The line “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . .” is from:
A. The Federalist.
B. The Preamble to the Constitution.
C. The Communist Manifesto.
D. The Declaration of Independence.
E. An inscription on the Statue of Liberty.

This is one question of 60 on a test of “civic literacy” given to over 14,000 college freshmen and seniors. The average score for freshmen was 50%, reported USA Today, saying “Students don’t know much about history, and colleges aren’t adding enough to their civic literacy.”

“One of the things our research demonstrates conclusively is that an increase in what we call civic knowledge almost invariably leads to a use of that knowledge in a beneficial way,” says Josiah Bunting, chairman of ISI’s National Civic Literacy Board [the folks who gave the test]. “This is useful knowledge we are talking about.”

It is interesting that the students tested were chosen, in part, because they attend colleges that did well in the US News & World Report ranking. You can check the article and ISI’s web site for more detail.

By the way, I managed an 83.3% How well do you do on the test?

(Here’s a freebie, the answer to the question above is D. The Declaration of Independence.)