According to the NY Times, only 12% of U.S. high school seniors are proficient in their nation’s history. They provide a 12-question test to see how well the rest of us can do—take it and report back here on what you thought of it.
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The Historic Present 
Kinda sad I got 6/11.
The last question tripped me up because of Burr…
I’d research it to actually understand why I got it wrong, but I don’t have that kind of patience.
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Hello Car; can you explain your issue with the last question on Nullification?
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Well, I’m not exactly the best at history, the Nullification Crisis was a while after that.
Actually, after searching it up, it also refers to an act by the constitution, but I still don’t think it’s the same question. The question I was asked last was, “Why was Thomas Jefferson’s election to the presidency sometimes called the ‘Revolution of 1800’?”
Me being bad with history, (And the fact that Aaron Burr is the most memorable historic figure to me) I instantly linked that to Burr. I assumed that because it wasn’t a vote made by electoral college/popular vote, it was made by another method. While I was somewhat correct, it was made by, I think, the house of representatives.
The answer, which was, “The peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another was established as a precedent in the US” never even crossed my mind.
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That’s funny; my last question was on nullification. Well, I like that question about the Jefferson election. Washington had been a unanimous choice for president, and people wanted him to be president for life, and many Americans worried that trying to peacefully elect anyone else–and get the nation’s buy-in–would be impossible. They worried that the process would bog down in fighting and fall to pieces. When it didn’t, and a non-unanimous but majority vote for Jefferson was upheld by all, friend and foe alike, it was an important moment in our nation’s history.
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