While Americans coast to coast are readying to fire up their grills and celebrate July Fourth,
YouTube blogger Mark Dice traversed a beach in San Diego to ask people the reason for the weekend holiday — and most had no idea, InfoWars.com reports.
One woman told Dice, "The day that we overtook the South … it’s our independence ... from the South," referring to the American Civil War, which took place almost 100 years after the American Revolution, InfoWars said.
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When asked what country America gained independence from, another woman responded, "California," while her husband, more accurately, simply said: "I don't know."
Out of 12 people interviewed, only one, a man visiting on vacation from Italy, was able to answer the question correctly by stating that America gained its independence from Britain in 1776.
While the interview is comedic and meant for entertainment, it also supports the findings of a 2011 Marist poll, which reported that "only 58 percent of residents know that the United States declared its independence in 1776."
The Marist poll also found that
among American teenagers, 14 percent think that the U.S. declared independence from France, while another 5 percent thought it was Canada.
The Fourth of July, by the way, marks the official day that the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776.
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