America’s Worst Subject

Posted on July 1, 2011 at 4:20 pm by JM Ashby

When they said History was America’s worst subject, they weren’t kidding.

According to a new poll 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.

A total of 26% aren’t quite sure who America went to war with for independence.

Perhaps instead of grilling hotdogs and hamburgers on Monday, those 26% should attend a history lesson.

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  • http://twitter.com/gbeaudette Grant Beaudette

    This is like when they say X percent of Americans can’t find America on a map; it doesn’t seem possible.

    There should be a show where they find these people and make them learn these things.

  • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

    Yes, but according to Wikipedia, 13.32% of Americans don’t graduate from high school. So that would account for half the nitwits who couldn’t answer this question. I wonder what percentage of people they talked to were drunk or on drugs at the time the question was asked….what percentage mentally ill enough to impair…..AND even taking all that into account, my reaction is still “Holy Jeebus on a Cracker that’s bad!”

    • JMAshby

      You just gave me an idea for educating America.

      Create a reality show where the participants have to turn our national history into songs and sing it! Then people will learn!

      • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

        Honey, they can’t remember the Pledge of Allegiance that they are made to say every day in Kindergarten or the verses of the National Anthem, the singing thing? No, I’m to cynical to have any hope for it. I mean, would we have “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” if the average American wasn’t an uneducated yokel. (I know I sound elitist, but its the honest truth.)

        • JMAshby

          I still like my idea.

  • pgeorge

    I was rather staggered lately to hear from my sister (who was equally staggered) that her Baby Boomer husband had never heard of the War of 1812. I thought at least our generation was taught the usual round of American history. I was lucky to have a seventh grade teacher who lent me a British textbook covering the Revolutionary War, which was when I discovered we were something of a sideshow in a much larger control for empire, with the vast majority of British troops otherwise engaged – and wouldn’t have won without the French. But then, my sister and I were both the kinds of kids who went to epics and then read obsessively about the Romans or Lawrence of Arabia or whatever.

    Apparently people aren’t just not reading history, they don’t put together the dots when they see a decent movie. I’m going to force feed my brother-in-law “Gettysburg” this weekend….

  • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

    We struggle. We make good arguments for sane policy. We engage reality and try to employ that as a basis for both understanding our world and developing rational programs for achieving a just society.
    Sadly, we are obligated to permit stunned fucking ignoramuses who have been wrong about every fucking thing since any of us were shitting in diapers to sit at the table, still insisting that their ideologically pure concepts are anything other than the proximate cause of the shit we are now desperately trying to mitigate.
    In anything like a just and fair world, we would be permitted to stab them repeatedly with pencils and butter knives and other sharp nasty things until they shut the fuck up.
    There is no longer any reasonable way to even talk to these people. They must be dragged out behind the barn, tied in a sack with bricks, and tossed into the river.
    Do you own a copy of Atlas Shrugged? Follow me…
    Do you have a copy of the King James bible? Follow me…
    I know there will be some overlap – some of US have Atlas Shrugged and the KJB in a “Know thine enemy” sort of thing…
    Sorry. For the greater good…

  • Corebela

    This really makes me wish someone would do some survey like in my own country which is Canada. I know/have known some petty ignorant people so it just makes me wonder if the situation of ignorance in America is normal for any country or if you guys really are surrounded by more than just the average morons. (politicians not included)

    • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

      If you’d like to feel just right
      laugh and have some fun
      meet some friendly people
      and get some fishin’ done
      you can dial Prince Edward Isle
      it won’t cost you none
      For information on vacation
      phone the land of fun
      AAAEEight double zero 565-7421
      That’s AAeeight double zero 565-7421

      /Happy Canad’eh!

      [We were sittin' about at a kitchen party drunk as drunk can be. Got to singin' that Stompin' Tom PEI tourism jingle from 30 years ago. Grabbed the phone, squinted one eye down to dial....
      "Price Edward Island Tourism, may I help you?"
      "HOLY SHIT! IT WORKS!!!"
      "Ha ha! You folk are drinking tonight, eh?"
      "How did you know that?"
      "Oh, we get about 30 calls every weekend. People sittin' 'round drunk singin' Stompin' Tom call up. You all have a good night and come see us soon!"]

      /Stompin’ Tom Connors = the Godfather of Rap, and a totally cool dude,
      //I’m Bud the Spud from the bright red mud

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.com Broadway Carl

    I wonder how many of those who didn’t know the answer are Tea Party “patriots” who want to take America back and follow the Constitution that guarantees us “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that founders like John Quincy Adams intended?

    • muselet

      Lots, would be my guess.

      –alopecia