Last Thursday, December 15th, marks the 225th anniversary of the day in 1791 when the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution) were ratified by the states. Our friends at the Ashbrook Center put together a quiz to mark the day and frankly to see how much American history we remember from our high school civics class.
President Franklin Roosevelt declared December 15th “Bill of Rights Day” in 1941. Roosevelt, “who described the Bill of Rights as ‘the great American charter of personal liberty and human dignity,’” understood the importance of understanding and learning American history.
It’s unfortunate that our public schools have drifted far away from those days of teaching matters of great historic importance to our youngest Americans and future leaders of this great nation. This lack of knowledge about the wise decisions and compromises made by of our Founding Fathers explains a lot about the post-election hysteria happening on American college campuses. With no constitutional context on which to judge the outcome of our most recent election, I guess it is hard for Millennials to understand how our Republic works. There is no excuse, however, for editorial writers at The New York Times and by some in our state legislature who seek to circumvent the U.S. Constitution by abolishing the Electoral College and who seek to abolish several guaranteed rights.
So Happy Anniversary Bill of Rights! Join me and many others in taking this quiz that will test your knowledge about what those 10 amendments are all about. Have fun and let me know how you fared.