What Does It Take To Become a Citizen?

This is the 2nd unit in the Junior Humanities class "A Nation's Argument." This unit is called "1850's. In this unit, we learned about the historical events of the 1850's. We studied the events that lead up to the civil war, as well as the political climate of America at that time. We studied events such as the Kansas Nebraska Act. We learned how America was split on whether slavery should be legal or not. To learn more about American history, we once again participated in Yale University's open courses. We attended a lecture by Professor Blight about the founding of the Republican party. We also learned about immigration. We learned about what it takes to become a citizen, and we tried to take the naturalization test that immigrants have to take. We also visited the Immigration court where we saw live immigration hearings. For this AP, we had to amend the naturalization test. This was up to interpretation. I decided to make it more personable and related to what America means to you. Enjoy!

United States Government. "Seal of the U.S, Immigration and Naturalization Services." (2000)

Do you know what it takes to become a citizen of The United States? In fact, it is a long and treacherous process, in which one step is t take a “naturalization test.” This is a part of the citizenship process where an applicant takes a 100 question test on all things America. Questions range from government to geography and history. A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service officer will ask 10 questions, and 6 out of 10 questions must be answered correctly. A form of naturalization tests have been around since the early 19th century. According to the USCIS website, trick questions were eliminated in the 1930s to “ensure that questioning would establish the applicant’s attachment to the principles of the Constitution rather than the mere ability to memorize facts.”

I think that this quote is an interesting statement, as a lot of people today say that the test is still just a memorization test, even though the purpose is to understand the government, history, and geography of America.

I believe that the citizenship exam should be more than memorization. People who are coming to America are usually looking for a better life than they could have in their native country. I believe questions on the test like:

88. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
92. Name one state that borders Canada.
95. Where is the Statue of Liberty?


Are very general, easily googled, and generally useless questions. These questions are also probably not known by many American born citizens. To me, these questions feel more like trivia questions, rather than questions that all Americans should know. These questions are all connected and are pretty general geography questions. I think it is good to be a well-informed citizen, and I think most or all Americans should know these answers, but I don’t think it is nessacery for a brand new citizen or a non-native person who is coming to America for the first time to know. Imagine going to a brand new country and having to know the geography (even if it is pretty well known.)

A syllogism for the current test would be: American citizens know basic geography, therefore all new citizens should know basic geography. This is a very generalized test. I believe that because some Americans know the answer to these questions, It is assumed that every American and new citizen should know these answers. I think that it is fairly hypocritical since many American citizens do not know the answer to these questions.

I believe that the citizenship test should be revised into a project that an applicant does on what America means to them. For this, there is no right or wrong answer, (which could present problems) but it is the opinion of the applicant. This project could be much more worthwhile than memorizing facts. It could also show the USCIS agents why this person is coming to America, and what they plan on doing once becoming a citizen.

In Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, the following is stated: “To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,” This means the Congress is granted the right to establish a rule of naturalization. This determines how immigrants may or may not become citizens, even back in the 1700s. At this time there was no naturalization test, but it was up to the government to determine if someone could become a citizen even if they do not meet the criteria of: “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.” In Article II Section I. Even to this day we still have the government determine who can become a citizen, but it seems we haven’t come much farther than we have when the country was first born. With my new way of naturalizing immigrants, we can move forward in the ways we accept people into this country.

I declare that the U.S. Citizenship Naturalization test shall be amended into a self-fulfilling project about what America means to them. This will be an open format project will no restrictions. This is purely to show the government what America means to this applicant, and what their plan is. This will eliminate memorization, and trick questions to give everyone a fair chance.

My classmate KS had this to say about my amended test: “I think this is a fairer way to judge who gets to come into America. It is less general and more personalized.”

This amendment is signed by:

CM & KS


Works Cited:

“Origin of the Naturalization and Civics Test.” USCIS.gov. Department of Homeland Security. 15, Jan 2013. Web. 9, Mar 2019.

“The U.S. Constitution and Immigration.” Boundless.com. Boundless Immigration Inc. 3, Jun 2017. Web 12, Mar 2019.

U.S. Constitution. Art.I, Sec 8. Art. II Sec. 1.

In conclusion, I did like this project. I thought it was a fun but challenging way to think about how we as Americans see immigration. I always thought the test was suspicious, but I really do feel like my plan could work. The most challenging part was connecting my amendment to a historical document. I was able to find some good connections, but it was challenging. I am really happy with how this turned out.