If you’re wanting to earn the Eagle-required Citizenship in the Nation merit badge, you’re in the right place! In this guide, I’ll be providing you with all of the answers that you’ll need to complete your merit badge worksheet and fully understand important aspects of our great nation.
You’ve reached part 2 of my ultimate guide to the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge! If you’re new to ScoutSmarts, you should first check out part 1 for the answers to requirements 1-4 of the CITN badge.
If you’ve just come over from part one, congratulations! You’re halfway done. Once you finish the CITN merit badge, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge needed to be an informed and active citizen! Give yourself a huge pat on the back for making it this far. 🙂
It’s time to get back into it! Take a minute to closely review and think through requirements 4-8 of the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge. Then, I’ll be providing you with some helpful explanations so that you can better understand what it means to be an American! Enough said — let’s dive in!!
What Are The Citizenship In The Nation Merit Badge Answers?
- Discuss the importance of:
a. The Declaration of Independence
b. The Bill of Rights (the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution) and the 14th Amendment
c. The traditional United States motto “E Pluribus Unum”. - Watch the national evening news for five days in a row or read the main stories in a national media organization (e.g., a newspaper or news website) for five days in a row. Discuss the national issues that you learned about with your counselor. Choose one issue and explain how it affects you, your family, and community.
- With your counselor’s approval, choose a speech of national historical importance. Explain:
a. Who the author was
b. What the historical context was
c. What difficulties the nation faced that the author wished to discuss
d. What the author said
e. Why the speech is important to the nation’s history.
Choose a sentence or two from the speech that has significant meaning to you, and tell your counselor why. - Do TWO of the following:
a. Visit a place that is listed as a National Historic Landmark or that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Tell your counselor what you learned about the landmark or site and what you found interesting about it.
b. Tour your state capitol building or the U.S. Capitol. Tell your counselor what you learned about the capitol, its function, and the history.
c. Tour a federal facility. Explain to your counselor what you saw there and what you learned about its function in the local community and how it serves this nation.
d. Choose a national monument that interests you. Using books, brochures, the internet (with your parent’s permission), and other resources, find out more about the monument. Tell your counselor what you learned, and explain why the monument is important to this country’s citizens. - Name your representatives in the United States Congress. Write a letter to your representative in Congress explaining your views on a national issue. Show your letter, along with any response you might receive, to your counselor.
CITN Merit Badge Requirement 4: Unity In Our Nation
4c) Discuss the importance of: The traditional United States motto “E Pluribus Unum”.
“E Pluribus Unum” is a Latin phrase that translates to “Out of Many, One.” It’s the official United States motto and is written on most of our currency. This motto has been an important part of United States history since its founding in 1776, and it reflects one of our core national values: unity.
Unity is especially important within the United States because we live in such a diverse country. Founded on the shoulders of immigrants, our nation consists of people from all over the world bringing to it different cultures, religions, and backgrounds. And yet, despite these differences, we all share a common bond as Americans. The motto “E Pluribus Unum” reminds us that, even though we may be different, we all belong to one nation.
This value of unity has been especially important to us in times of crisis, such as during the Civil War or after the 9/11 attacks. In these moments, we learned to set aside our political differences and work together towards a common goal. In peaceful times, “E Pluribus Unum” also teaches us to celebrate our differences and recognize the unique contributions that each individual brings to our country!
So, remember that “E Pluribus Unum” is not some random phrase on our currency. It represents a fundamental value that has helped our nation to become the diverse and strong country that we are today.
CITN Merit Badge Requirement 5: Informed Citizenship
5) Watch the national evening news for five days in a row or read the main stories in a national media organization (e.g., a newspaper or news website) for five days in a row. Discuss the national issues that you learned about with your counselor. Choose one issue and explain how it affects you, your family, and community.
Surprisingly, I found this to be one of the most fun requirements of this badge! If your parents or any of your siblings watch the news, just join them for a few days. Ask them how they think the issues you’re hearing about would affect your family. It’ll make for a great conversational topic, and you’ll be able to learn more about how they see the world.
This requirement got me to watch the news with my Dad for the first time, and was the start of a great ritual for us! Even after finishing the merit badge, I’d still join him to watch the evening news at least once or twice a week.
If you aren’t able to watch the news on TV, newspapers or even news websites would also be fine. I’d recommend APNews.com or NPR, as those are seen as some of the least biased sources of information. When hearing any news, try to identify the stance the reporting is coming from, evaluate the objective facts, do further research if necessary, and come to your own informed conclusions. In doing so, you’ll be far less likely to get wrapped up in polarized or “fake news.”
It won’t take too long to get a basic idea of some of the current national issues that are taking place. Once you have a few topics in mind, be sure to consider how these ongoing events might impact you and your family. Then, discuss those topics with your family members, think a bit more about your stance on the issue, and with that you’ll be all set to have a great discussion with your merit badge counseler!
CITN Merit Badge Requirement 6: Historical Speeches
6) With your counselor’s approval, choose a speech of national historical importance. Explain:
a. Who the author was
b. What the historical context was
c. What difficulties the nation faced that the author wished to discuss
d. What the author said
e. Why the speech is important to the nation’s history.
Choose a sentence or two from the speech that has significant meaning to you, and tell your counselor why.
For this requirement, you’ll need to choose a speech of national historic importance to research. You can find a list of significant American historical speeches by clicking the link here. Choose one that you might like. Below, I’ll be using the Gettysburg address as an example of what main points you could cover when reviewing your speech.
Gettysburg Address Example:
Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg address on November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War. At the time of his influential speech, Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America.
Lincoln is one of the most widely known US presidents, having fought for the emancipation of all slaves during his time in office. Today, Abraham Lincoln is still well respected and remembered, even having his profile carved into the side of Mount Rushmore.
In his iconic Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln commemorated the fallen Union soldiers and reaffirmed America’s national purpose of liberty and equality for all of its inhabitants.
One of the most remembered and quoted lines from his speech is, “This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
This line still rings true for American citizens today. As a society, we’re always trying to form a more perfect nation, and by creating a government of the people, for the people, our nation will continue to prosper.
The significance of this line is that, even 150 years later, we’ve still been able to maintain our democracy and succeed as a nation. More than that, we’ve combated injustices and passed positive laws, making our country a more free and just place for all of its citizens.
Now that you know all about the Gettysburg address, you might be interested in hearing it for yourself! Check out this quick and awesome video (2:52) of a guy reenacting the iconic speech in public.
CITN Merit Badge Requirement 7: Locations of National Importance
7) Do TWO of the following:
a. Visit a place that is listed as a National Historic Landmark or that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Tell your counselor what you learned about the landmark or site and what you found interesting about it.
b. Tour your state capitol building or the U.S. Capitol. Tell your counselor what you learned about the capitol, its function, and the history.
c. Tour a federal facility. Explain to your counselor what you saw there and what you learned about its function in the local community and how it serves this nation.
d. Choose a national monument that interests you. Using books, brochures, the internet (with your parent’s permission), and other resources, find out more about the monument. Tell your counselor what you learned, and explain why the monument is important to this country’s citizens.
During the time I was working on Citizenship in the Nation, I chose to complete options 1 and 4. It was a really cool experience to visit a historic landmark in my state, and I think you’ll enjoy visiting a landmark as well! Afterward, it was a quick process to finish researching my chosen national monument.
When working on this requirement, I’d recommend you complete requirement 4 and choose some sort of national facility to tour. However, if you have the opportunity to visit two locations with your troop, that’d be a fun time too. In the section, I’m going to be guiding you through option 4 and giving you advice on how best to research the national monument of your choosing.
Step 1: Visit the list of national monuments and select a monument to research. For this example, I’ll be showing you my research on the Statue of Liberty.
Step 2: Note the important details, then write out a list of facts about your monument. This can include the date of creation, location of the monument, number of visitors per year, and a brief description of its history. Take the time to write this information down to later discuss with your counselor.
Example of my list after step 2:
- Name: Statue of Liberty
- Date established as a national monument: October 15, 1924
- Location: New York/New Jersey
- Description: Approximately 151 feet (46 m) tall, the Statue of Liberty commemorates the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence and is a gesture of friendship from France to the U.S. It receives over 4 million visitors annually.
Step 3: Click your location’s name to visit the full article on your monument. Skim through the information and pick out some interesting details. Note down 3 fun facts from the article to also share with your counselor.
Additions to my list after step 3:
- Fun fact 1: Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel (designer of the Eiffel Tower.
- Fun fact 2: The Statue Of Liberty was dedicated (officially opened) on October 28, 1886. It was also renovated and rededicated from 1982-2000.
- Fun Fact 3: The robed female depicted by the statue represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.
Step 4: Click one of the government webpage citations at the bottom of the article to find a reputable website to use in your sources. Take 1 fact from that website to also add to your list.
Additions to my list after step 4:
- Fact 4: You are able to visit the crown and pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, but availability is limited and must be reserved beforehand. Citation: National Parks Service (nps.gov).
With these 4 steps, you should have more than enough information and reputable sources to speak with your counselor. Be sure to also highlight why your chosen monument should be considered important to our country’s citizens. Additionally, if you’d like to go the extra mile, you can also visit your school or local library to find a book on your national monument.
I know that for some of you this sort of research method may seem obvious, but to those of you who aren’t using it, you really should. Not only will outlining your findings and identifying credible sources in page citations save you time in researching merit badge answers, it’ll also make your school assignments easier!
CITN Merit Badge Requirement 8: Advocacy
8) Name your representatives in the United States Congress. Write a letter to your representative in Congress explaining your views on a national issue. Show your letter, along with any response you might receive, to your counselor.
After following the news for a week and learning about your country‘s history, writing a short message about a national issue should be a breeze for you. Use this website to identify who your two state senators are. Then, click the following link to identify one of the Congress members from your state.
Then, all that’s left to do is to write a short and polite letter to one of these individuals. My letter was about two paragraphs, but yours can be a little shorter or a little longer. Usually, one of their staff will respond to you, but if you’re lucky, your actual representative could get back to you as well! 😀
Below is my example letter that you could use for inspiration:
Dear Representative Dan,
I’m writing to ask for your help in protecting our local forests. As a BSA Scout who cares about the environment, I’m concerned about the damage caused by deforestation and have been seeing that a current national issue is budget allocation towards conservation.
Forests are important because they help purify the air and water, and provide homes for many animals. Because of these benefits, we should invest more in programs that promote sustainable forestry practices, reforestation, and protecting existing forests. Additionally, protecting forests will not only benefit the environment, but also create jobs and support local businesses.
Please use your vote to support policies that allocate more resources towards local forest conservation and restoration. Thank you for your time and all that you do.
Sincerely,
Cole
Conclusion
If you’ve made it to this point in the guide, congratulations! The citizenship merit badges aren’t easy, but will provide you with the skills to better understand the world around you. Now that you’re ready to earn Citizenship in the Nation, you’re one step closer to becoming an Eagle Scout!
If you found this guide helpful, I’ve also written other merit badge walkthroughs, as well as articles helping you to be a better leader in your troop. You should check out my Citizenship in Society merit badge guide if you’re looking for an interesting Eagle-required badge to tackle next!
Anyway, thanks for your contributions to our great nation through Scouting, and great work on this badge! If you want more helpful Scouting info sent straight to your inbox each week, sign up for my newsletter, the ScoutSmarts Scribe. Hope to see you here again soon and, until next time, best of luck on your Scouting journey!
(Click here to return to part 1 of my guide to the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge!)