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In the interview you will be asked questions about the N-400 form that you submitted earlier. You should go prepared to answer questions about the following:
This guide helps you answer question 5 about US History and US Government structure. For help regarding other parts of the interview contact the INS or contact a qualified immigration attorney.
This guide is very short, which is exactly what we tried to achieve. This is OK for the Naturalization interview because that interview asks only very basic questions. But, you should understand the limitations of such a short guide -- we do not cover all the topics, and we do make some simplifying assumptions. If you feel that you need more detailed preparation, you should contact INS for guidance and not depend solely on our guide.
The answer, for most people, is Yes. The questions about US History and US Government structure are simple, but not so simple that you can answer all of them without preparation. The INS asks questions from a set of 100 questions. The step by step instructions below describe how you can get this list from the INS. In our opinion if you can answer more than 95 of these questions, you are already well prepared and you don't need this guide.
Even though the INS Officer will ask only from those 100 questions, it is not easy to just memorize all the 100 answers. That is where this guide will help you because it presents all the information in a way that is understandable and easy to remember.
Finally, you will find that your knowledge of these subjects will be useful as you continue to live in the US. This benefit applies to you even if you are already a US citizen.
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The guide is very short and you should read all of it. One reading should take about 30 minutes. There are a few critical pieces of the guide that are important and you will have to remember them. These pieces are highlighted -- like this. When you see such highlighted text, make sure you read it carefully.
Follow the checklist below when reading this guide. We suggest that you print out this checklist, and check off each step as you work through the steps in order.
If you cannot improve your score to 95 out of 100, then consider taking the written test given by many test-taking organizations. The written test gives you more time and you can retake the test many times. Talk to the INS to find out which written tests they accept.
It is best to understand US history by thinking about a timeline. So, get yourself a piece of paper and a pen or a pencil, before you start reading. Don't write anything on the piece of paper yet -- we will do that immediately after you have read the next few paragraphs.
Terminology: America, United States: America, USA, US, United States are different names of this country. America contains many States that are United by a uniform code of law called the Constitution. So, this country is also called the United States of America or the USA. The official name of this country is the United States of America.We will learn history by following some dates:
| 1492 | Columbus discovers America: America, of course,
existed before Columbus discovered it -- there were even people living
there. What is meant by the word 'discover' here is that the
European countries first learned about the existence of America when
Columbus discovered it. Columbus started off to discover a new sea
route to India, and instead he came to the American shores.
People who used to live in America originally (before Columbus discovered America) are called Native Americans or American Indians. 'Native' means that they originally belonged to America. Also, when Columbus first saw the native people, he thought that they were Indians -- so they are called American Indians. |
| 1492 - 1620 | Attempts at colonization: During this time several European groups tried to settle in America. This process of settling is called colonization. The land is then called a colony and the people who come from outside to settle in the colonies are called colonists. |
| 1620 | Pilgrims arrive in America: The first colonists weren't very
successful because they
were not well prepared. This changed in 1620, when a group of
colonists came in a ship called the Mayflower.
They came because they were not allowed to practice their religion freely in
their home land, and they
wanted to get religious freedom in the new land called
America. These first successful settlers are also called the pilgrims.
The Native Americans were often quite friendly to the pilgrims. One of the new holidays that the pilgrims started is Thanksgiving in honor of their new friends. Later, however, there were quite a few conflicts between the colonists and the Native Americans. |
| 1620 - 1776 | Colonization: In the beginning, there were 13
colonies, which you can think of as the original
13 states of the US. These states are New Hampshire,
Connecticut, Georgia, Delaware, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Rhode
Island, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South
Carolina. How do you remember this list? First remember the close-by pairs (if needed, get a map of the US): North and South Carolina. Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Rhode Island and Maryland. New York and New Jersey. That's 8. So, there are 5 more. The five remaining are: Connecticut, Virginia, Delaware, New Hampshire, Georgia . To remember these 5, take the first letters of each, and you have: CVDNG. Put vowels (or even consonants) in between and make your own words with these 5 letters. One combination you can use is: CaVe DoNG (think of a huge bell at the entrance to a caveman's cave, and visitors are supposed to ring the bell when they arrive). |
| 1776 | Revolutionary War: The Revolutionary
war was fought by the colonists against England. The colonists
were complaining about unjust taxes levied by the English king and
they wanted equality of all men.
Since the colonists were mainly European and many were English, initially
they didn't want to fight the king. However, many fiery speeches
motivated them. One such speech was written by Patrick
Henry, who said "Give me liberty, or give me death".
The colonists gained independence from England in 1776. July 4 is observed as the independence day. The declaration of independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776, was written by Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson is famous for writing the declaration of independence and also because he later became US President. The victorious general for the colonists was George Washington who went on to become the first President of the new nation of the United States. |
| 1787 | Constitution: The Constitution or the supreme law of the US was written in 1787. It reflected the spirit of freedom of the colonists. |
| 1787 - 1861 | Expansion: During this time the US added new territories. The middle part of America was bought from the French by what is called the Louisiana Purchase. Much of the South West was won from Mexico following a war. |
| 1861 - 1865 | Civil War: The Civil war was fought between the Southern States against the Northern States. The North eventually won the war. One of the reasons of the war was the issue of Slavery which benefited the Southern farmers. The President at the time was Abraham Lincoln. He wrote what is called the Emancipation Proclamation (Emancipation means to free) that freed the slaves in the rebellious states where most slaves lived (it is somewhat later that all slaves were freed by an amendment to the Constitution). Abraham Lincoln can thus be credited as the President who freed most slaves. |
| 1865 - 1941 | Industrialization: This period saw a huge growth in the industrial base of the US. It is during this time that the US slowly became a world class power. |
| 1941 - 1945 | World War II: World War II was fought against Germany,
Italy and Japan. One of the biggest villains of WWII was
the German dictator Hitler and his Nazi party which became notorious for
their plans of expansion in Europe and for their killing of the Jews and several classes of people. The US was initially not in the war, but Japan bombed
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to drag the US into the War. The allies of US
included Britain, some other European countries and Russia. The war
ended for Japan when US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
Japan. That forced the surrender of Japan. The allies fought on
to force the surrender of Germany.
After the end of WWII, the victorious allies established the United Nations (UN) which was designed to solve disputes between nations without resorting to war. The UN also provides economic assistance to poorer nations. The UN exists even today. |
| 1945 - now | Post World War II: US helped Germany and Japan to rebuild after
WWII. US was going through an economic depression during the war. After WWII
US came out of it and continued the economic growth. Immediately
after the war there were two superpowers: Soviet Union and the US. They were
engaged in what is called a Cold War -- there were no real battles but
there were lot of suspicion and arms buildup. The Cold War ended
with the decline of the Soviet empire in 1989.
US also made progress in the civil rights area. Even though there were no slavery, there were still some roadblocks to the development of minorities, especially blacks. A great civil rights leader of this era was Martin Luther King, Jr. who fought to reverse the last of the unjust rules and regulations. |
On the piece of paper, draw a straight line. This represents the time. Draw as many tick marks as there are dates in the above table. You can use tick marks that are evenly spaced. Now for each tick mark, write down the date and then write down a little bit of the important things that happened there.
The US Flag has three colors, Red, White and Blue. There are 13 Red and White horizontal stripes -- these represent the 13 original colonies. On the top left corner is a rectangular area with blue background and 50 stars -- the 50 stars represent the 50 current states of the US.
The National Anthem is called the Star Spangled Banner. It was written by Francis Scott Key. (If you want to remember this connection, remember how a Key is very important to music and songs.)
Terminology: Federal, State: The Federal government is the US government which governs the whole of the US. Each State within US has a state government and then each city also has local governments. The division of responsibilities among these levels of government is well established. We will first describe the structure of the Federal government, and then we will describe the structure of the state and local governments.
The US Government is divided into 3 pieces or branches:
The following table shows all the main parts of the federal government:
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Federal Government |
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The capital of the United States is Washington, DC. The "DC" stands for District of Columbia, which is the district where the city of Washington is located. Important federal government offices are in Washington, DC.
The legislative branch of the US government is called Congress. They meet in Washington, DC in a building known as the Capitol. The job of Congress is to make laws. Congress is bicameral, which means that it is made up of two chambers -- the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The 'lower' house is called the House of Representatives. Members of the House of Representatives are simply called representatives because they are considered to be closer to the people. Since each representative represents a smaller group of population, there are many members of the House of Representatives. There are 435 members total in the House of Representatives. (Note: This number can change in the future as the population changes.) The members of the House of Representatives are elected for 2 years only, which means that they have to go back to the people and get elected very frequently.
The 'upper' house is called the Senate which literally means an assembly of elders. The concept comes from Roman times where a group of elders would oversee the process of governing. Senate members are called senators. Senators are also elected, but there are only 2 per state regardless of the population of the state. Since there are 50 states, this means that there are 100 Senators. Senate members get elected for 6 years which is considerably longer than the duration that a representative is elected.
A proposed law is called a bill. A bill starts its life in one of the houses of Congress. First, the bill must be passed by vote in both chambers of Congress. After that the President must sign the bill to make it into a law. (A bill can become a law without the President signing it -- see later for information about that.) This overseeing of one branch by another (in this case the executive branch overseeing the legislative branch) is called a 'system of checks and balances'. This kind of checks of balances happens throughout the US government.
The President heads the Executive branch whose function is to enforce laws passed by Congress. The President is elected by a group of people called electors who make up the electoral college. This means that the President is not elected directly by the people. The electors are elected based on people's votes -- so the President is indirectly chosen by the people. A President is elected for 4 years. The same person can at most serve 2 terms as President, so any one person can be President for at most 8 years. This restriction makes sure that the nation doesn't get stuck with one President for too long. Anyone who becomes a President must be 35 years old and a natural born citizen of the US.
The official residence of the US President is called the White House and it is located in Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.
The Vice President is elected at the same time as the President. If the President were to die while in Office, the Vice President takes over as President. If both were to die, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives (who is the most important person of the lower House which in turn is closest to the people) becomes President. There is a long succession list that ensures that the nation is not left without a President. (You need to get the name of the current President and the current Vice President)
After a law is passed by Congress (both chambers), it has to be signed by the President before the law can come into effect. A president can reject the law by Vetoing it. However, even after a presidential veto a big majority of Congress can still pass the law.
One very important job of the President is to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Army (Note: George Washington, the first Commander-in-Chief of the US Army was also the first President). But, again due to the system of checks and balances, the President cannot declare war. Only Congress can declare War.
The function of the Judiciary is to interpret laws in case of controversy. The highest court is called the Supreme Court which has 9 justices headed by a Chief Justice (Find the name of current Chief Justice). There are lower Federal Court below the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court justices are appointed by the President and have to be approved by the Congress. This is another example of checks and balances among the three branches.
The Supreme Court interprets laws. It can declare a law invalid if in the opinion of the court the law violates some principle of the constitution (see next for details about the constitution).
The Constitution is the supreme law of the Nation. All other Federal or State or Local laws must be within the framework of the US Constitution. The Constitution was written in 1787. The introduction to the constitution is called the preamble. The preamble specifies the purpose of the constitution.
The constitution is not unchangeable. When many people agree, they can change the constitution to make sure that it remains applicable to changing conditions. These changes are called amendments and there have been 27 of these till 2000. (Note: This number can increase over time).
The constitution applies to everyone living in the US -- citizens and non-citizens alike.
The first 10 amendments to the constitution are called the Bill of Rights. They gave specific rights to the people like right to free speech, free press, free practice of religion, right to bear arms, right to a jury during trial. The first amendment is especially famous because it gave the right to free speech, to press, to religion, to peaceful assembly, to request change in government. The first amendment is very popular because it explicitly provides very basic rights to every individual. Lawsuits involving first amendment rights are often closely watched, and they often reach as far as the Supreme Court.
Currently there are two major political parties in the US: Democratic and Republican.
The system of government that the US has is also called republican -- but in this case the word comes from the word "republic" which means "of the people" and doesn't have anything to do with the Republican political party.
Each State has a State Constitution that establishes how the State Government is set up. This varies by state, but generally the following is the correspondence between Federal Government and a typical State Government.
| Federal | State |
| President is the head. | Governor is the head. (Find name of your State's Governor.) |
| Two chambers of Congress. | Almost all states have two Houses to their legislative body. |
| Supreme Court interprets laws and US constitution. | State Supreme Court interprets State laws and the State Constitution. |
In the City government or Local government the head of government is called the Mayor. (Find the name of the Mayor of your city.)
Some of the questions below are not asked by the INS test. But, we strongly suggest that you take this practice test to solidify your knowledge of this subject. All these questions are answered in the pages above, so if you can't answer a question, go back to those pages and check the answers.
You should now try to answer the 100 questions that came with the INS packet (check the checklist at the beginning of the guide). See how you have improved. You should practice those questions until you get almost all of them right. Almost all the answers are in this guide -- mostly in the highlighted parts.
One final point: Many of the answers to the 100 questions can change over time -- so get the latest list of answers from the INS. Also, about 4 questions ask you about your particular place of residence in the US. The INS answer sheet doesn't have answers for those questions because they vary from place to place. You should ask around or do your own research in the Library or contact your local city hall to find out the answers to those 4 questions.
Now you know enough about US History and Government. When you go for the interview, dress professionally and remember to take all your other immigration related documents as required by the INS. Good luck on your examination.
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