USCIS 128 Civics Questions Practice Test: Part 3 (American History)

Groups such as the Pilgrims came to worship freely. Also accepted: freedom, political liberty, economic opportunity, escape persecution.

American Indians (Native Americans) lived across the continent for thousands of years before Europeans came.

Millions of Africans were taken across the Atlantic and sold into slavery. "Africans" is also accepted.

The Revolutionary War (1775-1783) won independence; the French and Indian War was fought earlier by Britain and its colonists against France. Also accepted: American Revolution, War for (American) Independence.

Colonists were taxed by a Parliament in which they had no vote. Also accepted: high taxes, quartering of soldiers, no self-government, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Townshend Acts, Intolerable (Coercive) Acts.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the draft in 1776; others made edits, but Jefferson is the accepted answer.

The Continental Congress adopted it on July 4, 1776, which is why Independence Day is July 4. September 17, 1787 is when the Constitution was signed.

The American win at Saratoga (1777) brought France into the war. Gettysburg was a Civil War battle. Also accepted: Bunker Hill, Declaration of Independence, Washington crossing the Delaware (Trenton), Valley Forge, Yorktown.

The 13 original states were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Vermont and Maine joined later.

The Constitution was written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. The Declaration dates from 1776.

The essays were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay under the pen name Publius; any of these names is accepted.

The essays argued for ratifying the Constitution. Also accepted: they helped people understand the (U.S.) Constitution.

Franklin ran the colonial postal system and became the first Postmaster General in 1775. Also accepted: founded the first free public libraries, helped write the Declaration of Independence, inventor, U.S. diplomat.

Washington served as the first president from 1789 to 1797. Also accepted: "Father of Our Country", general of the Continental Army, president of the Constitutional Convention.

As president, Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. Also accepted: writer of the Declaration of Independence, third president, first Secretary of State, founded the University of Virginia, writer of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom.

Madison drafted much of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Also accepted: fourth president, president during the War of 1812, one of the writers of the Federalist Papers.

Hamilton organized the nation's finances as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Also accepted: one of the writers of the Federalist Papers, helped establish the First Bank of the United States, aide to General Washington, member of the Continental Congress.

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 roughly doubled the size of the country. Alaska was bought from Russia in 1867.

The Mexican-American War was fought from 1846 to 1848. Also accepted: War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War.

The Civil War (1861-1865) was fought between the Union (North) and the Confederacy (South).

Gettysburg (1863) was a turning point of the Civil War. The other options belong to the Revolutionary era. Also accepted: Fort Sumter, Emancipation Proclamation, Vicksburg, Sherman's March, Appomattox, Antietam/Sharpsburg, Lincoln was assassinated.

Lincoln led the North to victory and kept the country together. Also accepted: freed the slaves (Emancipation Proclamation), led the U.S. during the Civil War, 16th president, delivered the Gettysburg Address.

Lincoln's 1863 proclamation declared enslaved people in the Confederate states free. Also accepted: freed the slaves, freed slaves in the Confederacy, freed slaves in most Southern states.

The Union victory in the Civil War was followed by the 13th Amendment (1865), which abolished slavery.

The 14th Amendment (1868) defines citizenship. The 13th ended slavery and the 15th dealt with voting by race.

The 15th Amendment (1870) said the vote could not be denied because of race. Also accepted: after the Civil War, during Reconstruction, (with the) 15th Amendment. 1920 is when women won the vote.

Susan B. Anthony campaigned for women's suffrage from the 1850s on. Also accepted: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Lucretia Mott, Lucy Stone.