2025 civics test · Question 97 · 1800s

What amendment says all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are U.S. citizens?

Official answer

  • 14th Amendment

What this means

The amendment that says all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens is the 14th Amendment.

Passed in 1868, soon after the Civil War, it made citizens of the formerly enslaved people and set down a clear rule: anyone born in the country, or made a citizen through naturalization, is a U.S. citizen. It also promised every person “equal protection of the laws.” Those ideas have shaped American rights ever since.

The answer is short: the 14th Amendment.

Why this is on the test

This 2025 question points to the amendment that defines who is a citizen, which is central to the whole idea of naturalization.

How this question is asked

On the 2025 civics test, the officer asks up to 20 of the 128 questions out loud and you pass by answering 12 correctly. You answer in your own words. There is no multiple choice and nothing to write down for the civics portion.

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