Teens Clueless About Independence Day

Teens Clueless About Independence Day

John L. Perry
Wednesday, July 4, 2001

More than one in five American teen-agers haven't the foggiest idea what Independence Day means, and flunked a simple fourth-grade-level quiz about it.

This stunning reflection on what teens are not learning in school about the origin of the nation in which they live was revealed just as Americans were taking a holiday to celebrate the Fourth of July.

The nationwide survey of 1,020 youngsters age 12 to 17 was conducted by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, whose motto is: "That the future may learn from the past."

In an apparent effort to ensure the quiz was not over the heads of the junior-high and high-school students, it was composed of basic fourth-grade history questions.

The foundation said the results, statistically representative of 24 million students across the United States, reveal that "more than five million U.S. teenagers don't understand the true meaning of Independence Day ... one of our nation’s most important holidays – one that we’ve been celebrating for 225 years."

For example:

Of the teens quizzed, 22 percent didn't know from what country America declared independence during the Revolutionary War.

As many as 14 percent thought it was France, instead of Great Britain, and 3 percent thought the Revolutionary War was waged against Native Americans, while 1 percent guessed Canada.

Only 17 percent knew there were 13 original colonies.

The rest surmised anywhere from 15 to 50 colonies.

As many as 15 percent didn't know that July 4, 1776, is celebrated because the Declaration of Independence was adopted on that date by the Continental Congress.

The rest believed it was either the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution or something called the Magna Carta – or had no opinion.

On other key points about American history, the students were also less than adequately educated:

Nearly one in four could not say who fought in the Civil War.

Wrong answers ranged from East against West to United States against Great Britain to United States against Canada.

Almost a third had no knowledge that Francis Scott Key wrote America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Among their answers were George Washington, John Adams (whose name and likeness have been on television recently because of frequent coverage of a best-selling biography) and Betsy Ross.

Nearly one in five failed to identify the three branches of government created in the Constitution.

When asked to name the holiday on which the Pilgrims are typically recognized, all but 4 percent managed to get that right – Thanksgiving Day.

The losers thought it might be Christmas or the Fourth of July.

Twenty-one of the 1,020 teen-agers surveyed could not identify Washington, D.C., as the capital of the United States.

All but 45 knew George W. Bush is the president. The inaccurate answers included Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Dick Cheney.

Reflecting on those survey results, Colin Campbell, president and chairman of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, commented:

"As our nation is taking a hard look at our education system, these statistics indicate American history is one area that we can’t afford to ignore."

It might not hurt to keep the English language in mind as well.

An editor for one of the most widely circulated of Scripps Howard chain newspapers, the Knoxville, Tenn., News-Sentinel, placed this twice-grammatically incorrect headline on a front-page Associated Press account of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation survey:

"1 in 5 Teens Don't Know Who U.S. Fought for Independence."

John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is senior editor for NewsMax.com.

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