Constitution

Today is Constitution Day - the anniversary of the ratification of the constitution. Thanks to Senator Byrd's amendment to a 2004 spending bill "every school and college receiving federal money must teach about the Constitution on Sept. 17..." C-SPAN is asking callers questions from a multiple choice quiz. I can't find a link to the quiz, but among the questions I remember are :

• How many states must ratify an amendment? (majority, 2/3, 3/4 or all)
• Which state first ratified the constitution?
• Who was the first Vice President?
• Which right is guaranteed to a person accused of a crime? (1. to hear witnesses against him, to have any judge he chooses, to change the location of the trial, another choice I can't remember)

It's discouraging how many callers are answering wrong. One caller made an interesting point. On this topic there's none of the usual vitriolic arguing among callers. Everyone likes the constitution - which is amazing considering how little callers seem to know about it.

Some of the questions on C-SPAN are the same as this quiz on the Whitehouse Kids page. There's also this Constitutional Timeline at the National Constitution Center. Very cool site. Check it out. Do it now. There will be a quiz tomorrow.