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New Cato/Morning Consult Poll Reveals a Nation Celebrating a Founding It No Longer Understands
America turns 250 this week. Nearly half of its citizens have no idea what that means.
A new Cato Institute/Morning Consult survey of 2,253 Americans found that 46% cannot correctly identify what the 250th anniversary commemorates. Among Gen Z, that number climbs to 61%.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans do not know why the colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776. Fifty-eight percent cannot identify the main purpose of the U.S. Constitution.
Fifty-five percent do not know that the Supreme Court — not the President — has final say on constitutional questions.
Four in ten Americans cannot correctly name the country the colonies declared independence from. Twenty-two percent could not name George Washington as the first president. Nearly half — 45% — do not know how many branches of government the Constitution creates.
The survey did find one bright spot: 86% said they are grateful to be American, and 70% said the Founding principles remain relevant today. But 57% also said the country has moved away from those principles, and 56% worry America could lose its freedom within 50 years.
A nation that does not know what it is celebrating cannot defend what it is losing.
