War, what
1:20:39was the main concern of the United
1:20:40States? Communism.
1:20:43A.
1:20:44And last question, what part of the
1:20:45Constitution protects the freedom of
1:20:47religion? And that is in the Bill of
1:20:49Rights.
1:20:50The Bill of Rights
1:20:52in the First Amendment. Okay. Well, I
1:20:54hope you did really well on that.
1:20:57Go back to this.
1:21:01Um before we close here, so I just want
1:21:04to make sure you know that some of the
1:21:05questions you're going to find are going
1:21:07to be pretty easy to answer
1:21:10straightforward, you know, the with
1:21:12which of these amendments deal with
1:21:13voting. But they may ask you questions
1:21:15in a way such as here is an excerpt from
1:21:18a letter that this person, you know, the
1:21:21king of of England's
1:21:25uh
1:21:25what, you know, the Queen of England
1:21:27wrote to the King of England talking
1:21:28about this concept. How was that concept
1:21:30seen in the US colonies?
1:21:33Think through what the reading is, you
1:21:35know your concepts and you can apply it.
1:21:37Um I saw one about um Abigail Adams
1:21:40wrote a letter to John Adams when he
1:21:41became the second president of the
1:21:43United States saying, "Don't forget the
1:21:45women."
1:21:46Um
1:21:47what was she, you know, which amendment
1:21:50eventually was passed that supported her
1:21:52concept? Right, the 19th Amendment,
1:21:54which meant don't forget the women, give
1:21:55them the right to vote. So, thinking
1:21:57through some of these, I know um one of
1:22:00our uh presenters for these workshops
1:22:02saw a question cuz the questions will
1:22:04change each time
1:22:06um that gave a description of a Supreme
1:22:08Court case. It is not a Supreme Court
1:22:10case that we studied or that you need to
1:22:12know, a description of it and said,
1:22:14"Based on this the facts that you know
1:22:16about this case, which amendment was
1:22:18this case um questioning?"
1:22:20So, you know, it was a case potentially
1:22:23about quartering soldiers. So, you'd
1:22:25would to know that quartering soldiers
1:22:26was the third amendment. But, think
1:22:28through read through these questions. If
1:22:29you get stuck on one, it's not
1:22:32stressful. Go to the next question. You
1:22:34don't have to get 100%. You just need
1:22:3560% to pass. So, how do you schedule
1:22:38your test? If you go to fau.edu/testing,
1:22:42if you go to that website, there are
1:22:43three different places you can register.
1:22:46So, I'm going to click here, register
1:22:47for your exam. You click the civic
1:22:49literacy test, register, and it gives
1:22:51you information about the test. You do
1:22:53need to know Again, you only need a 60
1:22:56on the test. Sets out the regulations
1:22:58for the testing center. You do need to
1:23:00have an ID when you get that has the
1:23:02same name that you registered. You can
1:23:03use your Owl Card, a current driver's
1:23:05license, your passport, military ID. You
1:23:08cannot wear a hoodie,
1:23:10sweaters, jackets, coats, uh watch. You
1:23:13cannot bring your phone in. They do have
1:23:15lockers there, small lockers to put
1:23:16things. Don't come with a lot of stuff.
1:23:18Don't wear a big hoodie with nothing
1:23:20under it cuz you're going to have to
1:23:21take that off.
1:23:22Um
1:23:23you're going to select your campus.
1:23:26You're going to check twice, civic
1:23:28literacy test. So, civic literacy test,
1:23:30civic literacy test. And as you can see,
1:23:32it says no charge.
1:23:34Tells you it's 120 minutes. You do not
1:23:36need to be there the whole 120 minutes.
1:23:38Everyone I have spoken to is out much
1:23:40faster than that.
1:23:43No food, drink, even gum is allowed in
1:23:45the testing area. It's pretty hardcore.
1:23:47And then you pick your date. So, you can
1:23:49all see today is February 26th when
1:23:50we're doing this. You select But, if you
1:23:52can see, it is offered every day Monday
1:23:55through Friday that FAU is open. You
1:23:57pick the date you want, and it is
1:23:58offered every hour from 9:00 to 2:00.
1:24:01Once you pick that, you're going to fill
1:24:02out your information, your name, and
1:24:04your Z number.
1:24:05Um
1:24:06add it to your cart, submit it, and make
1:24:08sure that you register. Go and take it.
1:24:11Good luck. Keep practicing. You can
1:24:14watch the video again, and I hope you
1:24:16will proceed to our second video on the
1:24:19landmark Supreme Court cases. If you
1:24:21thought this was a lot of information,
1:24:23you will in
1:24:24under 75 minutes learn 22 landmark
1:24:27Supreme Court cases and feel so
1:24:29confident you'll be ready to go in and
1:24:31take this test. See you soon. Thank you.
1:30:04Mhm.

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