2025 civics recall cards: Colonial Period and Independence

This deck covers questions 73 to 89 of the 2025 civics list, the section on Colonial Period and Independence: 17 cards in total. It covers why the colonists came, who lived in America first, the Revolutionary War and its events, the reasons for independence, the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen original states, the Federalist Papers, and what Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton are famous for.

How the cards work. The front of each card is the question exactly as it appears in the USCIS list. The back gives every answer USCIS lists for it. Where the list accepts any one of several answers, the back says so; where the officer asks for two, three or five answers, the back says how many. Words in parentheses are optional: "(U.S.) Constitution" means that "Constitution" alone is accepted.

Why recall and not multiple choice. The six practice tests in this category are multiple choice, which is good for telling similar facts apart. The real civics test is spoken, and the officer gives you no options. These cards train the harder skill: producing an answer from memory. Read the question, say your answer aloud, then turn the card and compare. You do not need to use the exact words on the back, but your answer must mean the same thing.

About this section. Five "famous for many things" questions sit in this section, and several of their answers overlap: Madison and Hamilton both wrote Federalist Papers, and Jefferson both wrote the Declaration and was the third president. The officer asks you to name five of the thirteen original states, so choose your five in advance.

How to use the deck. Go through it once to see which cards you already know, then repeat the ones you missed until you can answer them without hesitation. For questions with a long list of accepted answers, choose one or two you find easy to say and always use those. Together, the eight decks in this series cover all 128 questions of the 2025 list, section by section.

On test day nothing is multiple choice and nothing is on a card: the officer reads the question aloud and you answer in your own words. Say each answer out loud while you study, because that is what you will do in the interview. This is independent practice; it is not produced or endorsed by USCIS, and no practice material can promise a result.

• Recall the accepted answers for questions 73 to 89 of the 2025 list
• Name five of the thirteen original states
• Give one accepted answer for each of Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton
• Date the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution correctly
• Say each answer aloud from memory, as on the spoken test

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the USCIS 2025 civics question list "128 Civics Questions and Answers (2025 version)", M-1778 (09/25).