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Course: US government and civics > Unit 4
Lesson 2: What are the rights and responsibilities of citizenship?- Personal rights
- Political rights
- Economic rights of citizenship
- Responsibilities of citizenship
- Obligations of citizenship
- Why do some citizens have to register for the draft?
- The rights and responsibilities of citizenship: level 1
- The rights and responsibilities of citizenship: level 2
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Obligations of citizenship
U.S. citizens have key obligations like obeying laws, serving on juries, paying taxes, attending school, and defending the Constitution and country. These duties are not optional and are enforced by law. Created by Kimberly Kutz.
Want to join the conversation?
- Naomi has the right idea(5 votes)
- What do you think the obligations of a citizen should be?(2 votes)
- U.S. citizens must comply with certain mandatory obligations, including: Obeying the law. Every U.S. citizen must obey federal, state and local laws, and pay the penalties that can be incurred when a law is broken. Paying taxes.(1 vote)
- Why do you have to sever juvie cant it be your choise?(1 vote)
- no you cant choose, although if you are underage then you cant serve in the jury(2 votes)
Video transcript
- [Instructor] In this video we're going to learn about the obligations
of U.S. citizenship. Obligations are actions
that citizens are required to fulfill, or they'll
face punishment by law. Unlike the responsibilities
of citizenship we talked about in the last video, which
are voluntary actions taken by good citizens. The obligations of
citizenship are not optional. So what are some of these obligations? First, citizens must obey the law. They're bound to abide by
the rules that have been made by elected representatives in government. Next, citizens over the
age of 18 are required to serve on juries. The Constitution guarantees
people who've been accused of a crime the right to a
trial by a jury of their peers. So citizens are obligated to show up and be those peers when summoned. Although not everyone who
is summoned will be selected to serve on a jury. Citizens are also obligated
to pay their taxes every year by April 15th according to
state, local, and federal laws. What other obligations do citizens have? Young citizens are
required to attend school, as children and teenagers. Most states require
students to go to school from about the age of five
or six, to about 16 to 18. Although the exact ages
and requirements differ from state to state. The last two obligations are
to defend the Constitution and the country when called upon. These are in the naturalization oath that new citizens must take. To defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States means
to be loyal to the system of government, not to try
to overthrow the government or support a particular ruler rather than the system described
in the Constitution. Citizens are also obligated
to defend the country in a combat or non combat
capacity when called upon by the government. Although at this time, only
men or people assigned male at birth, must register
for selective service between the ages of 18 and 26. So now that we've learned
about the obligations of citizenship, let's
do a couple of examples. See if you can identify
which obligation each person in the scenario is or is not meeting. Okay, first up. Michel is an avid bicyclist. He bikes to work everyday. He knows that he could
save about five minutes off his commute if he cuts
through a college campus and rides on the sidewalks. However, in New York City, it's illegal for bicyclists over the age
of 13 to ride on sidewalks, as bikes are vehicles. So Michel sticks to the
bike paths on the street. All right, so pause the video here and think about which
obligation Michel is following. If you said obeying the law, you're right. Okay, next one. Naomi is 14 and starts tricking here mom into thinking she's taking the bus, but instead goes to the
library to read all day. She gets away with it for three days before her mom finds out. Which obligation was Naomi neglecting? She's neglecting her
obligation to attend school. Last one. To deal with the shortage
of personnel in a war, the U.S. government
drafts thousands of men. One of these men, John
Stewart, reports for enlistment with the U.S. Marine Corps
at the young age of 19. Which obligation is he meeting? This one is the obligation
to defend the country when called upon. All right, that's all for now. Keep practicing in the
exercise for this lesson.