US Citizenship Practice Test.
Free practice exam — 60 verified questions, instant feedback.

Answer: A
Franklin served as diplomat to France, ran the postal service as the first Postmaster General, published Poor Richard's Almanac, and started the first free libraries. The presidency was Washington's and the Proclamation was Lincoln's.

Answer: D
Washington — commander of the Continental Army and first President — is the Father of Our Country. Madison is remembered as Father of the Constitution, a title students often swap with Washington's.

Answer: B
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 bought the vast territory from France, doubling the nation. Alaska came from Russia in 1867, Florida from Spain in 1819, and Puerto Rico after the Spanish-American War.

Answer: C
The Civil War (1861-1865) — also called the War between the States — pitted the Union North against the Confederate South. The Revolution predates it by nearly a century and World War One belongs to the 1900s.

Answer: D
Slavery — with economic conflicts and states' rights disputes bound to it — led to the Civil War. The Depression and Prohibition are twentieth-century matters, and the tea tax stirred the Revolution.

Answer: A
Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation freed slaves in the Confederacy; nationwide abolition followed with the Thirteenth Amendment. Women's suffrage came by the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

Answer: C
Lincoln preserved the Union through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The Bill of Rights predates him by seventy years — Madison's work — and Adams was the first Vice President.

Answer: D
Anthony campaigned for women's suffrage and civil rights through the nineteenth century. Clara Barton founded the Red Cross, legend credits Betsy Ross with the flag, and Jeannette Rankin was the first congresswoman.

Answer: A
Franklin Roosevelt led from 1933 through most of World War Two. Theodore Roosevelt governed decades earlier, Wilson through World War One, and Eisenhower commanded in Europe before his 1950s presidency.

Answer: D
Containing communism — the Soviet Union's system and influence — defined American policy through the Cold War decades. Railroads, British taxes and Prohibition belong to entirely different centuries and struggles.

Answer: B
Dr. King led the civil rights movement, working to end racial discrimination and secure equal rights under law. Labor organized workers, temperance fought alcohol, and westward expansion was a century earlier.

Answer: B
On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The 1929 crash, the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, and the 1969 moon landing are separate landmarks of the American century.

Answer: A
The thirteen stripes honor the thirteen original colonies that became the first states. There are twenty-seven amendments, and neither presidents nor military branches number thirteen.

Answer: D
Each star stands for a state — fifty since Hawaii joined in 1959. The count changes only when a state is admitted, which is why earlier flags carried fewer stars.

Answer: A
The Star-Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812, is the national anthem. The other three are beloved patriotic songs without that official status.

Answer: D
Independence Day is July 4, marking the Declaration's adoption in 1776. June 14 is Flag Day, November 11 Veterans Day, and late May brings Memorial Day.

Answer: A
Liberty Enlightening the World stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor — many arriving immigrants' first sight of America. Answers naming New York Harbor or Liberty Island are accepted on the oral test.

Answer: A
Memorial Day honors service members who died in military service; Veterans Day in November honors all who served. Labor Day honors workers — a common confusion among the federal holidays.

Answer: D
The Atlantic Ocean borders the East Coast and the Pacific the West Coast. The Arctic touches only Alaska's north, and the Indian Ocean lies half a world away.

Answer: C
The Constitution is the supreme law of the land — every statute, treaty and state law sits beneath it. The Declaration announced independence but is not law, and the Bill of Rights is a part of the Constitution, not the whole of it.

Answer: A
Printing money, declaring war, creating an army and making treaties are federal powers. Licensing drivers, schooling and most family law are classic state powers — the split is the heart of American federalism.

Answer: A
The Constitution divides the government into legislative (Congress), executive (the President), and judicial (the courts). Federal-state-local describes levels of government, not branches, and parties are outside the constitutional design.

Answer: A
Checks and balances — the separation of powers — lets each branch restrain the others: vetoes, overrides, judicial review, confirmations. Parties and the Electoral College shape politics but are not the constitutional answer to concentrated power.

Answer: C
The President heads the executive branch, enforcing federal laws with the help of the Cabinet and agencies. The Chief Justice leads the judiciary and the Speaker leads the House — different branches entirely.

Answer: C
Federal laws are made by Congress, the national legislature comprising the Senate and the House. The President signs or vetoes bills and courts interpret them, but the lawmaking power itself belongs to the legislative branch.

Answer: C
Each of the 50 states elects two Senators — 100 in all — and each serves a six-year term. The 435 figure and two-year terms describe the House of Representatives, and lifetime tenure belongs to federal judges.

Answer: C
The House has 435 voting members apportioned by population, each facing election every two years. The 100 belongs to the Senate and 538 is the Electoral College's total, a frequent mix-up.

Answer: C
House seats follow population, recounted each census — more people, more Representatives. Land area, statehood date and gubernatorial bargaining play no role; the Senate is where every state stands equal at two.

Answer: D
Presidents are elected to four-year terms, with the election in November and the inauguration the following January. Six years is a Senate term and two years a House term.

Answer: B
The Vice President is first in the line of succession. The Speaker follows only if both the presidency and vice presidency are vacant, and the Secretary of State sits further down the statutory line.

Answer: C
The Constitution makes the President Commander in Chief, keeping the military under elected civilian control. The Defense Secretary and Joint Chiefs advise and administer under the President's authority.

Answer: C
Bills passed by Congress go to the President, who signs them into law or vetoes them back; Congress can override a veto by two-thirds in each chamber. No judicial or state officer signs federal legislation.

Answer: A
The Cabinet — the Vice President and department secretaries — advises the President. Opinions come from the courts, amendments from Congress and the states, and the Vice President from the national election.

Answer: A
State and Treasury are two of the executive departments whose secretaries sit in the Cabinet, alongside Defense, Justice (the Attorney General), Labor and others. Congressional leaders and the Chief Justice belong to other branches.

Answer: A
Courts interpret laws, apply them to disputes, and measure them against the Constitution — judicial review. Lawmaking is legislative, command is executive, and tax collection is administrative.

Answer: C
The U.S. Supreme Court sits atop the judiciary; its constitutional rulings bind every other American court. Appeals courts sit below it, and international tribunals are outside the U.S. system.

Answer: A
Education, police protection, licensing and zoning are state powers; money, war and treaties belong exclusively to the federal government. The Tenth Amendment reserves undelegated powers to the states and the people.

Answer: A
The Democratic and Republican parties are the two major American parties. Federalists and Whigs are historical, Labour and Conservative are British, and the Greens and Libertarians are minor parties today.

Answer: C
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment set the voting age at eighteen. Twenty-one was the older threshold it replaced, and twenty-five is the minimum age to serve in the House, not to vote.

Answer: C
Jury service — like voting in federal elections — is reserved to citizens. Everyone in the country, citizen or not, pays taxes, follows traffic laws, and sends children to school.

Answer: C
Constitutional freedoms — speech, religion, assembly, petition, and the right to bear arms — protect everyone living in the country. Voting, candidacy and jury service are the rights the Constitution ties to citizenship.

Answer: B
The oath renounces foreign allegiance and promises to support and defend the Constitution and laws, serve the nation when required, and be loyal to the United States. Party membership and residency pledges are not part of it.

Answer: C
Participation runs wide: joining civic or community groups, campaigning, contacting officials, running for office, writing to newspapers. Withholding taxes and skipping jury duty are legal violations, not participation.

Answer: C
April 15 is the regular federal income tax filing deadline (shifted only when it lands on a weekend or holiday). The other dates are the calendar new year, Independence Day, and year-end — none is the tax deadline.

Answer: B
Men must register with the Selective Service at eighteen, and registration remains open through age twenty-five. It is a legal requirement, not a volunteer program, though there has been no draft since 1973.

Answer: C
Colonists crossed for freedom: religious liberty, political liberty, economic opportunity, and escape from persecution. The Revolution, the railroad and the Depression all came later — they are events of the nation the colonists founded.

Answer: A
American Indians — Native Americans — inhabited the continent for millennia before European contact. The Pilgrims and missionaries were themselves European arrivals, and the land was anything but empty.

Answer: D
The colonists fought over taxation without representation, quartering of British troops, and the denial of self-government. Imperial expansion was Britain's project, and abolition became a defining American struggle decades later.

Answer: C
Jefferson drafted the Declaration, adopted July 4, 1776. Washington commanded the army and later became the first President; Franklin edited the draft; Lincoln belongs to the Civil War era, four score and seven years on.

Answer: D
The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776 — the date Independence Day commemorates. 1787 is the Constitutional Convention's year, and December 7, 1941 is the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Answer: A
Virginia was among the thirteen original colonies-turned-states, with the likes of Massachusetts, New York, and Georgia. Ohio, Texas and California joined in 1803, 1845 and 1850 respectively.

Answer: A
At the 1787 Convention in Philadelphia the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution. The Declaration predates it by eleven years; the Civil War ended at Appomattox in 1865; Louisiana was bought from France in 1803.

Answer: B
Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers under the name Publius. Paine wrote Common Sense, Revere rode to warn of the British, and Hancock famously signed the Declaration.

Answer: A
The Constitution creates the framework of government, allocates and limits its powers, and protects fundamental rights of the people. Annual budgets and criminal codes are ordinary legislation made under that framework, not the framework itself.

Answer: B
'We the People' opens the Preamble and expresses the idea of self-government: authority flows from the people themselves. The other phrases come from the Declaration, the Articles era, and the Pledge of Allegiance respectively.

Answer: D
Changes and additions to the Constitution are amendments — twenty-seven exist. Executive orders direct the executive branch, vetoes reject bills, and referendums are state-level ballot devices; none alters the Constitution's text.

Answer: D
The Bill of Rights is the name for the first ten amendments, ratified in 1791 to protect individual liberties. The Articles preceded the Constitution, the Federalist Papers argued for its ratification, and the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in rebelling states.

Answer: A
The First Amendment protects speech, religion, assembly, the press, and petitioning the government. Licenses are state privileges, and no constitutional right exempts anyone from taxation or grants free housing.

Answer: D
The United States runs a capitalist, market-based economy in which prices and production are set mainly by private exchange. Command economies centralize those decisions in the state, which is not the American model.

Answer: A
The rule of law means everyone — leaders, government, and citizens — must follow the law, and no one stands above it. Lawmaking belongs to legislatures, and judges apply the law rather than pick which to honor.