The College Fix

Report asked students about Senate term lengths, Gettysburg Address, U.S. Constitution

College students lack a “rudimentary grasp” of American history and government, as displayed in a civic literacy assessment recently conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

The 35-question survey, “Losing America’s Memory 2.0,” asked more than 3,000 students from all 50 states questions about history and government, including Senate term lengths and a quote from the Gettysburg Address, according to ACTA. The survey was conducted in June by College Pulse.

“It seems that many students are completely tuned out to politics, lacking the knowledge to participate effectively,” ACTA’s Vice President for Policy Bradley Jackson told The College Fix in a recent email. “In a democracy, that is a recipe for disaster.”

When asked who is the current president of the U.S. Senate, only 27 percent of students were able to correctly identify Kamala Harris, and over a quarter thought it was President Joe Biden.

Many students were unaware of the six-year length of a U.S. Senate term. Almost a third (31 percent) thought it was a four-year term. Likewise, nearly a fifth (19 percent) incorrectly said representatives to the U.S. House serve a four-year term; they serve two years.

Jackson said he was particularly concerned by another finding: that only 23 percent of students could identify the Gettysburg Address as the source of the quote, “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

“If the people no longer care to understand their government, if they are ignorant of its history and its institutions, a government like ours cannot long stand, according to America’s Founders and later heroes like Lincoln,” Jackson told The Fix.

Additionally, 37 percent of the students correctly identified the current chief justice of the Supreme Court, but 32 percent responded they were “not sure.” Less than one-third (31 percent) were able to identify James Madison as the Father of the Constitution, with almost half (44 percent) incorrectly responding with Thomas Jefferson.

Historian and Hillsdale College Professor Wilfred McClay told The Fix in a recent email he was both “appalled and saddened” by another finding from the survey that found 57 percent of students would flee the country rather than stay and fight in the case of an invasion.

“This reflects a social malady, a sickness of the soul, that runs deeper than just a lack of knowledge,” McClay said. “But one of the best ways to begin combatting that malady is by rededicating ourselves to a proper civic and historical education.”

One of ACTA’s goals is to have universities require students take a course on U.S. history and government to complete their degree. Currently, fewer than 20 percent of colleges nationwide require this, Jackson said.

In addition to these courses, Jackson said an education in proper debate is necessary for America’s youth. Programs that train students to have “empathy, tenacity, and mental agility” for conversations with people who share different views are just as critical as ideological or political knowledge, he said.

Although the K-12 education system has contributed significantly to the problem, it has not acted alone, the scholars told The Fix. Both Jackson and McClay blamed the traditional media and entertainment culture for prioritizing reality television and fandom over informed citizenship.

“The problem really begins in primary and secondary education, including the textbooks used in those schools, and is dramatically reinforced by a popular culture that accepts and echoes the worst mischaracterizations of the American experience,” McClay said.

But ACTA leaders stated in a news release these negative results can be turned around if America’s institutions act now by playing a positive role in the civic education of young adults.

MORE: U. Tennessee launches civics institute to combat ignorance of country’s founding principles

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