Washington – What was the Emancipation Proclamation? People applying to become American citizens now need to know that it freed the slaves. But in a couple of years, that knowledge won’t be enough. Prospective citizens will need to have a deeper understanding of the Civil War and name one of the problems that led to it.
The federal government today will unveil 144 draft questions that it plans to try out on immigrant applicants in 10 cities where it is testing a new citizenship exam. The Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau planned to post the questions on its website at noon today.
Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Homeland Security Department, wants to make the test more meaningful and has been working for several years to redesign it. A 2003 attempt also was given a tryout in some cities, failed and was scuttled.
Answers to the Civil War questions could include slavery, economics or states’ rights, said Chris Rhatigan, an agency spokeswoman. Rhatigan provided examples of the test questions to The Associated Press.
The questions to be released will be for the civics portion of the test and will be given orally to immigrants who volunteer to take the new draft test.
The redesign is aimed at making sure applicants know the meaning behind some of America’s fundamental institutions, Rhatigan said.
“There’s not one, rote SAT-type question and answer,” she said.
The draft civics questions will be tried out early next year in Albany, N.Y.; Boston; Charleston, S.C.; Denver; El Paso; Kansas City, Mo.; Miami; San Antonio; Tucson, Ariz.; and Yakima, Wash.
