Ignorant Americans?

I found the results of last week’s Newsweek citizenship quiz troubling. The magazine administered the 25-question test to 1,000 Americans and 38 percent failed to get even six responses correct.

I’m a history buff, so I managed to figure out all but one of the answers (I didn’t remember that the United States had 27 constitutional amendments.) But even people such as my wife, who has little interest in the workings of the government, answered nearly every question correctly.

The vague wording of some of the questions left a lot to be desired. For example, “What happened at the Constitutional Convention,” “During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States” and “What is the economic system in the United States” should have been more specific.

But the lack of knowledge on some of the basic questions is astounding. Just one in five remembers who was president during World War I. Only 14 percent know how many members are in the U.S. House of Representatives. A mere 12 percent could identify one of the writers of the Federalist Papers.

If you want to test your knowledge, see:
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/20/take-the-quiz-what-we-don-t-know.html