Do You Understand the Revolution and Founding of America?

Do You Understand the Revolution and Founding of America?
By Ryan Riell

I have been working on a longer article that is still in progress. I was going to highlight some more of the garbage that has come out of Washington, but this article has changed once I started.

After watching the Glenn Beck show from yesterday and was not that surprised to see that more Americans know songs by Michael Jackson than they do about the founding of America. That being said, I had to look further into the study that was referenced.

I went to the American Revolution Center’s website and downloaded the study the 2009 study that was commissioned to survey the adult knowledge of the American Revolution and the Founding of the United States. There were four (4) main findings presented in the report, which is summarized here.

Major Finding 1: The vast majority of Americans thought that knowledge of the history and principles of the American Revolution is very important. Most also said that it is very important for schools to teach this subject.

Major Finding 2: Most Americans gave themselves high marks on their knowledge of the American Revolution and our Founding documents.

Major Finding 3: On a 27-questions test, a national sample of American adults scored an average of only 44% correct. Nearly 83% received a failing grade, meaning that they could not answer more than 16 of the 27 questions correctly.

Major Finding 4: Based on what they knew about the American Revolution and the Founding, most Americans said that freedom and liberty, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion were the most important values upon which American was founded.

I have also included all 30 questions… take the test and email me for the correct answers- I got 25 of the 27 historical questions correct.

I am of the firm opinion that the current progressive Congress and President Obama simply think too many American citizens are too stupid and/or uneducated about their own rights and the founding documents of America. If we are either or both too stupid or uneducated to know what the US Constitution guarantees us, how on God’s green earth are we going to stand up and say NO when the government whittles away at them?

If you are an American citizen, it is you DUTY to know what rights are granted to you. It is your DUTY to stand up and fight for you rights, fore if you don’t, you might soon not have those rights to fight for.


Here are the questions:
1. Is the Bill of Rights part of:
a. US Constitution
b. Declaration of Independence
c. Gettysburg Address
d. Articles of Confederation
e. None of the above

2. The most important consequence of the Boston Tea Party was:
a. Repeal of the tax on tea
b. Failure of the other colonies to support Boston’s action
c. Opening negotiating between Britain and Massachusetts
d. Enactment by Parliament of the Coercive Acts
e. None of the above

3. Which document outlines the division of powers between the states and the federal government?
a. Declaration of Independence
b. Marshall Plan
c. US Constitution
d. Homestead Act
e. None of the above

4. The last major military action of the American Revolution was at:
a. Bunker Hill
b. Trenton
c. Saratoga
d. Yorktown
e. None of the above

5. Which of the following rights is not protected by the Bill of Rights?
a. Freedom of speech
b. Trial by jury
c. The right to bear arms
d. Right to vote
e. None of the above

6. Which of the following events most directly encouraged the states to send delegates to the Constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787?
a. The Whiskey Rebellion
b. The Boston Massacre
c. Bacon’s Rebellion
d. Shay’s Rebellion
e. None of the above

7. Which of the following was responsible for declaring America’s independence from Great Britain?
a. The Albany Congress
b. The Stamp Act Congress
c. The House of Commons
d. The Second Continental Congress
e. None of the above

8. Which of the following conflicts most directly led to the Stamp Act?
a. The War of the Roses
b. The War of 1812
c. The Mexican-American War
d. The French and Indian War
e. None of the above

9. Benjamin Franklin epitomized which movement in colonial America?
a. The Enlightenment
b. The Great Awakening
c. The Loyalist Movement
d. The Glorious Revolution
e. None of the above

10. Who wrote the influential pamphlet called “Common Sense” which advocated independence from Britain?
a. Patrick Henry
b. Edmund Burke
c. Paul Revere
d. Thomas Paine
e. None of the above

11. Who took detailed notes at the Constitutional Convention and is widely regarded as the “Father of the Constitution?”
a. Abraham Lincoln
b. James Madison
c. Winston Churchill
d. George Washington
e. None of the above

12. Who was the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court?
a. Alexander Hamilton
b. John Marshal
c. Charles Evan Hughes
d. John Jay
e. Don’t know

13. Which of the following are inalienable rights stated in the Declaration of Independence?
a. Life, liberty and property
b. Honor, liberty and peace
c. Life, respect and equal protection
d. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
e. None of the above

14. The US Constitution established which of the following forms of government in the United States?
a. A Direct Democracy
b. A Republic
c. A Confederacy
d. An Oligarchy
e. None of the above

15. John Locke developed the concept of the “consent of the governed,” an important principle underlying the War for Independence, in a theory known as:
a. Natural Law
b. Law of Relativity
c. Common Law
d. Statutory Law
e. None of the above

16. Which of the following nations played an important role in helping the colonies defeat the British in the
American Revolution?
a. Canada
b. Mexico
c. Denmark
d. France
e. Don’t know

17. Which of the following phrases are the opening words to the US Constitution?
a. When in the course of human events
b. We the People
c. Fourscore and seven years ago
d. I have a dream
e. None of the above

18. Which of the following events came BEFORE the Declaration of Independence?
a. Founding of Jamestown, VA
b. The Civil War
c. The Emancipation Proclamation
d. The War of 1812
e. None of the above

19. How many states were there after the United States one its independence from Britain?
a. 7
b. 13
c. 15
d. 21
e. None of the above

20. Who said the following: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”?
a. George Washington
b. Barack Obama
c. Karl Marx
d. Thomas Paine
e. None of the above

21. What river did George Washington cross on Christmas Eve in 1776 in a surprise attack on Hessian troops?
a. Rhine
b. Potomac
c. Delaware
d. Michigan
e. None of the above

22. Who was the first Secretary of the Treasury?
a. James Monroe
b. Alexander Hamilton
c. Larry Summers
d. John Seward
e. None of the above

23. In what state did the Valley Forge winter encampment occur?
a. New York
b. Delaware
c. Ohio
d. Pennsylvania
e. None of the above

24. When did the American Revolution begin? Was it in the…
a. 1770s
b. 1640s
c. 1490s
d. 1800s
e. None of the above

25. Which side of the American War of Independence did the American Indians support?
a. British
b. American
c. Both
d. Neither
e. None of the above

26. The westernmost city where military action of the American Revolution took place at?
a. St. Louis
b. Austin
c. Richmond
d. Atlanta
e. None of the above

27. Who famously implored her husband to “remember the ladies” in drafting laws for the newly independent United States of America?
a. Martha Washington
b. Abigail Adams
c. Molly Pitcher
d. Phyllis Wheatley
e. None of the above

28. How many children do celebrities “John and Kate” have?
a. 4
b. 5
c. 6
d. 8
e. None of the above

29. Who was the first athlete to win a record 8 gold medals in a single Olympics?
a. Scott Hamilton
b. Kobe Bryant
c. Shannon Miller
d. Michael Phelps
e. None of the above

30. Who famously sang the songs “Beat It” and “Billie Jean”?
a. Elvis
b. Bruce Springsteen
c. ‘N SYNC
d. Michael Jackson
e. None of the above