Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge Clinic

Join us for the Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge Clinic at the Spring Family Camping Weekend at Camp Oh-Da-Ko-Ta on Saturday, May 2, 2026.  The clinic will begin at 9:00 am.  

Please do the following in advance of the May 2, 2026 clinic:

Get a blue card from your Scoutmaster – the Guide to Advancement requires your Scoutmaster approve you taking the badge in advance.

Requirement 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. Be prepared to discuss the date range.

Discuss the national issues that you learned about with your counselor. Choose one issue and explain how it affects you, your family, and community.

[Note:  It’s a national issue. That means, for purposes of the badge, we don’t care if a story addressed a playground being completed across from your elementary school, or, barring FEMA funding, what the weather was. Those types if things that would not satisfy the requirement. Similarly, certain parts of the war in Ukraine will not qualify.  On the other hand, we do care if policy announced by the Congress or the President will impact the country.]

Requirement 6:   Choose a speech of national historical importance. Explain:

a. Who the author was – i.e. who wrote the speech?

b. What the historical context was – that is, why was speaker in this particular place or speaking at this particular time? 

c. What difficulties the nation faced that the author wished to discuss – that is, the speaker had a purpose in addressing the group he/she addresses to try to solve something – what was it?

d. What the author said – that is, what position did the author advocate on the national issue or high level, what point was the author trying to make?

e. Why the speech is important to the nation’s history- Why should we as a nation still care about what was said?  Did it motivate change and if so, what was that change?  Was it complete change or do we have further to go to achieve the speaker’s goal?

f.  Choose a sentence or two from the speech that has significant meaning to you, and tell your counselor why.  For this, you’ll need to read the sentence(s) and tell us why it has meaning to you.

Be prepared to present this to the group.  Make sure this reflects your opinions—there are websites that try to simplify this. If everyone is saying the same thing-it gets awkward. 

Speeches are your choice – there are HUNDREDS that can qualify.You are absolutely encouraged, but not required, to deviate from this list below. However, here are some examples:

• Patrick Henry--Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
• Washington's Farewell Address at the end of his second term
• Lincoln --Gettysburg Address
• Frederick Douglass--What to the slave is the 4th of July? [there are a couple titles to this one.]
• Sojourner Trust--Ain't I A Woman?
• Chief Joseph(Nez Perce)--I Will Fight No More Forever
• Reagan – Address @ Brandenburg Gate “Tear Down this Wall”
• MLK - I Have a Dream

Requirement 7:  Do TWO of the following – NOT ONE, BUT TWO:

1. 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.  If you don’t know or need to find one:  National Register Database and Research - National Register of Historic Places (U.S. National Park Service); you’ll be surprised what may be in your town.
2. Tour your state capitol building or the U.S. Capitol. Tell your counselor what you learned about the capitol, its function, and the history.
3. 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.
4. Choose a national monument that interests you. Using books, brochures, the Internet (with your parent or guardian'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.

If you have done one of these already, like a tour of the Capitol in Madison through school, great.  Now go through the list and choose a second one, because the badge requires that you do two of the four. If you do not complete 2, Scouts will receive a partial. 

Refunds must be in writing or email (Scouting@ThreeHarborsScouting.org) up until two weeks before this event.