Friday, February 25, 2005
George Washington, who?
When seniors at the nation’s top 55 universities were asked to name America’s victorious general at the Battle of Yorktown, only 34 percent named George Washington.
President’s Day came and went as it usually does -- without much notice and little attention to the man whose birthday makes February’s three-day weekend possible.
For those stumped by the riddle, that man would be George Washington, also known as the father of our country and our first president.
Kathleen Parker: Washington today receives one-tenth the coverage in textbooks that he received 30 years ago. Rees tells of one textbook that offers fewer than 50 lines of text about Washington, but 213 about Marilyn Monroe.
Tests, surveys and studies further confirm America’s increasing ignorance. A test of high school seniors, for example, found that only one in ten was proficient in American history. A survey of fourth graders found that seven of ten thought the original 13 colonies included Illinois, Texas and California.
Mount Vernon, Va. -Others who visit here – some 75,000 annually – frequently stop one of the historical interpreters roaming the estate grounds to ask about the Civil War.
What? Washington liberated the slaves, right?
Well, yes, he did liberate his own slaves upon his death, but many visitors here don’t know that. Rather they’re clearly confusing Washington with Abraham Lincoln, who is far more famous these days than the general who was instrumental in making ‘freedom’ a word his American progeny are privileged to take for granted.
When seniors at the nation’s top 55 universities were asked to name America’s victorious general at the Battle of Yorktown, only 34 percent named George Washington.
President’s Day came and went as it usually does -- without much notice and little attention to the man whose birthday makes February’s three-day weekend possible.
For those stumped by the riddle, that man would be George Washington, also known as the father of our country and our first president.
Kathleen Parker: Washington today receives one-tenth the coverage in textbooks that he received 30 years ago. Rees tells of one textbook that offers fewer than 50 lines of text about Washington, but 213 about Marilyn Monroe.
Tests, surveys and studies further confirm America’s increasing ignorance. A test of high school seniors, for example, found that only one in ten was proficient in American history. A survey of fourth graders found that seven of ten thought the original 13 colonies included Illinois, Texas and California.
Mount Vernon, Va. -Others who visit here – some 75,000 annually – frequently stop one of the historical interpreters roaming the estate grounds to ask about the Civil War.
What? Washington liberated the slaves, right?
Well, yes, he did liberate his own slaves upon his death, but many visitors here don’t know that. Rather they’re clearly confusing Washington with Abraham Lincoln, who is far more famous these days than the general who was instrumental in making ‘freedom’ a word his American progeny are privileged to take for granted.
