FYI - the actual citizenship test is much more difficult because it is an oral test (interview), not a written multiple-choice test. Unless it changed since when I took it myself 3 years ago.
This online test is a much better simulation of the test.
Yeah, 
I got 96% – I didn’t know the number of amendments and made a few other bad guesses. If it hadn’t been multiple choice I may not have done very well. :o
I have an unfair advantage. Don’t ask me how I would do on a Swedish citizenship test, in Swedish.
And the Emancipation Proclamation did not free all the slaves, just those slaves in the 10 states that had declared independence, were still in rebellion, and had another President they were following. 1/4 of the slaves in what had been the US before the war and would be again after the war were not affected by the Executive Order, like the ones in the states that were still loyal to the US or were in pacified and occupied southern states.
It might be difficult for anybody who isn’t very educated. And vastly more so for someone who hasn’t been brought up in the USA. Some questions are plainly difficult : Franklin having been a diplomat, who wrote in the Federalist papers, how many representatives, how many amendments…, others are very “american” : 'life and pursuit of happiness", “checks and balances”…many are trivia that people brought up in the USA will be familiar with while foreigners won’t be at all : who is Susan B. Anthony? Why are there 13 strips on the flag?
There are in fact few obvious/easy questions : who is the current president, which ocean is on the west coast… A not particularly educated foreigner has no reason to know what were the original 13 colonies, how you call the first ten amendments, who is third in line for the presidency, or who was president during WWI…
So, I disagree. This citizenship test in fact isn’t easy. I got 92% but I consider myself both quite educated and quite familiar with the USA and my lenghty presence on the SDMB halped a lot : there are many questions I would have been totally unable to answer without it.
Imagine the same set of questions about, say, Russia. When did such or such teritory was acquired, how many federated republics are there, what are the powers devolved to them, who is third in line for presidency, what is the meaning of the flag’s colors, what did some random semi-famous person do, etc… Do you think it would be easy as pie, or that you’d have to dedicate quite a bit of time to study before passing the test? Assume on top of it that you’re neither terribly bright nor terribly educated, and I can see how it could be a challenge, without even considering the language issue.
Why the hell do potential citizens need to know which oceans are off of which coasts? They’re applying for legal residency, not captains’ licenses.
Kids do not, Males upon reaching 18 years old must.
They are not kids anymore then, they vote work and pay taxes (hopefully)
It was never discontinued, it is not currently active, it only becomes active in times of war
you still must register though, does no good to register after the fact.
Uneducated, illiterate non english speaking people came over on boats from italy and hungary and russia and germany and any place you can imagine.
And they learned to read, and learned english and learned the country and took the tests
and became citizens, and taught their kids to say the pledge allegiance and speak english at home etc.
They were honored and proud to be here, they went through a lot to be here and become americans, no one handed them a card and an interest free loan, they worked very hard.
Even went to war for their new home.
If some uneducated kid from no place italy can do it over 100 years ago, i dont think anyone can realistically throw down the difficult card.
My paternal grandmother was illiterate, having grown up in a shtetl in Russia. When she married her third husband, I tried to teach her how to write her new name. It was frustrating for both of us. She was also ignorant of math… unless there was a dollar sign in front of the numbers; then she was a genius.
Yet, somehow, she did become a citizen, and voted. I believe there are exemptions for older people who’ve been in the U.S. for a number of years.
They had to pass such a test, back then?
In any case, I found the poster I was answered to dismissive, apparently saying that the only possible difficulty could be language skills. I disagree. This test isn’t super easy.