Keentune

Citizenship & Civics curriculum

8 chapters
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200 concepts
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Everything the adaptive question bank can teach and test in Citizenship & Civics, from foundations through advanced practice. Work through it in order, or start practising and let the questions find your level.
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A free 11-minute primer — the mental model, the mistakes beginners make, and what to practise first.
A. Principles of American democracy
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The Constitution as the supreme law of the land.
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Sets up and defines the government and protects basic rights.
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Self-government stated in the first three words.
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A change or addition to the Constitution.
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The first ten amendments, and why they were added.
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Speech, religion, press, assembly and petition.
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Announcing independence and stating its justification.
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Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
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The right to practise any religion, or none.
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A market economy, also described as capitalist.
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Everyone must follow the law, including leaders.
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Dividing authority among three branches.
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Each branch limiting the others.
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Powers divided between the federal government and the states.
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Powers granted to the federal government.
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Powers kept by the states.
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Powers exercised by both levels.
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Authority deriving from the governed.
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Government constrained by the document that creates it.
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Governing through elected representatives.
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The principle behind elections and amendment.
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Rights held by persons and exercised in community.
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Fair procedure before life, liberty or property is taken.
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Like cases treated alike under the law.
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Participation as the condition for self-government.
B. System of government: the three branches
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Congress makes federal laws.
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The Senate and the House of Representatives.
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One hundred, two from each state.
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Six years, with staggered elections.
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Four hundred thirty-five voting members.
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Two years for the whole chamber.
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A number fixed by statute rather than by the Constitution.
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House seats distributed by population after each census.
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All the people of the state.
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The people of a congressional district.
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Passage in both chambers, then presentment.
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Rejection by the president and a two-thirds override.
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Advice and consent on appointments and treaties.
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House impeaches; the Senate tries.
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The president enforces and administers federal law.
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Four years, limited to two elected terms.
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Natural-born citizen, thirty-five, fourteen years resident.
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Civilian control of the armed forces.
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Vice president, then Speaker, and onward by statute.
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Department heads advising the president.
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What the major departments are responsible for.
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Directions to the executive branch, within existing law.
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Courts review and interpret laws.
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Nine justices, set by statute.
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Service during good behavior, and why.
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Courts deciding whether a law conflicts with the Constitution.
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District courts, courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court.
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Which system hears which cases.
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Governor, legislature and state courts.
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Counties, municipalities and their responsibilities.
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Two major parties and the role of minor ones.
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How the president is actually chosen.
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A constitutionally required count every ten years.
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Where federal revenue comes from and what authorizes it.
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Powers shared between president and Congress.
C. Rights and responsibilities
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Voting in federal elections and running for federal office.
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Freedoms that apply to all residents, not only citizens.
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What a new citizen promises.
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Serving on a jury and voting in federal elections.
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Eighteen, established by constitutional amendment.
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The step between eligibility and voting.
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Voting, joining groups, contacting officials, running for office.
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A civic obligation and the constitutional right it supports.
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Registration requirements for eligible individuals.
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Filing obligations as a civic duty.
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The baseline responsibility of residents and citizens alike.
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Protected expression and its recognized exceptions.
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Publication protected from prior restraint.
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Peaceable assembly and petition.
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The right to keep and bear arms as written.
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Protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
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Self-incrimination, double jeopardy and due process.
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Speedy public trial, counsel and confrontation.
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Excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.
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Abolition of slavery and involuntary servitude.
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Citizenship, due process and equal protection.
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Voting rights regardless of race.
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Voting rights regardless of sex.
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Abolition of the poll tax in federal elections.
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Voting age lowered to eighteen.
D. Colonial period and independence
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Native American nations preceding European settlement.
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Freedom, opportunity, religious practice and escape from persecution.
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The original colonies that became states.
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Forced transportation and sale into the colonies.
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Taxation without representation and quartering.
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Protest against a tax and a trade monopoly.
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Coordinated colonial response to the Coercive Acts.
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Adopted July 4, 1776.
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Jefferson as principal author.
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Independence recognized by treaty in 1783.
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Where and why the Constitution was written.
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Written under the pen name Publius to urge ratification.
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Who they were and the roles they played.
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Diplomat, printer, and oldest member of the convention.
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Commander, convention president, and first president.
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The title given to Washington.
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Madison's role in drafting and defending it.
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How the Constitution took effect.
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Added in 1791 after ratification debate.
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What each of the ten protects.
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Why the Articles of Confederation were replaced.
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Equal state representation paired with proportional representation.
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Written during the War of 1812.
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Territory bought from France in 1803.
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The major nineteenth-century conflicts the United States fought.
E. The nineteenth century
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Slavery as the central cause, with states' rights and economy argued.
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Fought from 1861 to 1865.
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Preserved the Union and issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Freed enslaved people in the rebelling states.
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The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments.
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Campaigned for women's rights and suffrage.
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Formerly enslaved abolitionist, writer and orator.
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Escaped slavery and led others to freedom.
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Settlement, territory and displacement of Native nations.
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Recognized nations and their continued presence.
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Nineteenth-century arrival patterns and their reception.
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Factories, railroads and urban growth.
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A late-century war and its territorial results.
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Conflict and the territory acquired.
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How territories became states.
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Territory bought from Russia.
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A gift from France and what it symbolizes.
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The principal immigration station of its era.
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Public land set aside for preservation.
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Linking the coasts and who built it.
F. The twentieth century and after
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U.S. entry and the president who led during it.
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Economic collapse and the New Deal response.
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U.S. entry after Pearl Harbor and the main adversaries.
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General in the war and later president.
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Communism as the main U.S. concern of the era.
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Twentieth-century conflicts the United States fought.
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Ending racial discrimination in law and practice.
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Leadership of nonviolent civil-rights campaigns.
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The 1964 and 1965 acts and what each addressed.
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Legal and workplace equality campaigns.
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Terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001.
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Post-Cold-War military engagements.
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The moon landing and its national significance.
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Milestones in who has held the office.
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Two-term limit written into the Constitution.
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Presidential disability and succession.
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Twentieth-century changes to who could immigrate.
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U.S. role in founding the organization.
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A mutual-defense commitment the United States joined.
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Agencies created to administer twentieth-century law.
G. Geography, symbols, and holidays
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Fifty states in the union.
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Thirteen stripes for the original colonies.
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Fifty stars, one for each state.
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The Star-Spangled Banner.
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What reciting it signifies.
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Washington, District of Columbia.
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New York Harbor, on Liberty Island.
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The Missouri and Mississippi river systems.
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The Atlantic and the Pacific.
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Canada to the north and Mexico to the south.
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Which states border each neighbouring country.
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Territories and their relationship to the federal government.
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Celebrated on July 4.
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The federal holidays and what each commemorates.
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Honouring those who died vs all who served.
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Origin and its status as a federal holiday.
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Recognition of the American labor movement.
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Commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
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Honouring Washington and, by custom, other presidents.
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National symbols and the mottoes they carry.
H. Naturalization and the civics test
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General eligibility categories for naturalization.
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Holding lawful permanent residence first.
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Maintaining residence through the qualifying period.
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Time actually spent in the country.
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The statutory requirement and how it is assessed.
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Commitment to constitutional principles.
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Reading, writing and speaking English.
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Age and residence combinations that waive the requirement.
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Medical waiver of the testing requirements.
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Oral questions drawn from a published list.
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Answering the required number correctly.
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Officeholder answers must be current at interview.
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Reviewing the application and testing English and civics.
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What the naturalization application asks.
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Fingerprinting and background checks.
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The final step at which citizenship takes effect.
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Renunciation, support and defence, and service obligations.
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Children acquiring citizenship through a parent.
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Citizenship by birth in the United States.
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How U.S. law treats another nationality.
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What changes on becoming a citizen.
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Provisions for service members.
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What follows an unsuccessful application.
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The official materials published for applicants.
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Civic knowledge as a condition of naturalization.
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Changing a legal name as part of the ceremony.
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The document proving citizenship afterwards.
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Applying for a passport as a new citizen.
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Registering to vote once eligible.
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The narrow circumstances in which citizenship can be lost.
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