Americans know literally nothing about the Constitution

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Roseeurekacross said:
The US is actually a Republic. It is governed by rule of law. The elected are bound by oath to the written governing limits (ie constitution) yet vote “together” and create laws to address concerns of the represented in a democratic way
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I agree the US is a republic.
Roseeurekacross said:
In a republic, a constitution or charter of rights protects certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away by the government, even if it has been elected by a majority of voters. In a “pure democracy,” the majority is not restrained in this way and can impose its will on the minority.
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A republic can take away rights and there is no real restraint on the majority. A piece of paper isn’t impotent. So I wouldn’t add such qualifications to a republic.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
You’re correct that only wealthy, educated white males could vote in USA at the time of the Revolution (in some places I recall they even had to be Church of England), but the revolution was spurred by the fact that people in USA were being taxed by the UK without representation in the UK legislative body.
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I would trade representation for the low taxes of those days.
Tis_Bearself said:
I also think the French Revolution that followed after was the one that really put the fear of God into all the people in power about what might happen when people were not given sufficient rights or say in a government.
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Certainly if kings were to be feared the French Revolution showed the mob was to be feared even more.
 
In Missouri, and I believe in most other states as well, high schoolers can’t graduate until they have passed a state test on the federal and state constitution. They can take it more than once, but they have to pass it. Most school districts have a semester long constitution class that the students have to take, which has more in depth assessments. I suspect that if they asked these same questions of 16yos, they would get better answers. However, if you don’t use information, you lose it. If you haven’t thought about the branches of government in 15 years, you probably won’t remember them accurately when stopped on the street.
 
“Schoolhouse Rock”, I think you mean. Most kids watch those videos in school though.
 
Let’s also remember that learning the Constitution is not as easy as just sitting down and reading it. Law schools routinely spend an entire year teaching basic Constitutional law to the students, and then there are additional semester-long courses on particular areas of the constitution involving administrative law, federal courts, etc.
 
Are you trying to suggest that the government is attempting to suppress the contents of the constitution from the public? Because if you are, all I can say to that is, 🤨. First of all, I challenge you to find me ANY school system anywhere that doesn’t teach students the Bill of Rights and branches of government. That is just an urban legend. If kids aren’t learning it, it isn’t because it’s been struck from the curriculum. It’s for the same reasons that certain kids aren’t learning reading, writing, math, or anything. And if grown people have forgotten it, it’s because they fill their minds with garbage instead and have become apathetic.
 
Learning the basics of the Constitution doesn’t really require understanding all the facets of constitutional law though. Many of the questions asked in this survey should have been answered by 4th graders.
 
Fourth graders? Come on. I was an exceptionally well-read kid who got straight A’s in Catholic elementary school and had a copy of “Equal Justice Under Law”, the tourist book on the Supreme Court, that I read regularly without understanding a lot of what it said. (Dad was a wannabe lawyer who went to DC on business a lot and brought such items home.) I guarantee you I could not have answered those questions then. I was aware we had a Constitution, it was written in 1787 and I could sing the Preamble thanks to the cartoon I mentioned above. Even in high school I would not have been able to identify specific amendments, except the 19th, because there was another cartoon about that.

I would agree with the idea of teaching it in high school civics/social studies and making the students pass a test to graduate, but I also agree that if they do not become lawyers or activists they will probably forget a lot of what they learned. But should they ever wish to re-read it, the Constitution is on the Internet and in every library. In my experience, the vast majority of people who have not studied American history or Constitutional law in college will make a lot of misinterpretations of what they read, which I tend to excuse on the basis that it’s good for people to have an interest in the Constitution even if they get stuff wrong, but their “basic knowledge of the Constitution” is still pretty bad.
 
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You really need to take your meds DAILY! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
 
The Constitution is printed inside the back cover of the 4th grade social studies book. They absolutely learn the braches of government. They even go on a field trip to a local children’s museum to learn about this. They don’t learn all the amendments, but they do learn about the bill of rights. Yes. 4th grade.
 
I guess the kids at my school were just dumb and poorly educated then. I honestly have no idea how any of us ever managed to succeed at life. Yet, we did.

Trust me, there are kids who are having enough trouble just learning to read and do basic math so they can figure a budget for rent and groceries. I personally don’t need them to know the Constitution before junior high school too, but I guess people have different expectations.
 
Allegra said:
The Constitution is printed inside the back cover of the 4th grade social studies book. They absolutely learn the braches of government. They even go on a field trip to a local children’s museum to learn about this. They don’t learn all the amendments, but they do learn about the bill of rights. Yes. 4th grade.
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The entire Constitution? Inside the back cover? That must be some tiny print! 😲

D
 
Not really. There’s only about 4500 words in the original federal constitution. It’s one of the shortest in the world, if not the shortest. I don’t recall if the amendments are included in that part of the textbook, but I suspect they are.
 
Well, whatever grade you feel the constitution should be taught, I hope we can all agree that American citizens should learn the basics of it before they graduate!
 
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Allegra said:
Not really. There’s only about 4500 words in the original federal constitution. It’s one of the shortest in the world, if not the shortest. I don’t recall if the amendments are included in that part of the textbook, but I suspect they are.
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That falls into the category of “I’d have to see it to believe it”. 4500 words is about four and a half normal typewritten pages.
 
They do. They just forget it like they forget math formulas, scientific facts, grammar, spelling, etc.
 
Nothing sticks in your mind without repetition and review. We have all learned much, then forgot it. I believe it is worse today with all the inormation vying for a place in out mind!
 
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It also did not restrict the right to vote. There were blacks and women voting even in the 1790’s depending on the state
 
Is this really a surprise when a senior lecturer on constitutional law at a prestigious university can lose two 9-0 Supreme Court decisions in the same week?

How many progressives know the constitution’s primary purpose is to limit the power of government?

BTW, Happy Constitution Day to all.
 
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