Civics question 87 of 128

Thomas Jefferson is famous for many things. Name one.

Source: official USCIS question list for the 2025 version of the civics test. This site is independent and not affiliated with USCIS.

Background

Any one of these answers: writer of the Declaration of Independence, third president, doubled the size of the country through the Louisiana Purchase, first Secretary of State, founder of the University of Virginia, and author of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom. Jefferson chose three of those for his own tombstone, and the presidency was not among them: he listed the Declaration, the religious freedom statute, and the university. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 bought roughly eight hundred thousand square miles from France for fifteen million dollars, a deal he made despite doubting the Constitution allowed it. He also led the Democratic-Republican opposition to Hamilton's program, which makes him central to the rise of the political parties the framers had hoped to avoid.

This background section is written by US Citizenship Test Practice to explain the civics fact. It is not part of the USCIS question list, and the official answer above is the one to give at the interview.

Where this question sits

It is part of Colonial Period and Independence, inside the American History section of the test.

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