2008 civics test · Question 58 · Colonial Period and Independence
What is one reason colonists came to America?
Any one of these answers is accepted
- freedom
- political liberty
- religious freedom
- economic opportunity
- practice their religion
- escape persecution
What this means
The colonists came to America for many reasons, and naming one answers the question:
- Freedom
- Political liberty
- Religious freedom
- Economic opportunity
- To escape persecution
Many came to worship as they chose, others to own land and build a better living, and others to escape trouble in Europe. These same hopes still bring people to the United States today.
The 2008 and 2025 tests ask this the same way. A safe answer is “religious freedom” or “economic opportunity.”
Why this is on the test
This question asks why people first came to the American colonies, and both tests accept the same broad set of reasons.
How this question is asked
On the 2008 civics test, the officer asks up to 10 of the 100 questions out loud and you pass by answering 6 correctly. You answer in your own words. There is no multiple choice and nothing to write down for the civics portion.
Related questions
More from Colonial Period and Independence.
- 59 Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
- 60 What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
- 61 Why did the colonists fight the British?
- 62 Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
- 63 When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
- 64 There were 13 original states. Name three.