As we head into a weekend of July 4th celebrations I am reminded that America was a radical, bold and wonderful political experiment…I am also reminded that many of us seem to be clueless about our own history, flag waving aside.
Here are some of the more alarming–and depressing–facts I came across:
- Sarah Palin clearly had NO idea who Paul Revere was and why he was on a mission when captured by the British
- Apparently Michelle Bachmann is standing by her misstatement–that the Founding Fathers worked tirelessly to end slavery. This of course despite the fact that several were, in fact, slave owners. (She also did not seem to know that it was serial killer John Wayne Gacy–not John “The Duke” Wayne who was from Waterloo, Iowa. Oops!!! Read more about her pronouncements on Politifact.)
- Only 20 percent of fourth-graders, 17 percent of eighth-graders, and 12 percent of twelfth-graders performed at, or above, the proficient level on the 2010 U.S. history assessment. Those numbers haven’t budged considerably in decades.
- A 2010 poll asked the most basic of questions about the nation’s history — “From which country did the United States win its independence?” — is either good news or bad news, depending on your expectations: 26% were not able to cite Great Britain, and 6% named a different country (France, China, Japan, Mexico or Spain, for example).Oh–and there were huge regional variations in the levels of ignorance: 32% of Southerners got it wrong, 26% of Midwesterners, 25% of Westerners and 16% of Northeasterners…happily I hail from that well-known bastion of lefty-thinking, Massachusetts!
- According to a poll conducted by the US Mint in conjunction with the launch of a series of Presidential coins, only 7% of those surveyed could name the first four presidents in order: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and 4 in 10 did not know that Washington led the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
Here’s a thought: instead of spending money on fireworks this year why doesn’t everyone–especially all of you living south of the Mason-Dixon line–cough up a few bucks for a pocket copy of the Constitution!
