74% Americans Know What the 4th of July is About, 26 Percent are Clueless

Marist Poll ^ | 7/2/2010 | Marist Poll

[Dallas59]

There’s good news for American education. About three-quarters of residents — 74% — know the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776. The bad news for the academic system — 26% do not. This 26% includes one-fifth who are unsure and 6% who thought the U.S. separated from another nation. That begs the question, “From where do the latter think the U.S. achieved its independence?” Among the countries mentioned are France, China, Japan, Mexico, and Spain.

[AuntB]

Interesting chart: Women, non whites and the young are the dumbest....same people who voted for Obama.

[AuntB]

“Betcha the hispanic crew thinks we broke away from Mexico.”

Heck, they think they still own us!

“From where do the latter think the U.S. achieved its independence?” Among the countries mentioned are France, China, Japan, Mexico, and Spain”

[aruanan]

Yeah there's nothing that will win votes for conservative principles like obnoxiously shoving politics and ideology in someone's face while they are trying to go about their job.

And there's nothing like over-extrapolation of what someone wrote (together with a presumption of omniscience, viz "obnoxiously shoving"). The person I was talking to is an immigrant from the PRC who I've known for over a year and wasn't the person who put up the sign.

Yes, better to draw attention to conservative principles by not referring to their principal object of a people being able to live in peace, unmolested by an overreaching national government and contrasting this principle with its deliberate non-fulfillment by the current group controlling Congress and the executive branch.

[Bryanw92]

The wording of the poll continues the misperception that we “won” something on July 4. People think that it was the end of the revolution and putting those signatures on the paper was just a matter of formalizing it, like buying a car. They don’t want us to remember that those signatures were an act of High Treason against the most powerful nation on Earth, because our current government thinks a retireee at a Tea Party is a radical bomb-thrower and the lapdog media is more than happy to continue that image, while Big Education downplays the true radicalism of the Founding Fathers.

[Jedidah]

Check this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkQ6XgXeNuY

It would be really funny if it weren’t so sad.

At least Grandpa has a brain, which contradicts my earlier comment.

[AuntB]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkQ6XgXeNuY

OMG...that is just frightening. Ignorance is leading this nation into total chaos...and the ‘professor’...who thinks we got our independence in the 1920’s!!! WOW

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Eet’s kinda like Cinqo de Mayo, mon, except for gringos.

[who knows what evil?]

26% have no clue...roughly the same number of people who still ‘strongly approve’ of Dr. Utopia.

[gunsequalfreedom]

The ones that know best what the 4th of July is about are immigrants that went through the legal immigration process.

Have you ever talked to a legal immigrant on U.S. history? The test they are given to get citizenship is really tough.

[BenLurkin]

A few years back attended a traffic school which included lunch along with a day of lessons. Had the misfortune of dining with the only person in the entire group of 30 that insisted on a vegetarian meal.

In short order we learned that she did not know the meaning of the words “gauge”, “rebar” or “Rottweiler”. She'd never heard of any of those things — but she sure was strident about being a vegetarian!

[Artemis Webb]

"there's nothing like over-extrapolation of what someone wrote"

It's not my fault that you can't describe an event in written form.