US Citizenship Civics Test
This is a free 15-question sampler for the naturalization civics test, drawn from the official USCIS civics questions, which are a work of the United States government and in the public domain. It covers the principles of American democracy, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the three branches, federalism, the rights and responsibilities of citizens, American history, geography, symbols and holidays. It mixes multiple choice, select all that apply and fill in the blank. Answer all 15 questions, then check your score and read the explanation for every question.
What is the supreme law of the land?
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All 15 questions at a glance
Prefer to read before you play? Every question in the sampler is listed below. Answers and explanations stay collapsed until you open them.
1. What is the supreme law of the land?
- A. The Declaration of Independence
- B. The Constitution
- C. The Bill of Rights
- D. The Articles of Confederation
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. The Constitution
The Constitution sets up the government and sits above every other law, so a state law or an act of Congress that conflicts with it can be struck down. The Declaration of Independence came first, in 1776, but it announced independence rather than creating a government. The Articles of Confederation were the first attempt at one and were replaced by the Constitution because they left the national government too weak.
2. What does the judicial branch do?
- A. It writes and passes new laws
- B. It commands the armed forces
- C. It decides whether laws follow the Constitution
- D. It collects federal taxes
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. It decides whether laws follow the Constitution
The judicial branch reviews laws, explains what they mean, settles disputes and decides whether a law goes against the Constitution. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country and the last word on those questions. Writing laws is the job of the legislative branch, and enforcing them is the job of the executive branch.
3. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
- A. The Electoral College
- B. The federal income tax
- C. The President's Cabinet
- D. Checks and balances
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Checks and balances
Checks and balances, also called the separation of powers, give each branch a way to limit the other two. Congress passes a bill, the President can veto it, and Congress can override the veto. The President appoints federal judges, but the Senate has to confirm them, and the courts can rule that a law violates the Constitution.
4. How many United States Senators are there?
- A. 50
- B. 100
- C. 435
- D. 538
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. 100
Every state gets two Senators no matter how many people live there, and 50 states times two is 100. That is the deliberate counterweight to the House of Representatives, where 435 voting seats are handed out by population, so a large state has far more of them than a small one. The number 538 is the size of the Electoral College, which is a different thing entirely.
5. What does the President's Cabinet do?
- A. It writes the federal budget into law
- B. It decides whether laws are constitutional
- C. It advises the President
- D. It chooses the President
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. It advises the President
The Cabinet is made up of the Vice President and the heads of the executive departments, such as the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, and its job is to advise the President. Cabinet members are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Passing a budget belongs to Congress, and ruling on whether a law is constitutional belongs to the courts.
6. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.
- A. The Mississippi River
- B. The Colorado River
- C. The Hudson River
- D. The Rio Grande
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. The Mississippi River
The two longest rivers in the United States are the Missouri and the Mississippi, and either one is accepted as a correct answer. They join near St. Louis and drain most of the middle of the country. The Rio Grande is long as well, but it is best known as part of the border between the United States and Mexico rather than as one of the two longest.
7. What did the Declaration of Independence do?
- A. It created the three branches of government
- B. It ended slavery throughout the United States
- C. It gave women the right to vote
- D. It announced that the colonies were free from Great Britain
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. It announced that the colonies were free from Great Britain
The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, announced that the thirteen colonies were no longer under British rule and explained why. Thomas Jefferson wrote it. It did not set up a government, which is what the Constitution did eleven years later, and it did not end slavery or extend the vote to women, which took the 13th and 19th Amendments.
8. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.
- A. World War I
- B. The Revolutionary War
- C. The Civil War
- D. The Korean War
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. The Civil War
The accepted answers for the 1800s are the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The Civil War, fought from 1861 to 1865 over slavery and the survival of the Union, is the one most often asked about. The Revolutionary War belongs to the 1700s, and World War I and the Korean War belong to the 1900s.
9. What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?
- A. He worked for civil rights and equality for all Americans
- B. He wrote the Constitution
- C. He was the first President of the United States
- D. He led the United States during World War II
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. He worked for civil rights and equality for all Americans
Martin Luther King, Jr. led the nonviolent civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and pushed for equal treatment for all Americans regardless of race. His work helped bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The federal holiday in January is named for him, which is a useful hook if you are also studying the holidays section of the bank.
10. Which of the following are responsibilities that belong only to United States citizens?
Select all that apply.
- A. Serve on a jury
- B. Vote in a federal election
- C. Pay federal income taxes
- D. Obey the laws of the United States
- E. Hold a job
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Serve on a jury, B. Vote in a federal election
Serving on a jury and voting in a federal election are reserved for citizens, and they are the two answers the official bank accepts. Paying taxes and obeying the law apply to everyone living in the country, citizen or not, so they are duties rather than citizen-only responsibilities. The bank draws the same line for rights: some belong to everyone in the United States, while voting in federal elections and running for federal office belong to citizens.
11. Under the Constitution, which of the following powers belong to the federal government?
Select all that apply.
- A. To print or coin money
- B. To declare war
- C. To issue driver's licenses
- D. To create an army
- E. To approve local zoning and land use
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. To print or coin money, B. To declare war, D. To create an army
Printing money, declaring war, creating an army and making treaties are federal powers, because they only work if the whole country does them one way. Driver's licenses, zoning, policing, fire protection and public schooling are handled by the states. That split is federalism, and the civics bank tests it from both directions, so learn a couple of examples on each side rather than trying to memorize a full list.
12. Which rights does the First Amendment protect?
Select all that apply.
- A. Freedom of speech
- B. Freedom of religion
- C. The right to a speedy trial
- D. Freedom of assembly
- E. The right to bear arms
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Freedom of speech, B. Freedom of religion, D. Freedom of assembly
The First Amendment protects five things: speech, religion, the press, assembly and the right to petition the government. The right to bear arms is the Second Amendment, and the right to a speedy trial is the Sixth. All of these sit in the first ten amendments, which are called the Bill of Rights, so it helps to learn the First Amendment as a set of five rather than as a list of separate facts.
13. Complete the sentence.
The Constitution begins with the words _____, and it has been amended _____ times.
Options for blank 1: We the People, In Congress assembled, Life and liberty, One nation, indivisible
Options for blank 2: 21, 25, 27, 33
Show answer and explanation
Answer: We the People, 27
The first three words of the Constitution are We the People, and they carry the idea of self-government: authority comes from the citizens, not from a king. There are 27 amendments in total. The first ten were ratified together in 1791 as the Bill of Rights, and the most recent one, on congressional pay, was ratified in 1992 after being proposed more than two centuries earlier.
14. Complete the sentence.
A United States Senator is elected for a term of _____ years, and the President is elected for a term of _____ years.
Options for blank 1: two, four, six, eight
Options for blank 2: two, four, six, eight
Show answer and explanation
Answer: six, four
Senators serve six-year terms and about a third of the Senate is up for election every two years, which is meant to keep the chamber steady. Members of the House serve two years, so the whole House faces voters at once. The President serves four years, and the 22nd Amendment limits any one person to two elected terms.
15. Complete the sentence.
The flag has _____ stripes because that was the number of original colonies, and Independence Day is celebrated on _____.
Options for blank 1: 11, 13, 20, 50
Options for blank 2: June 14, July 4, September 17, November 11
Show answer and explanation
Answer: 13, July 4
The thirteen stripes stand for the thirteen original colonies, and the fifty stars stand for the fifty states today, so the flag records both the beginning and the present. Independence Day is July 4, the date the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776. The other dates belong to Flag Day, Constitution Day and Veterans Day, which are worth knowing since the bank also asks about holidays.
What the naturalization civics test actually asks
The civics test is one part of the naturalization interview, and it is spoken rather than written. A USCIS officer asks questions out loud from a published bank and you answer out loud. Two banks are in circulation right now. Applicants who filed Form N-400 before October 20, 2025 take the 2008 test, which draws from a list of 100 questions. Applicants who filed on or after that date take the 2025 test, which draws from a list of 128 questions. Your filing date is what decides it, so confirm which version applies to your own case on uscis.gov instead of assuming.
The two versions are scored differently. On the 2008 test the officer asks up to 10 questions and you pass by answering 6 correctly. On the 2025 test the officer asks up to 20 questions and you pass by answering 12 correctly. In both cases the officer stops as soon as the outcome is settled, so a strong run of correct answers can end the civics portion early. There is also an English test with reading, writing and speaking parts, and the speaking part is judged from how you answer during the interview itself rather than from a separate exercise.
Some applicants are treated differently. Applicants who are 65 or older and who have been lawful permanent residents for at least 20 years at the time of filing get special consideration: they are asked 10 questions from a smaller, specially marked set of 20, and 6 correct answers pass. There is also a disability exception, requested with Form N-648 and certified by a licensed medical professional, plus accommodations for applicants with disabilities. The conditions attached to each of these are specific and they change, so read them on uscis.gov or ask an accredited representative rather than trusting a summary like this one.
How to use this sampler and study the official bank
These 15 questions come from the official USCIS civics questions. Those questions are a work of the United States government, so they are in the public domain, which is why this page can use the real wording and point you to the source list on uscis.gov. The explanations are written by the StudyPDF team. They exist to teach the fact behind the answer, because an officer can accept a correct answer phrased in your own words, and understanding the idea is what lets you produce one under pressure.
One group of official questions is deliberately missing here. The bank also asks who the President is, who your two senators are, who your representative is, who the governor of your state is and other questions about people currently in office. Those answers change with elections and appointments, and a static practice page would quietly go out of date and teach you something wrong. Look those up on the current official list at uscis.gov, and check the answers for your own state and district while you are there, since several of them are different for every applicant.
For the rest, take this sampler in one sitting without notes, then read every explanation, including the ones on questions you answered correctly. After that, work through the full official list in small blocks rather than in one long session, and say your answers out loud. The real test is oral, so silently recognizing an answer is not the same skill. Group the questions by theme: the Constitution, the three branches, the 1800s, symbols and holidays. Then come back to whichever theme you keep dropping.
How StudyPDF turns the civics bank into real practice
Fifteen questions can show you where you stand. They cannot carry you through a list of 100 or 128, and the official PDF is exactly that, a long list, with no way to drill it, no scoring and no record of what you keep missing.
StudyPDF works from your own material instead. You upload the USCIS study guide, the official questions and answers PDF, or the handouts from your citizenship class, and Bo, the study agent, turns those pages into practice tests and flashcard decks. Every question is grounded in what you uploaded, and every explanation points back to the page it came from, so you can check the source when an answer surprises you. You can generate a fresh test whenever you want, narrow it to one area such as the branches of government or American history, and track which questions keep tripping you up.
You do not need a file to start. If you have nothing to upload, name a topic instead, for example the Bill of Rights, the three branches of government, or American history in the 1800s, and Bo writes a practice test from that. Starting is free.
Written by the StudyPDF team. Last updated 2026-08-19.