Americans ignorant of their own history on the 4th of July

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Declaration-and-american-flag-290 It is not just Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann who don't know their American history. It is a sizeable chunk of the American public as well.

In an annual poll conducted by Marist, more than a quarter of Americans couldn’t correctly identify the country from which the United States declared its independence. While 74 percent correctly named Great Britain, 20 percent said they weren’t sure and six percent named other countries. In the South, 32 percent of respondents either responded incorrectly or weren’t sure.  Independence Day: Seventeen Seventy When? (.pdf).

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In related news, the 104-year-old Society of the Descendants of the Declaration of Independence wants "to honor their memory and their great deeds" with new plaques honoring the lesser-known signers of the Declaration of Independence. It's never too late: Plaques will honor Declaration signers:

"We try to do as many as we can, but it's a long process," said Grace Staller of West Chester, Pa., who heads the project for the non-profit group. She's a ninth-generation descendant of signer John Hart from New Jersey, whose plaque is at the Old Baptist Meeting House in Hopewell.

The Portsmouth City Council recently approved the William Whipple request. The city owns the cemetery.

Other plaque recipients – some better known than others – this year are John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine, Massachusetts; Charles Carroll, Maryland; Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Nelson, Virginia; Thomas Lynch and Arthur Middleton, South Carolina; James Smith, Pennsylvania; and Richard Stockton, New Jersey. Some of the 56 signers, like Whipple, have no direct descendants. For others, it's not clear where they're buried. In addition to the 45 who will end up with plaques, there are 11 signers who will be honored at the historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington.

UPDATE: Test your "knowledge" of the history of July 4th. Top 5 myths about July 4 – The Answer Sheet – The Washington Post. Enjoy.

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8 thoughts on “Americans ignorant of their own history on the 4th of July”

  2. Who knows, but the ones that DE FUND education are guaranteed to be Republicans.Always.

  3. Our country is being destroy by the Globalist elite, the promoters of the NAU. to form the NAU, first they has to destroy, Patriotism, our Judea christian principles, our school system and have control of our Government so they can made the American people slaves of the New World order, Globalization and free trade will end the United States of America. Our country is being destroy from within, by the Washington corrupt politicians.

  4. lolphat,
    The Marist poll above shows there is one marked difference between people older than 45 and people younger than 45. Older people are more knowledgeable than younger people.

    So the next question is, is there a difference between how public schools were run for these two groups? Yes, without a doubt, the 60’s and 70’s were much more liberal than the following decades, and schools underwent a conservative revolution starting in the 80’s, with a new focus on the standards and a back-to-basics approach (3 R’s).

    SO it’s worth noting that younger people who were subjected to a more conservative philosophy of education are not as smart as the older people who were subjected to a more liberal philosophy of education.

  5. It’s amazing how you guys can manage to blame everything on Republicans. What do you think the political demographics are within education departments around the country? Are teachers typically conservatives? What about school administrators? School board members? Think about it.

  6. Sad, but true. The leaders of the Republican Party are confused about the history of their own country. I don’t think it would be difficult to draw a correlation between the percentage of Americans who are similarly challenged and the number of Americans who follow Palin, Bachmann, Beck, et al. I hope the crazy right keeps propping up these folks…they are great fun to watch.

  8. Ignorant Americans? I’m shocked! Gosh, I wonder where they went to school? Stay tuned, haters… Palin & Bachmann are about to MAKE some American history.

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