Campus Reform Digital Reporter Eduardo Neret spoke to students and young Americans about the history behind the 4th of July and found that several young Americans know nothing about the history related to the 4th of July.
Shocking answers from young Americans — students and teachers — during an interview with Campus Reform that showed that these people knew very little about the history around the time of the creation of the United States that is commemorated by the 4th of July holiday. The people interviewed were just a sample, but their performance points to a need to scrutinize the state of education in America.
The young students and young teachers that were interviewed by Campus Reform demonstrated they knew very little about history around the time of the American Revolution, and proceeded to blame their own education and teachers.
Campus Reform, a project of the Leadership Institute, is America’s leading news website for conservative college news. As a watchdog to the nation’s higher education system, Campus Reform exposes bias and abuse on the nation’s college campuses.
The Leadership Institute, founded in 1979, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia that teaches “political technology.” Founded by conservative activist Morton Blackwell. The mission of the Leadership Institute is to “increase the number and effectiveness of conservative activists” and to “identify, train, recruit and place conservatives in politics, government, and media.”
JULY 4 QUESTIONS/ANSWERS …
What does the 4th of July commemorate?
Independence Day is a federal holiday that is celebrated on the 4th of July that commemorates the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776 — a unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America (New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).
The United States Declaration of Independence is the pronouncement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1776.
Thomas Jefferson, who chaired the committee (Committee of Five) and had established himself as a bold and talented political writer, wrote the first draft. Thomas Jefferson was not pleased when Congress “mangled” his composition by cutting and changing much of his carefully chosen wording. He was especially sorry they removed the part blaming King George III for the slave trade, although he knew the time wasn’t right to deal with the issue.
On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence following the development of the Lee Resolution introduced June 7, 1776 and approved July 2, 1776. Two days later, the Second Continental Congress ratified the text of the Declaration. John Dunlap, official printer to Congress, worked through the night to set the Declaration in type and print approximately 200 copies. These copies, known as the Dunlap Broadsides, were sent to various committees, assemblies, and commanders of the Continental troops. The Dunlap Broadsides weren’t signed, but John Hancock’s name appears in large type at the bottom. One copy crossed the Atlantic, reaching King George III months later. The official British response scolded the “misguided Americans” and “their extravagant and inadmissable Claim of Independency”. Historians have disputed when the Declaration of Independence was actually signed — possibly as late as August 2, 1776.
What year did we declare independence?
Answer: 1776, as described above. A 7th grade Civics teacher and a second grade elementary school teacher were among the students that were interviewed. The second grade teacher answered “17-something” … she later said that she knows personally that “we are not being taught the history that we need to know … I am teaching social studies that’s not in our curriculum — teaching them (her students) things like how to be an anti-racist instead of teaching those same three famous black people that we continue to teach (?) … I taught them about protesting, I taught them about Black Lives Matter, I taught them about things that are happening currently, so that they could make those connections. And when they see it on the news, they’re informed, they’re not ignoring the facts of our world right now — the facts that we’re actually a racist country.”]
Who did we get our independence from — what country?
Answer: Kingdom of Great Britain. Students answered “I don’t know — I don’t know this question”, “United States?”, [crickets], “I don’t know”, “America?”, “oh, Britain”, “Great Britain or something like that?”, “England?”
What was the name of the war that we were fighting at the time?
Answer: American Revolutionary War or American Revolution. Students answered “Civil War?”, “The French Revolution, right?”, “the Civil War?”, “the Industrial Revolution, right?”, “I think it’s the Civil War [giggle], I actually don’t remember … I know, but I really don’t remember”, “World War II?”, “World War I”, “I will also say the Civil War”, “The Britain War”, “World War I”, “The Revolution”, “American Revolution”.
One student said, “they need better teachers.” Another student said, “It’s something that’s in our history books, and like we just flip through, you know what I mean?. The teachers don’t take time to like really teach it.” Another said, “I just know that teachers don’t want to teach it.” The Civics Teacher said, “I personally know first hand that we are not getting taught, specifically in social studies, the history that we need to know.”
^^ MOBILE? USE VOICE MIC ^^
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