Don't know much about history....

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 02/21/2019 at 11:00 • Filed to: None

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When it comes to knowledge of American history, it appears that the Green Mountain State knows best . A !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation has found that 53% of Vermonters who took a US citizenship exam passed the test , but only if you count D as a passing grade. Which is another way of saying that 47% failed the test. Vermont was the only state in which more than half of its residents passed.

Here are the top five , with the percentage of residents who passed .

Vermont – 53%

Wyoming – 49%

South Dakota – 48%

Montana – 47%

Virginia – 46%

And here are bottom five, with the percentage of residents who passed.

Mississippi – 31%

Alabama – 31%

Arkansas – 30%

Kentucky – 29%

Louisiana – 27%

You can take the test for yourself !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I missed two rather obscure questions (about the Federalist Papers and the number of Constitutional amendments) and got an 89.5. I’ll call that a 90. My home state of Texas came in at number 40, with only 37% of its residents passing the test. How did your state do? How did you do?

Take The Test

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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:04

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Bunch of Frenchists can’t pass a test smh

P.S. please put my gun and passport in the mail addressed to me

Ash78, voting early and often > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:06

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100% of me cannot locate the quiz i n any of the links :D

fintail > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:11

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I missed the same two.  

diplodicus forgot his password > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:12

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15/19 blanked on ww1 president. federalist papers, what benjamin franklin did and the patrick henry quote.

vondon302 > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:16

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Damnit did worse 74.

I don't like the answer for why the colonists fought the British but what do I know.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:16

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Sorry.

The Ghost of Oppo > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:17

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I only missed the Federalist papers question, but I just guessed on the amendments one .

I remember our Civics teacher made us take this way back when I was in 8th grade, but it wasn’t multiple choice, and I was the only one in the class who included Italy as a combatant in WWII, and the teacher told me that was incorrect . smh

CB > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:18

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I am far too lazy to do this quiz. I did a few questions, and I learned was that I probably know more American history than I’d like.

3point8isgreat > vondon302 02/21/2019 at 11:19

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I got the same score, and that question wrong too. I associated it with financial crisis because of the whole “taxation without representation” thing.

vondon302 > 3point8isgreat 02/21/2019 at 11:23

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Yup that was my thinking too.

ttyymmnn > diplodicus forgot his password 02/21/2019 at 11:23

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That PH quote is one of the most famous quotes in American history that nobody knows. And I read Walter Isaacson’s exception biography of BF a few years ago. He was quite popular with the French ladies, and coined the phrase, “In the dark, all cats are gray.” And Federalist Papers? Find me 51 Senators who can tell me about the Federalist Papers. 

Future next gen S2000 owner > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:24

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I scored an 84% which is in line with every other test I take. Ones I missed, Cons tit ution was written  earlier than I thought. Missed the # of amendments by 1. Federalists Papers got me as well.

ttyymmnn > vondon302 02/21/2019 at 11:24

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The Quartering Acts really pissed off the Colonists, as you might imagine. 

ttyymmnn > CB 02/21/2019 at 11:26

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You are also far too Canadian. That said, you would probably do significantly better on an American history test than an American would do on a Canadian history test. 

ttyymmnn > Future next gen S2000 owner 02/21/2019 at 11:26

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Show me 51 Senators who can talk about the Federalist Papers.

interstate366, now In The Industry > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:27

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Confirmed, I am a giant nerd.

CB > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:27

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I am not far too Canadian.

>Realizes I’ve been snowmobiling, skiing, lived in -40, watched hockey, considered going to a national curling tournament, and refused to make pancakes since I don’t have maple syrup within the last three weeks

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:28

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I got 94.7%, missed the first one about the original states. So Tx may not be doing great, but that puts Austin averaging 90%+, right?

diplodicus forgot his password > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:30

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Ya I totally thought the pH quote was ben Franklin's. I didn't realize he was officially a diplomat either. 

CB > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:32

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I also got 15/19. Not bad for a country I don’t live in.

ttyymmnn > interstate366, now In The Industry 02/21/2019 at 11:32

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Congratulations, Citizen.

ttyymmnn > CB 02/21/2019 at 11:33

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78%--far better than most Americans. 

ttyymmnn > Shane MacGowan's Teeth 02/21/2019 at 11:34

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I had to think for a while about that first one. Wasn’t sure about Maine, but I figured it was too far north to have cared about back then. 

ttyymmnn > diplodicus forgot his password 02/21/2019 at 11:36

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I think he spent more time in France than he did in the US. Here’s another famous quote that everybody knows but nobody knows where it came from:

“Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

And no, it wasn’t Tom Petty.

vondon302 > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:38

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Like I said shows what I know.

And   yeah that'd post me off too.

ttyymmnn > vondon302 02/21/2019 at 11:43

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It was specifically addressed in the Declaration of Independence,

[The King]  has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.

and the the Third Amendment outlaws it:

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

DipodomysDeserti > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:52

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MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 11:55

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Got an 89 %...missed the Federalist papers one and the number of amendments

dumpsterfire! > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 12:04

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18/19 correct, sorry I'm skewing the curve for the rest of 'Murica

Bo Knows > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 12:24

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Civil war admiral at  Mobile Bay. Farragut? And they weren’t torpedoes. They were mines (I hope or else the internet will mock me )

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 12:28

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84% - I also got the Federalist Papers question wrong, and was off by 1 on the # of Amendments.

And I was confused a bit on the ‘why did the colonists fight’ question.

Mid Engine > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 12:33

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I’m taking the test on the 27th, wish me luck

ttyymmnn > Bo Knows 02/21/2019 at 12:58

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You are correct, sir, on all counts. Although Farragut mostly likely   said something considerably less poetic:

“Damn the torpedoes! Four bells! Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!”

At the end of the day, we can’t really be sure what he said exactly. But the spirit of the quote outweighs its correctness.

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 02/21/2019 at 12:58

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See my reply in this thread about the Quartering Acts.

ttyymmnn > Mid Engine 02/21/2019 at 13:00

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WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 13:08

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I was thinking more about the Boston Tea Party and taxation without representation - which isn’t *exactly* a financial crisis, but that’s what I went with.

facw > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 13:26

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I really didn’t like that question. Obviously the issue was important, but it was not the sole reason, and I wouldn’t even say the primary reason.

facw > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 13:36

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84% here, not too impressed with myself.

I don’t know if these questions are really representative, but if so I’m quite sure that they are the wrong things to be asking. To me, showing a working knowledge of how American government works is important. Some knowledge of history may be useful in terms of understanding the sort of country we are but specifics of places and dates are irrelevant (interesting, but knowing them is not what makes a good American).

Even if, as something of a historian, you want to argue that people should know these thing, I think it should be obvious that they are not the most important things to know.

facw > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 13:38

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It was cared about, but it was part of Massachusetts. It was split off into its own state to keep the balance between between slave and non-slave states when Missouri was added.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 13:47

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16/19, 84% vs. 57% fail rate for Illinois.

Honeybunchesofgoats > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 13:54

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I missed four (78.9%), but technically I missed three, since one was a protest answer.   

ttyymmnn > facw 02/21/2019 at 18:11

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Well, it was important enough to get a specific mention in the Declaration of Independence.

ttyymmnn > facw 02/21/2019 at 18:12

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I agree, that some of these facts seem nitpicky, particularly the bit about the Federalist Papers. 

facw > ttyymmnn 02/21/2019 at 18:36

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Right, and of course in our least frequently used section of the Bill of R ights, but the wording of the question made it sound like it was the sole cause of the revolution (or given that there’s never any one single cause, at least the most important).