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Author
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Topic: American History?
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Lonny
PANTS ON THE GROUND
Member # 19
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posted May 18, 2015 05:08 PM
I read a statistic the other day claiming that 33% of the 18-29 year-olds in this country do not know who we gained independence from.
I mentioned this to a co-worker who is 29, former active Marine Corps, smart, likes to learn, and has some pretty fair knowledge of history. His answer was "No way, everybody should know that!"
About that time, a young guy about 19 walked in and the Marine asked him, "Who did we gain independence from?" The kid just shrugged and said, "I dunno?"
About 30 seconds later, another young guy came in and he asked him the same question. After some thought, he answered with, "Europe? Maybe?"
The Marine about shit and walked out of the office. He came back 10 minutes later and said he asked 5 more people and only one nailed the answer and that guy was also an ex-Marine. He got answers of Mexico, Spain, and some blank stares.
After hearing his results I was thinking 33% sounded pretty good.... Where the hell are we headed?
Posts: 1209 | From: Lewiston, Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Az-Hunter
Hi, I'm Vic WELCOME TO THE U.S. Free baloney sandwiches here
Member # 17
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posted May 18, 2015 05:51 PM
If you think asking them about early American history is scary; just toss out some current political history. Who is Vice President, name at least five supreme Court Judges, (bet most of them don't even know how many we have), who is Secretary of State or hell...even their state Senator. You'll draw a lot of blanks; but ask lyrics to any fucking lady gaga song or 50cent rap song and they will beam and prattle on about them....odd for sure isn't it?
Posts: 1627 | From: 5 miles west of Tim | Registered: Jan 2003
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Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633
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posted May 19, 2015 04:59 AM
I used to work with a guy from Lebanon who was studying to take his citizenship test. From looking over the material, I don't think that I could have passed. He did and earned the right to wave our flag. Just one of the reasons it pisses me off when these `undocumented democrats` take the easy way & come here illegally.
I think that the 33% figure is probably pretty accurate. Look at the `Man On The Street` interviews that they run on different programs. It shows that;
(1) People are stupid.
and
(2) Gives insight as to how o bama got his-self elected twice.
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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.
Posts: 7576 | From: Under a wandering star | Registered: Apr 2005
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Moe
Knows what it's all about
Member # 4494
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posted May 19, 2015 05:52 AM
Schools are no longer teaching American history. At least not the way we learned it.
It's been a number of years now but one afternoon my stepson came home from school and put his history book on the dining room table. I was curious and picked it up to read. There was a chapter on Thomas Jefferson. All the book had to say about him is that he was a slave owner and fathered a child by Sally Hemmings, one of his slaves. The latter is a damned lie.
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I snatch kisses. And vice versa.
Posts: 593 | From: Oregon | Registered: Nov 2013
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 19, 2015 07:39 AM
Boy! Do we have a subject here to chew on!
If anybody watches Watter's World, it is embarrassing to see the answers to simple questions. Makes me want to throw something at the screen!
I would just like to know what the hell they are teaching our kids? There is no doubt, they are fed the Liberal dogma, and apparently there is no need for simple facts. They can't tell you who George Washington was! This is unbelievable! They don't know who Ronald Reagan was? This is unbelievable!
But, they DO know who Martin Luther King was, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and anybody who ever owned a slave. See, slaves were beaten, and misused. I have always wondered about this theory? You usually take care with your property, real and personal. Is that why these people owned slaves? They enjoyed whipping them? They didn't take care of valuable property?
I dunno? Take the Civil War. We are supposed to believe the reason why over a million citizens fought and died was TO FREE THE SLAVES !
I'm wondering if they really believe the issue was not slavery, but "Free The Slaves!" People in the north were willing to face certain death at Gettysburg, right into the teeth of canon and musket to FREE THE SLAVES? Come on.
I'll submit; the issue was "states rights" and plenty of blame on both sides. The South was playing against a stacked deck. Representation in congress based on population, yet blacks were counted as 5/8ths of a person. Anything the rural south thought was important was defeated by (what else) the smug "majority rules".
I have never been able to decide who was right and who was wrong? It seems reasonable that states should be able to join a union and should be able to withdraw? Where Lincoln came up with war as a solution to the issue is beyond me? So, let's make it a "PR" issue; it's to free the slaves. Yeah let's all join the Army to fight and die so we can free the slaves! Umm? I mean, of course, the slaves in the south. The Emancipation Proclamation concerned slaves held by the south, not any owned in the north. Little detail, they might not emphasize in our politically correct history books. As they say, history is written by the victors.
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31449 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 19, 2015 07:51 AM
Let's face it, it seems the more money we pour into education, the way Democrats want it taught, the less they, (students) learn!
I would like to know what these kids actually LEARN? But, guess what? The Teacher's Unions are dead set against proficiency tests that measure student AND teacher quality. Who do the teacher's unions give money to? Democrats.
I will tell you, by my standards, what they are graduating in high school and college are functionally illiterate. For many years now, a college degree is almost equal to a high school diploma of 40 years ago. Yes, they know more about an ipad than you or I, but what do they really understand about the world around them?
Almost nothing.
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31449 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Prune Picker
AR Forum Assistant Moderator-handgun GURU and dispenser of sage advice
Member # 4107
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posted May 19, 2015 08:30 AM
One of the things that comes to mind when I think back about my time in grade school is reciting the Preamble of the Constitution , WE THE PEOPLE... or fail the 5th grade, NO EXCEPTIONS.
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mike
Posts: 1265 | From: "Oklahomie" | Registered: Mar 2012
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 19, 2015 09:06 AM
For me, it was the Gettysburg Address. One at a time, whenever you were ready, seemed like it spanned several days, but it had to be accomplished. Eighth grade. I know I stumbled once or twice, but it was pass or fail when that term didn't exist; first I heard it was in college.
Face it, when it comes to general knowledge of the physical world, the average teenager is dumber than a box of rocks.
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31449 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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booger
TOO BIG TO FAIL
Member # 3602
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posted May 19, 2015 09:14 AM
Just heard a statistic this last week to go along with what Lonny brought up. It seems that only 16% of those graduating high school are proficient in American History.
I don't have kids in the system, but I guess American History isn't even taught in some schools until the 11th grade--way to late in my opinion.
Doesn't speak too well about the future of our nation.
[ May 19, 2015, 09:15 AM: Message edited by: booger ]
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If we ever forget we are one Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under--Ronald Reagan
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Prune Picker
AR Forum Assistant Moderator-handgun GURU and dispenser of sage advice
Member # 4107
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posted May 19, 2015 09:29 AM
When it came to the Civil War , I was very vocal & got a couple of demerits for my personal beliefs. My mothers family came from traditional southern belief that control of the Cotton & Tobacco trade with Europe, not Slavery, ie: "Yankee Dollars" provoked the 1st Shot "Fired Across The Bow" of a ship that had left a harbor in The Carolinas for Europe instead of a Northern State.
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mike
Posts: 1265 | From: "Oklahomie" | Registered: Mar 2012
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Moe
Knows what it's all about
Member # 4494
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posted May 19, 2015 10:14 AM
My dad was career Navy. He was stationed in Philadelphia for several months when I was in the 7th grade because he had to go to a school on running an engine room on a new aircraft carrier, The USS Ranger. When the school was completed we then moved to Norfolk, Virginia where the Ranger was stationed for its sea trials. I transferred to a school in Norfolk.
We were being taught about the Civil War in Philadelphia and by chance we were being taught about the Civil War when I attended school in Norfolk. In Philadelphia we were taught that the cause of the Civil War was slavery but in Virginia we were taught that it was economics and states' rights. When I commented on what I had learned in Philadelphia and how it was different from what I was being taught in Norfolk you would've thought I'd shot someone's dog. Teachers sent notes home to my parents and I was ostracized in front of the other kids. Because of that I had to fight someone almost every day.
BTW, Leonard, Lincoln had to suspend a portion of the constitution in order to prosecute a war against the south. Many still feel that what he did was illegal. Ron Paul is a Lincoln hater for that very reason.
I actually liked living in the south once I got done with the 7th grade. Back then there were full page ads in the papers saying, SAVE YOUR CONFEDERATE MONEY, THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN. People, especially the old people, were still fighting the Civil War. When an old person asked me where I was from I learned to say Texas which is where I was born. If I said California I knew I was in for trouble. An old woman slammed her door literally in my face when I said California. She drew blood. I was only like 11 years old. Her final words to me were "GET OFF MY PORCH YOU GOD DAMNED YANKEE!" And I'm not lying.
Kids have been brainwashed in our schools and it has a lot to do with Carter establishing the Department of Education. Money taken from the states then doled back to the states with the requirement that they have to subscribe to the curriculum that the feds provide.
The founders, especially Jefferson, did not want the federal government involved in our schools. Rush Limbaugh calls it the dumbing down of America and obviously it's working.
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I snatch kisses. And vice versa.
Posts: 593 | From: Oregon | Registered: Nov 2013
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 19, 2015 11:35 AM
Pretty smart guy.
edit: My girlfriend is an Okie. She uses the word Yankee in a derogatory fashion. Amusing.
[ May 19, 2015, 11:44 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31449 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Prune Picker
AR Forum Assistant Moderator-handgun GURU and dispenser of sage advice
Member # 4107
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posted May 19, 2015 12:09 PM
That's funny LB, my wife & all of her family are Connecticut Yankees. Both of her brothers love coming to Oklahoma & Texas, but her sisters snarl when talk of vacationing here comes up. My reply has always been " you ole hags ain't purdy enough to like it here" & the only yankees I cuss play baseball.
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mike
Posts: 1265 | From: "Oklahomie" | Registered: Mar 2012
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 19, 2015 12:33 PM
Yeah, and she is by way of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and El Paso, so take that into consideration, as well. I get the impression she really dislikes them, it's not a joke?
Other than that, she's really nice people. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
edit: and, she's too big to sass!
[ May 19, 2015, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31449 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Lonny
PANTS ON THE GROUND
Member # 19
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posted May 19, 2015 12:56 PM
Just for kicks, after the first debacle, I decided to throw a little written quiz at some of the crew and all fall into the 18-29 range. 9 people took my quiz.
Don't laugh at the level of the questions, I didn't want to snap them with something too difficult.
1. What months do we celebrate Memorial Day and Veterans Day? Not a single one got both correct.
2. What action took place on Dec. 7, 1941 that got the US involved in WWII? 7 of 9 got this one right!
3. What names are used to identify the North and South during the Civil War? 4 of 9 got Confederacy right. 3 of 9 got Union correct. Several answers of Yankee.
4. Name 2 of the 3 first US presidents. 9 of 9 got Washington correct the rest of the answers were a mess. I got everything from "Hoover" to "Franklin" to "Leakin"
5. Name the last 3 US presidents. 5 of 9 got all 3 correct.
6. What year is the next presidential election? 8 of 9 got this one.
7. How many senators does your state have? 6 of 9 got it right.
8. What year did the US claim independence form Great Britain? 4 of 9 got it right. I had one answer of 1942!
9. What was the US trying to stop by sending troops to Vietnam in the 1960's and 70's? 3 of 9 got it right. For some reason, "Drug problems" was also a popular answer.
10. What major event happened in New York City on 9-11-2001? 9 of 9 got it right, but several just answered with "plane crash"
[ May 19, 2015, 01:01 PM: Message edited by: Lonny ]
Posts: 1209 | From: Lewiston, Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Prune Picker
AR Forum Assistant Moderator-handgun GURU and dispenser of sage advice
Member # 4107
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posted May 19, 2015 02:12 PM
Good questions Lonny, most of the kids around here wouldn't be able to get half of the answers correct . I have a question that I've never known anyone whom was able to say "yes I have". Can anyone remember ever meeting a Caucasian / white man named Washington or Jefferson? I honestly never have.
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mike
Posts: 1265 | From: "Oklahomie" | Registered: Mar 2012
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jimanaz
2nd Place RICHARD FARNSWORTH LOOK-A-LIKE CONTEST
Member # 3689
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posted May 19, 2015 02:37 PM
Funny this should come up. Just yesterday I saw an example of what is being taught to young people today in the good ol' USofA. Caution...clicking on the link is likely to cause vapors in certain individuals.
LINKYDINK
Posts: 940 | From: AZ | Registered: Oct 2010
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 19, 2015 03:45 PM
I'd maybe be okay with the exercise in verbal skill if at first they passed Lonny's test.
See, that illustrates the problem. No real U.S. History of value, it's all propaganda, Lefty political stuff.
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31449 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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