In honor of Independence Day, the Marist Poll released its results of a poll asking Americans when we declared independence and from what country we broke away from.  And it looks like people need to study their history a little more.

For the question, "In which year did the United States declare its independence?"

  • 58% knew the year was 1776.
  • 26% were unsure of the year.
  • 16% named another year.

From those answers, younger people, 30 years or younger, were least likely to answer correctly (only 31%), with Americans 45 to 59 years old most likely to answer correctly (75%).  As for gender, men answered correctly more often than women, 65% to 52% respectively.

But that wasn't the only question asked.  The second question, "On July 4th we celebrate Independence Day.  From what country did the United States win its independence?"  And one out of four Americans didn't know.

  • 76% correctly identified Great Britain.
  • 19% were unsure of the answer.
  • 6% mentioned another country.

Once again, people 30 years and younger were less likely to answer correctly (67%), with American over 60 answering correctly the most (80%).  And men again answered correctly more than women, 83% vs. 63%.

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