Civics question 79 of 128
When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
Official answer
- July 4, 1776
Source: official USCIS question list for the 2025 version of the civics test. This site is independent and not affiliated with USCIS.
Background
The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. Congress had actually voted for independence two days earlier, on July 2, which is why John Adams predicted that the second of July would be the day Americans celebrated. The fourth is the date on the document, when the final wording was approved, and that is the date the country kept. Most delegates signed later, in August, once a formal copy had been prepared. Independence was declared in the middle of a war already a year old, and the outcome was in no way settled: British forces landed near New York within weeks and drove Washington's army out of the city that autumn. Keep this apart from the Constitution, written eleven years later in 1787.
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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