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July 3, 2001
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Survey: U.S. teens struggle to answer fourth-grade history basics

Associated Press

NORFOLK, VA. -- One in five U.S. teenagers doesn't know the answer to this grade-school history question: From what country did the United States declare its independence?

Twenty-two percent of those who responded to the survey commissioned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation did not know the answer was England. Fourteen percent thought it was France.

"When you look at these numbers, it means that more than 5 million U.S. teenagers don't understand the true meaning of Independence Day," said Colin Campbell, president of the foundation that runs Colonial Williamsburg, the restored 18th-century capitol.

The nationwide telephone survey of 1,020 kids ages 12 to 17 was conducted May 31 to June 5 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Nearly all of those surveyed knew that Washington, D.C., is the U.S. Capitol and that George W. Bush is president. However:

One in 10 did not know George Washington was the first president.

17 percent did not know there were 13 original colonies.

15 percent did not know the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

Nearly one in four did not know who fought in the Civil War; 13 percent thought it was the United States and England.

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