# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/81 "2011-07-29T09:19:37Z")
10/10 Super easy test. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/82 "2011-07-29T09:48:04Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > 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. 10/10 I agree with Inner, all of the questions were fairly easy, with the exception of the Turner one. ---
**Author:** ![Bibliothecarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bibliothecarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliothecarius)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/83 "2011-07-29T10:16:16Z")
10/10. But I have a degree in American history. Somehow answering obscure questions about Frederick Jackson Turner becomes like a 4th grade level question when you’ve actually read _The Significance of the Frontier in American History_. 🙂 In fact, I’m interested to know if other people who know a lot about American history were actually more tripped up by the “easy” questions. I often tend to find those harder in answering questions that fall within my specialized fields of knowledge, simply because I know it’s just not as simple as they teach you in school. As has been mentioned above, when you’ve actually studied history at a deeper level you know there are multiple factors and chains of causation and all kinds of complicated things that go into any event, just not a list of names and dates. But I agree with **President Johnny Gentle** that no 10 question test is going to demonstrate proficiency at anything, especially when it’s patched together from tests designed for entirely different educational levels. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/84 "2011-07-29T11:33:14Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > 10/10, and I’ve never studied U.S. history – though I’ve learned a lot through living 12 years in the U.S. +1 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/85 "2011-07-29T15:52:11Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Actually, i wasn’t making that argument. I was arguing that the study of history teaches particular skills and modes of thinking that can be broadly applied, but i think that your claim about applying historical knowledge “in other situations” is far too mechanistic, and many people also get too hung up on the idea that specific historical knowledge needs to have some utilitarian purpose. You can just study history for personal enjoyment but I think it’s better when you’re getting more out of it than just entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/86 "2011-07-29T16:02:58Z")
8/10. But I’m not american, and have never studied american history. The George Washington foreign policy and closing of the frontier questions tripped me up. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/87 "2011-07-29T16:16:34Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > 10/10 > > Super easy test. Ditto to both. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/88 "2011-07-29T16:28:58Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Ten out of ten. Its beyond easy, if you don’t know this stuff I wonder if you should be able to vote. Yes, because what Turner had to say about the frontier is utterly and directly relevant to critical voting issues today. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/89 "2011-07-29T16:33:45Z")
10/10. Had to guess on the frontier one. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/90 "2011-07-29T16:42:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I was surprised by the varying degree of difficulty in the questions. That’s a good technique, though, for producing meaningful results. (Ten questions is still too small to mean much, and this particular set was still skewed easy.) Ideally, you’d want a couple questions that almost everybody should get right, and a couple that hardly anybody will, and a range in between. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/91 "2011-07-29T16:46:47Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You can just study history for personal enjoyment but I think it’s better when you’re getting more out of it than just entertainment. Again you miss my point. I’m not arguing for history as mere entertainment. I’m arguing that the study of history is about developing an ability to think, to analyze, to make connections and to evaluate evidence. To the extent that history is useful, it should be useful precisely because it develops these abilities. It’s not simply about collecting some historical knowledge and learning to “apply this knowledge in other situations”; it’s about learning to think in a particular way, which can help in all sorts of different areas of life. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/92 "2011-07-29T17:03:39Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I got all 10 right. Didn’t think any of the questions were particularly hard. I got all 10 correct but some of them were a bit tricky. These were not your everyday factoid questions, nor the usual blisteringly obvious multiple choice answers - many of the answers seemed at first glance very similar to each other unless you either knew the right answer outright, or knew for sure the true context of the other answers. > [@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? This was one of the ones I got partly by elimination. I suppose meat came from North America - salted meat. Lots of animals left on the continent at the time, you know, buffalo and whatnot. But it also struck me as somehow dubious. However only one answer had rum coming from the West Indies, and you KNOW that was true, so that’s the answer. The other one I made an educated guess on was about George Washington’s foreign policy. I mostly remember his legacy as (1) stepping down after 2 terms (his most important precedent), and (2) dealing with Shay’s Rebellion. But I recognized the other two statements as the Monroe Doctrine (“all of the Americas are our backyard”) and Truman Doctrine (supporting “free peoples” against “oppressive governments” worldwide). ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/93 "2011-07-29T17:30:08Z")
10/10 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/94 "2011-07-29T17:39:34Z")
9/10. Missed the question about Washington’s foreign policy. Can I still vote? ---
**Author:** ![geneb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e4f/32.png) [@geneb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geneb)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/95 "2011-07-29T17:53:15Z")
9/10. I didn’t get the one about Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/96 "2011-07-29T19:04:14Z")
10/10. Very easy test. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/97 "2011-07-29T19:35:29Z")
8/10. Missed the Washington one (hey, the early Americans were fighting against monarchies, it seemed like a reasonable answer) and, um, the Korean War one. The only defense I have on that is I skipped the post-1900 history classes in school, and the Vietnam war was close enough in time to choose them. Canuck is still pleased with results. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/98 "2011-07-29T19:44:13Z")
9/10. My lack of knowledge about how early factories took over from craftsmen cost me a perfect score. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/99 "2011-07-29T19:58:32Z")
9/10 sneaky georgie. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625/100 "2011-07-30T00:00:07Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > And the one about apprenticeship - WTF? That was the one I missed, by guessing immigrants. Is that another thing we are supposed to know from civics class? That question seemed a bit wacky. No, you’re supposed to know from matching up the date in the question to the industrial revolution. If you studied [Marxist literary criticism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxist_literary_criticism)\* in college, you would have gotten a refresher on the decline of the cottage system. - It’s fun! I did a Marxist analysis of **Drop Dead Fred**. Imaginary friends are the cottage system, the medication to eliminate them is the industrial revolution… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-proficient-in-american-history-test/590625.md?page=6)