Decided to look at some current questions on the citizenship test.
73. Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
▪ the Civil War
▪ the War between the States
Just thought that the accepted answers were interesting on this one.
Why are you surprised that the Northern hegemons do not accept 'War of Northern Aggression'?
The 1870 Census was the first after passage of the 14th Amendment. The census was originally going to ask male citizens over the age of 21 whether they could vote or not, and might also have asked about whether they were felons, or had participated in rebellion, but the question was dropped. The census director on his own asked for reports on those not permitted to vote. The reports were quite incomplete. Some states said no one. Massachusetts had a detailed report on imbeciles, idiots, and illiterates, and its representatives expressed the opinion that such persons should not be permitted to vote, with a certain pride that their state had identified these individuals.
Northerners had hoped the 14th Amendment would prevent additional representatives from the South, but had been disappointed, so they increases the size of the House, and eventually added a few representatives that are not based on population.
If there was a civic literacy test, then States would have an incentive to be sure that voters passed it, since they would be risking losing representation in Congress.
