Ben Franklin Who?
Ben Franklin Who?
These days it is popular to regret that immigrants are destroying the national identity of the United States, but maybe we are delaying it. When the Woodrow Wilson National Scholarship Foundation recently asked United States Citizenship Test questions to US citizens, only one in three could pass the multiple-choice test.
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It is shameful. According to the foundation, only 13% of Americans knew when the Constitution was ratified, and 60% did not know in which countries the United States fought in World War II. The majority could not correctly identify the 13 original colonies, which at least is a little teaser. But only 24% could identify something for which Ben Franklin was famous, and 37% thought it was to invent the light bulb.
Even with a highly contested Supreme Court nomination in the Senate, 57% of Americans could not say how many judges are in the Court. Older Americans did much better than younger Americans: only 19% of the crowd of children under 45 died, which probably reflects the decline of the state of American public schools. None of this augurs well for the future of self-government.
We have always thought that it is important for immigrants to pass a test on the basic concepts of US history and civic education before they can be sworn in as citizens. Immigrants who are motivated to become citizens will take the time to learn. The real threat to American freedom is the fact that today's citizens do not know the most basic facts about the history and government of the United States.
It appeared on October 4, 2018, printed edition.
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SOURCE LINK ERESVIRAL.COM https://www.beviral.online
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