46% of Americans don’t know what the 250th celebration is commemorating: Cato Institute poll

A new poll conducted ahead of America’s semiquincentennial has found that nearly half of Americans don’t know what the 250th celebration is commemorating. 

The Cato Institute poll, conducted in collaboration with Morning Consult, found that 46 percent of Americans overall did not know what the 250th celebration commemorates. Among Gen Z Americans, that number rose to 61 percent. Just over half of respondents and around one third of Gen Zers correctly said that the holiday marked the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. 

Most respondents had a positive view of the United States, with 76 percent holding a favorable view of the founding of the country. Nearly nine in 10 Americans, 86 percent, said they were “grateful” to be American, while 79 percent said they were “proud” to be American.

Additionally, 61 percent said they believe America is the “land of opportunity,” and 74 percent believe the American dream is available to them.

When asked what they most want children to learn from America’s 250th anniversary, the top response at 28 percent was that “freedom is rare and must be protected,” 27 percent said “patriotism means loyalty to the country’s principles, not to politician or party,” and 26 percent said “America’s history includes both great achievements and serious injustices.” 

While most Americans overall feel favorable towards the founding fathers (67 percent), Gen Z Americans were most likely to say the founding fathers were “self-interested elites who mainly sought to increase their own power or wealth,” at 28 percent. 

Over half of all Americans believe the country has moved away from its founding principles and ideals at 57 percent, including 22 percent saying the country has moved “far away” from that.

The poll was conducted between June 25 and 26 of 2,253 American adults and has a margin of error of 2 percent.