Question 8 of 100 · 2008 civics test
What did the Declaration of Independence do?
From the 100-question list, the version for applications filed before October 20, 2025.
Accepted answers
- announced our independence (from Great Britain)
- declared our independence (from Great Britain)
- said that the United States is free (from Great Britain)
Any one of these is accepted, unless the question asks for more than one.
Why this is the answer
The Declaration of Independence did one thing above all: it announced that the colonies were free and independent states, no longer under Great Britain. All three accepted answers say that in different words. The document also explains why. It states that all people are created equal and hold certain unalienable rights that no government can take away, and it sets out a list of the colonists' complaints against the King of England. The Second Continental Congress voted to accept it on July 4, 1776. A frequent mix-up is answering that it set up the government; that was the Constitution, which came later. Memory hook: the Declaration announced the break, the Constitution built what came after.