It’s always fun to see how clueless and misinformed we are, so here ya go: A civics poll for the Fourth of July looked at how much we know about America’s history and laws. Here are a few 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.
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.”
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