Most People Failed A Fourth of July Poll About U.S. History

It’s always fun to see how absolutely clueless and misinformed most of us are, so here ya go: A recent civics poll for the Fourth of July looked at how much we know about America’s history and laws. Most people failed to answer the questions correctly.

Here are a few of the questions they asked, and how people answered:

1.  Who was the first president?  13% . . . or roughly 1 in 8 people . . . don’t know it was George Washington.  6% said Abe Lincoln, our 16th president . . . 4% chose John Adams, our 2nd president . . . and 3% said Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd president.

2.  What did the Declaration of Independence do?  78% knew it declared our independence from Great Britain.  9% thought it freed the slaves . . . 7% said it declared our independence from France . . . and 6% thought it gave women the right to vote.

3.  At what age can you vote for president?  Only 80% knew it’s 18 years old.  3% said 16 . . . 9% said 21 . . . and 7% said 35.  (It’s possible some of those people might have misread the question.  35 is the minimum age to BE President.)

4.  What are two rights of everyone living in the U.S.?  86% got it right.  The correct answer was “freedom of speech and freedom of religion.”  But 4% think the freedom to “disobey traffic laws” is one of them.  (???)

5.  Who was Ben Franklin?  The correct answer was a “U.S. diplomat.”  But 21% thought he was our third president, and 4% chose “inventor of the airplane.”

(YouGov)