Citizenship Colonial Period & Independence Practice Questions
Colonial Period & Independence makes up 7 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest Citizenship practice test. Here are 10 of the 28 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Built from the official USCIS 2025 civics test list (128 questions). Officials' names change; check uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates.
1. The colonists came to America for many reasons. What was one?
- A.To claim land for France
- B.Religious freedom
- C.To avoid paying income taxes
- D.To join the British army
Answer: B. Colonists came to America for freedom, political liberty, religious freedom, economic opportunity, or to escape persecution. Any one of these is accepted.
2. Which of these was one reason colonists came to America?
- A.To escape the Civil War
- B.To vote in Parliament
- C.To serve in the British army
- D.Economic opportunity
Answer: D. Accepted answers: freedom, political liberty, religious freedom, economic opportunity, or to escape persecution.
3. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
- A.American Indians
- B.Spanish explorers
- C.The Pilgrims
- D.English colonists
Answer: A. American Indians, also called Native Americans, lived in America before the Europeans arrived.
4. What group of people was taken and sold as slaves?
- A.Dutch merchants
- B.Settlers from England
- C.People from Africa
- D.French fur traders
Answer: C. Africans, or people from Africa, were taken and sold as slaves.
5. What war did the Americans fight to win independence from Britain?
- A.The Mexican-American War
- B.The War of 1812
- C.The American Revolution
- D.The Civil War
Answer: C. The American Revolution, also called the Revolutionary War or the War for American Independence, won independence from Britain.
6. Name one reason why the Americans declared independence from Britain:
- A.Taxation without representation
- B.Disagreements over the Louisiana Purchase
- C.The Emancipation Proclamation
- D.The Federalist Papers
Answer: A. Accepted reasons include high taxes, taxation without representation, British soldiers quartered in Americans' houses, no self-government, the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.
7. Which British law angered the colonists and helped lead to independence?
- A.The Bill of Rights
- B.The 15th Amendment
- C.The Civil Rights Act
- D.The Stamp Act
Answer: D. The Stamp Act is one accepted reason; others are the Sugar Act, Townshend Acts, Intolerable (Coercive) Acts, Tea Act, high taxes, and taxation without representation.
8. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
- A.Alexander Hamilton
- B.Thomas Jefferson
- C.John Jay
- D.George Washington
Answer: B. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
9. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
- A.September 17, 1787
- B.July 4, 1776
- C.July 4, 1803
- D.July 4, 1787
Answer: B. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.
10. The American Revolution had many important events. Which was one?
- A.Battle of Fort Sumter
- B.Battle of Vicksburg
- C.Battle of Gettysburg
- D.Battle of Yorktown
Answer: D. Accepted events: Bunker Hill, the Declaration of Independence, Washington crossing the Delaware (Battle of Trenton), Saratoga, Valley Forge, and Yorktown (the British surrender). Gettysburg, Fort Sumter and Vicksburg were Civil War battles.
Practice all 28 colonial period & independence questions, and the rest of the 200-question bank, in the free Citizenship training sets. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
Start practicingFree to start. No account needed.