# Are you proficient in American history? Test **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625 "2011-07-28T15:39:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/1 "2011-07-28T15:39:23Z")
Our kids continue their downward spiral in American History. 25% are proficient. 75% aren’t :smack: History was always my easiest subject in school. Read the textbook, outline the major topics, and update with any extra material from the teacher’s lecture. Simple stuff and an Easy A. Sample Test that our kids take. I had to think about a few of the questions. I’ve been out of school 20 years. Two of my answers were educated guesses that were based on the context of the question. But, I still got all ten correct. The closing of the frontier question and the trade question almost tripped me up. I didn’t recall that the frontier was ever formally closed. I’ll take their word for it. 😉 your turn to take the test. How did you do? [http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/25/quiz.us.history/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/25/quiz.us.history/index.html) > [@](#): > > Test results released in June showed that fewer than one-quarter of all students are proficient in American history. The results, released in “The Nation’s Report Card: U.S. History 2010,” by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center CNN article our kids are failing history. How could a kid not know the importance of Abe Lincoln? Didn’t he chop down that cherry tree? 😛 [http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/26/education.history.soboroff/index.html?hpt=hp\_c2](http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/26/education.history.soboroff/index.html?hpt=hp_c2) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/2 "2011-07-28T15:50:32Z")
If anyone wants to discuss any of the questions it could be fun. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/3 "2011-07-28T15:55:39Z")
I got 9 out of 10. I had a lot of difficulty believing that there was a major cross-atlantic trade of meat in the 18th century. Am I missing something or was that meat disgusting either through being rotten or filled with salt? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/4 "2011-07-28T15:56:10Z")
I got all 10 right. Didn’t think any of the questions were particularly hard. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/5 "2011-07-28T16:01:56Z")
10/10. I don’t think any of them really used my history knowledge but rather my critical thinking skills which ideally is a cross-discipline skillset. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/6 "2011-07-28T16:02:57Z")
10/10. I’d be embarrassed if I got any lower. I teach this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/7 "2011-07-28T16:03:14Z")
I got all 10 right (although I admit, I only knew the Korean War one due to an obsession with M_A_S\*H - we never got as far as the Korean War in school), and I generally consider myself horrendously deficient in American (and all other) history. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/8 "2011-07-28T16:06:35Z")
That was the question I thought about the longest. I vaguely remembered the West Indies Trade Company and that led me to the right answer. I didn’t recall meat being a major trade item either. 😃 > [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I got 9 out of 10. I had a lot of difficulty believing that there was a major cross-atlantic trade of meat in the 18th century. > > Am I missing something or was that meat disgusting either through being rotten or filled with salt? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/9 "2011-07-28T16:08:10Z")
I’m thinking this test was designed to be easy. The question concerning Germany in WWII was really ridiculously obvious. It’s a lot like those IQ tests where a very large percentage of test takers could apply to Mensa. In this case, it gives the audience an ego boost, making them like CNN more. Also, it can create outrage because: “Look how easy it is and students can’t even do that! What’s the world coming to?!” ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/10 "2011-07-28T16:10:25Z")
8/10. I’m always wary about tests that throw in trick questions, so I second-guessed question 1 and decided the obvious answer couldn’t have been right. Also missed the Frederick Jackson Turner one. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/11 "2011-07-28T16:10:42Z")
10/10. thought most of the questions were straight forward, ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/12 "2011-07-28T16:11:44Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I got 9 out of 10. I had a lot of difficulty believing that there was a major cross-atlantic trade of meat in the 18th century. > > Am I missing something or was that meat disgusting either through being rotten or filled with salt? From Richard Middleton’s _Colonial America: a History, 1565-1776_ > [@](#): > > The principle provisions exported by the east-coast producers were pickled beef and pork from New England, wheat from New York, and wheat, flour and bread from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. > > Meat exports from New England reached a value of approximately £80,000 by midcentury, the most important area of production being the Connecticut valley. However, most farmers kept a few head of cattle on their limited pasture, driving them to Boston and other seaports for slaughter and pickling. > > The middle colonies also produced some meat, though from the early days they concentrated on the cultivation of grain, especially wheat. Pennsylvania in particular produced some of the finest flour, institution a rigorous inspection system in 1725 to maintain its high quality. Pennsylvania and New Jersey in addition exported some corn and peas, and the total annual value of their combined exports amounted to about £300,000 by 1760. > > As in the South, the principle export markets were southern Europe and the West Indies. By 1750, the value of shipments of flour and pickled meat to southern Europe amounted to some £150,000 a year. Equally important, those trading there brought little back with them, thus ensuring a net gain to the balance of payments. Most cargoes comprised wine from Madeira and the Canary Islands. ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/13 "2011-07-28T16:19:23Z")
8/10 and I am not American and have made no special study of American history. It did seem some what simple. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/14 "2011-07-28T16:21:45Z")
10/10, and I’ve never studied U.S. history – though I’ve learned a lot through living 12 years in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/15 "2011-07-28T16:25:37Z")
10/10 - These seemed rather easy. The only question that gave pause was the frontier question. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/16 "2011-07-28T16:26:10Z")
Brit. 8/10 Got the factory piece wrong as well as the “closing of the frontier” question - didn’t understand the term. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/17 "2011-07-28T16:31:58Z")
10/10 ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/18 "2011-07-28T16:42:15Z")
10/10 - All seemed easy to a history major. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/19 "2011-07-28T16:47:13Z")
South African - 9/10 I thought the \*start \*of the 1800s was too soon for factories in the US to have that big an impact so went with immigrant labour. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/20 "2011-07-28T16:47:42Z")
10/10. It was insanely easy. Too easy. I am a history major though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625.md?page=2)