Kids, have you seen adults at political meetings or heard them on TV and radio screaming about the Constitution?
Embarrassing, isn’t it, that so many of them don’t seem to know what they’re talking about, even 222 years after the document was adopted by the Continental Congress, Sept. 17, 1787.
So maybe it’s up to you younger people to get it right and gently correct the grown-ups when they start doing weird mash-ups of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and George M. Cohan songs.
Sure, those Founder guys had a stuffy 18th-century way of writing, but Cathy Travis, a nice lady who knows her way around Capitol Hill, has written “Constitution Translated for Kids.” The original text appears side-by-side with a simplified version, also suitable for constitutionally challenged adults.
In honor of Constitution Day on Thursday, see how you do on this pop quiz:
1. What are the first words of the Constitution?
a. Fourscore and seven years ago …
b. When in the course of human events …
c. We the people of the United States …
d. I’m a Yankee-doodle dandy.
2. What does Article I establish?
a. The office of president
b. Congress
c. Freedom of speech
d. Supreme Court
3. Who has the power to print or coin money and determine what it’s worth?
a. Congress
b. President
c. Treasury Department
d. Ben Bernanke
4. Mainly the Constitution seems to say slavery is OK. Where was this changed?
a. Emancipation Proclamation
b. Ninth Amendment
c. 13th Amendment
d. Article VII
5. The Constitution did not originally give women the right to vote. What changed this?
a. Congress passed a law in 1914
b. 14th Amendment in 1868
c. A mob of angry women burned the White House in 1814
d. 19th Amendment in 1920
6. Bonus question: Who was the main player in writing the Constitution?
a. Thomas Jefferson
b. James Madison
c. Benjamin Franklin
d. Alexander Hamilton
Answers
1: c. The Preamble to the Constitution begins, “We the People…”
2: b. Congress, the legislative branch of government, is established, consisting of the House and Senate.
3: a. Congress makes decisions about money. (This frightens some people.)
4: c. Although President Lincoln’s proclamation was issued in 1863, slavery was not given the constitutional heave-ho until the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865.
5: d. It took 133 years, but the Constitution gave women the right to vote with the 19th Amendment. By the way, the White House was burned in 1814, but it was done by British soldiers.
6: b. Madison worked harder than anyone and has been called “Father of the Constitution.” He was president from 1809 to 1817.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
