You re-took the exam five hours later and got a 100? Holy crap, that's amazing. It's almost as impressive as what I did - I looked up each answer on a separate computer before checking off the bubbles. You and me, we are the same.
I guess I hit the submit button too quickly. My point was [going to be] that as far as getting perfect scores it is easy to "teach to the test." And how it is a problem with standardized multiple choice tests. Just learn by rote the knee-jerk responses for certain questions. Many of the "correct" answers to the the quiz are not what, as has already been mentioned, many of us would consider true but it is easy to figure out because the other choices are "more wrong" than the "correct" one.
Now, then. Many of the questions on this exam are generally pertinent, but many are also bullshit questions meant to fluff up those who happen to be history buffs or college types. Does it really matter that some phrase came out of Jefferson's letters versus some other paper of the day?
Actually it does matter. One of the current arguments in the political arena is whether this country is a "Christian Nation" or not and what was the actual intent and reasoning behind the First Amendment and the, so called, Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights. The buzz phrase "Wall of separation between Church and State" appears nowhere in the Constitution, yet the letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to Danbury CT Baptist Association is considered by the Supreme Court to express the intent and function of the clause.
From the letter:
Thomas Jefferson said:
"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State".
For some reason the wingnuts, Christian far right, and Dominionists wants there to be a "religious test" for public office and the laws enacted by the elected to adhere to "Christian principles". Even though they are relatively small in number to the rest of the population they have a disproportionate amount of influence on who gets elected and what laws will be passed. IMO it is important for voters to understand the motivations behind the propaganda that the far right is using to influence the voters. It is way more important than whether certain people are sexting each other.
Does it matter any longer to the average Joe that Lincoln and Douglas fought over whether or not slavery should be extended into the near territories? It's important that that information exist and be accessible, but it's very unimportant that the average person know it.
It is important because, in a different form, the "debate" is still continuing today. The current form is more about "states rights" vs federal. See Arizona's laws regarding aliens as one example... gay rights, abortion, right-to-work for others. These are issues that are being voted on today... so yes, IMO, it is important that the "average [voting] person know it."
See above.
It is not important that one knows all the right answers to a particular test. What is important is that citizens have a clue about how their country works and is supposed to work. That people, apparently, score so poorly highlights that problem. I wonder if similar tests have been done on other countries citizens regarding their political institutions.
-DU-