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E pluribus ignorantia

Posted at 4:15 PM on July 3, 2012 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

Every year -- at least for the last two years -- Marist College in Poughkeepsie issues a 4th of July survey which does nothing to instill pride in America, by virtue of revealing our collective ignorance about U.S. history.

In 2010, for example, we learned that one in four Americans cannot name which country the United States declared its independence from (psst: It was England).

		USA Residents
		On July 4th we celebrate Independence Day. From which country did the United States win its independence?
		Great Britain	Unsure	Other countries mentioned
		Row %	Row %	Row %
USA Residents		74%	20%	6%
Region	Northeast	84%	10%	6%
	Midwest	74%	21%	5%
	South	68%	26%	6%
	West	75%	18%	7%
Household Income	Less than $50,000	63%	30%	7%
Household Income	$50,000 or more	86%	9%	5%
Race	White	82%	13%	5%
Race	Non-white	56%	35%	9%
Age	18 to 29	60%	33%	7%
	30 to 44	75%	15%	10%
	45 to 59	79%	17%	4%
	60 or older	76%	19%	4%
Age	Under 45	67%	24%	9%
Age	45 or older	78%	18%	4%
Gender	Men	81%	12%	7%
Gender	Women	67%	28%	5%
July 2010 Marist Poll National Residents " MOE +/- 3%" Totals may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Having been publicly shamed, respondents didn't get any smarter a year later (last year) when a similar percentage of people remained ignorant on the subject.

This time, Marist also asked what year the Declaration of Independence was ~~signed~~ adopted, which, of course, is what July 4th honors.

A little less than half of those surveyed could not name 1776.

We do not have advance information on what question will stump America tomorrow. We can, however, guess the results.

Comments (4)

England, I thought it was the British. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10&feature=fvwrel

Posted by BJ | July 3, 2012 4:27 PM

Blessed are the ignorant, for they will be choosing our next President. ( With a little help from their friends the corporations, of course.)

Posted by Jim Shapiro | July 3, 2012 10:15 PM

I'd like to see a poll on details of the constitution. That would be eye-opening considering all the "unconstitutional" laws that are being passed these days. After all, everything is unconstitutional.

Posted by Disco | July 4, 2012 10:31 AM

I've been on a little personal project to refer to it as Independence Day rather that the Fourth of July. When you say to people "Have a nice Independence Day" some give you a puzzled look. Then a little teaching moment occurs, or at least a reminder of what the day is really about.

Posted by John P. | July 4, 2012 5:51 PM