Constitution and Citizenship Day
- Leslie Ryan
- Sep 17
- 2 min read
Happy September 17! This is National Constitution and National Citizenship Day! A twofer!
The US Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787. In 1940 we began to celebrate this anniversary with "I Am An American Day." Citizenship Day was first celebrated in 1952 after being signed into law by President Harry Truman.
In 2004, an amendment to the omnibus spending bill in Congress declared that "all publicly funded educational institutions, and all federal agencies, provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution" on that day.
The US Customs and Immigration website keeps track of new American citizens and their countries of origin, "The United States has a long history of welcoming immigrants from all parts of the world. During the last decade, USCIS welcomed more than 7.9 million naturalized citizens into the fabric of our nation."
Here's a screenshot of some of their 2024 New Citizen statistics:
And where did those new citizens of 2024 come from, you might ask?
Here's an interesting further breakdown of our new 2024 Citizens:
"Women made up over 55% of those naturalized in FY 2024, and they were the majority in every age group.
"More than 37% of citizens naturalized in FY 2024 were 30 to 44 years old. The median age of those naturalizing in FY 2024 was 42 years. About 17% were younger than 30 years old, and 23 new citizens were centenarians (age 100 and older)!
Most of those applying in the last decade are relatives of existing citizens, about 13% were children in 2024! They must pass an oral exam about the US and its history. Could you pass an oral exam in a language you might not be fluent in? According to USCIS 90% passed the exam on their first try.
Here is a link to a practice test that is MULTIPLE GUESS as we like to joke in my house: https://americanhistory.si.edu/citizenship/test
Happy Constitution Day! In order to contribute to further education for those of us not in a publicly funded school, here are some fun facts about The Constitution from The National Archives:
Happy Citizenship Day! As a proud descendant of immigrants, as the majority of us are, we should celebrate! Here's my favorite FDR quote, "Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists."
I'm already working on Family Tree and History holiday gifts! I'm getting to see beautiful family pictures and find new information about those faces. Can I help you with one? Send me an email, and let's talk. Remember, there is always a FREE quote after a NO OBLIGATION review of what you have.
Fall blessings to you and yours,
Leslie Ryan
No copyright infringement is intended.
No compensation is received for any links or referrals herein.
