United States

Civics questions and answers: 2008 test

96 questions in the order of the official list, each with an accepted answer. Open a question to see why the answer is right.

The 8 general questions whose answer depends on where you live are not in this list: pick your state below for its senators, governor and capital. Your representative depends on your district — find yours at house.gov.

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Question 1 (2008 list)
What is the supreme law of the land?
Correct answer:The Constitution
Question 2 (2008 list)
What does the Constitution do?
Correct answer:Sets up the government
Question 3 (2008 list)
The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
Correct answer:We the People
Question 4 (2008 list)
What is an amendment?
Correct answer:A change to the Constitution
Question 5 (2008 list)
What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution?
Correct answer:The Bill of Rights
Question 6 (2008 list)
What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment?
Correct answer:Speech
Question 7 (2008 list)
How many amendments does the Constitution have?
Correct answer:27
Question 8 (2008 list)
What did the Declaration of Independence do?
Correct answer:Announced our independence from Great Britain
Question 9 (2008 list)
What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
Correct answer:Life and liberty
Question 10 (2008 list)
What is freedom of religion?
Correct answer:You can practice any religion, or not practice a religion.
Question 11 (2008 list)
What is the economic system in the United States?
Correct answer:Capitalist economy
Question 12 (2008 list)
What is the “rule of law”?
Correct answer:Everyone must follow the law.
Question 13 (2008 list)
Name one branch or part of the government.
Correct answer:Congress
Question 14 (2008 list)
What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
Correct answer:Checks and balances
Question 15 (2008 list)
Who is in charge of the executive branch?
Correct answer:The President
Question 16 (2008 list)
Who makes federal laws?
Correct answer:Congress
Question 17 (2008 list)
What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
Correct answer:The Senate and the House of Representatives
Question 18 (2008 list)
How many U.S. Senators are there?
Correct answer:100
Question 19 (2008 list)
We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years?
Correct answer:6
Question 21 (2008 list)
The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
Correct answer:435
Question 22 (2008 list)
We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
Correct answer:2
Question 24 (2008 list)
Who does a U.S. Senator represent?
Correct answer:All people of the state
Question 25 (2008 list)
Why do some states have more Representatives than other states?
Correct answer:Because of the state’s population
Question 26 (2008 list)
We elect a President for how many years?
Correct answer:4
Question 27 (2008 list)
In what month do we vote for President?
Correct answer:November
Question 28 (2008 list)
What is the name of the President of the United States now?
Correct answer:Donald J. Trump
Question 29 (2008 list)
What is the name of the Vice President of the United States now?
Correct answer:JD Vance
Question 30 (2008 list)
If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
Correct answer:The Vice President
Question 31 (2008 list)
If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
Correct answer:The Speaker of the House
Question 32 (2008 list)
Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?
Correct answer:The President
Question 33 (2008 list)
Who signs bills to become laws?
Correct answer:The President
Question 34 (2008 list)
Who vetoes bills?
Correct answer:The President
Question 35 (2008 list)
What does the President’s Cabinet do?
Correct answer:Advises the President
Question 36 (2008 list)
What are two Cabinet-level positions?
Correct answer:Secretary of State and Secretary of Labor
Question 37 (2008 list)
What does the judicial branch do?
Correct answer:Decides if a law goes against the Constitution
Question 38 (2008 list)
What is the highest court in the United States?
Correct answer:The Supreme Court
Question 39 (2008 list)
How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
Correct answer:9
Question 40 (2008 list)
Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?
Correct answer:John Roberts
Question 41 (2008 list)
Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
Correct answer:To print money
Question 42 (2008 list)
Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states?
Correct answer:Give a driver’s license
Question 45 (2008 list)
What are the two major political parties in the United States?
Correct answer:Democratic and Republican
Question 46 (2008 list)
What is the political party of the President now?
Correct answer:Republican
Question 47 (2008 list)
What is the name of the Speaker of the House of Representatives now?
Correct answer:Mike Johnson
Question 48 (2008 list)
There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them.
Correct answer:Citizens 18 and older can vote.
Question 49 (2008 list)
What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?
Correct answer:Serve on a jury
Question 50 (2008 list)
Name one right only for United States citizens.
Correct answer:Vote in a federal election
Question 51 (2008 list)
What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
Correct answer:Freedom of speech and freedom of religion
Question 52 (2008 list)
What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
Correct answer:The United States
Question 53 (2008 list)
What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen?
Correct answer:Obey the laws of the United States
Question 54 (2008 list)
How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?
Correct answer:18 and older
Question 55 (2008 list)
What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?
Correct answer:Vote and join a political party
Question 56 (2008 list)
When is the last day you can send in federal income tax forms?
Correct answer:April 15
Question 57 (2008 list)
When must all men register for the Selective Service?
Correct answer:At age 18
Question 58 (2008 list)
What is one reason colonists came to America?
Correct answer:Practice their religion
Question 59 (2008 list)
Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
Correct answer:Native Americans
Question 60 (2008 list)
What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
Correct answer:People from Africa
Question 61 (2008 list)
Why did the colonists fight the British?
Correct answer:Because of high taxes
Question 62 (2008 list)
Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
Correct answer:Thomas Jefferson
Question 63 (2008 list)
When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
Correct answer:July 4, 1776
Question 64 (2008 list)
There were 13 original states. Name three.
Correct answer:New York, Virginia, and Georgia
Question 65 (2008 list)
What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
Correct answer:The Constitution was written.
Question 66 (2008 list)
When was the Constitution written?
Correct answer:1787
Question 67 (2008 list)
The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.
Correct answer:Alexander Hamilton
Question 68 (2008 list)
What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
Correct answer:First Postmaster General of the United States
Question 69 (2008 list)
Who is the “Father of Our Country”?
Correct answer:George Washington
Question 70 (2008 list)
Who was the first President?
Correct answer:George Washington
Question 71 (2008 list)
What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
Correct answer:The Louisiana Territory
Question 72 (2008 list)
Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.
Correct answer:The Civil War
Question 73 (2008 list)
Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
Correct answer:The Civil War
Question 74 (2008 list)
Name one problem that led to the Civil War.
Correct answer:Slavery
Question 75 (2008 list)
What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?
Correct answer:Freed the slaves
Question 76 (2008 list)
What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
Correct answer:Freed slaves in the Confederate states
Question 77 (2008 list)
What did Susan B. Anthony do?
Correct answer:Fought for women’s rights
Question 78 (2008 list)
Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.
Correct answer:The Korean War
Question 79 (2008 list)
Who was President during World War I?
Correct answer:Woodrow Wilson
Question 80 (2008 list)
Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
Correct answer:Franklin Roosevelt
Question 81 (2008 list)
Who did the United States fight in World War II?
Correct answer:Japan, Germany, and Italy
Question 82 (2008 list)
Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
Correct answer:World War II
Question 83 (2008 list)
During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
Correct answer:Communism
Question 84 (2008 list)
What movement tried to end racial discrimination?
Correct answer:The civil rights movement
Question 85 (2008 list)
What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?
Correct answer:Fought for civil rights
Question 86 (2008 list)
What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United States?
Correct answer:Terrorists attacked the United States.
Question 87 (2008 list)
Name one American Indian tribe in the United States. [USCIS Officers will be supplied with a list of federally recognized American Indian tribes.]
Correct answer:Cherokee
Question 88 (2008 list)
Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
Correct answer:The Mississippi River
Question 89 (2008 list)
What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?
Correct answer:The Pacific Ocean
Question 90 (2008 list)
What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
Correct answer:The Atlantic Ocean
Question 91 (2008 list)
Name one U.S. territory.
Correct answer:Puerto Rico
Question 92 (2008 list)
Name one state that borders Canada.
Correct answer:Michigan
Question 93 (2008 list)
Name one state that borders Mexico.
Correct answer:Texas
Question 94 (2008 list)
What is the capital of the United States?
Correct answer:Washington, D.C.
Question 95 (2008 list)
Where is the Statue of Liberty?
Correct answer:New York Harbor
Question 96 (2008 list)
Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
Correct answer:Because there were 13 original colonies
Question 97 (2008 list)
Why does the flag have 50 stars?
Correct answer:Because there is one star for each state
Question 98 (2008 list)
What is the name of the national anthem?
Correct answer:The Star-Spangled Banner
Question 99 (2008 list)
When do we celebrate Independence Day?
Correct answer:July 4
Question 100 (2008 list)
Name two national U.S. holidays.
Correct answer:Thanksgiving and Labor Day

Questions by state

Source

Questions and answers: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), 128 Civics Questions and Answers (2025 version), M-1778, and Civics Questions and Answers (2008 version), rev. 08/21 — public domain. USCIS accepts other answers too; we show one of them. The wrong options and the explanations are ours. Not affiliated with or endorsed by USCIS.

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