Seventy-seven percent (77%) of voters nationwide recognize that the Fourth of July celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 11% mistakenly believe it celebrates the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
A solid majority of every measured demographic group recognizes the document we are celebrating. However, younger voters are somewhat less likely to be aware of it.
The eloquent rhetoric of the Declaration defined our nation’s ideals as a commitment to freedom, equality and self-governance.
Americans overwhelmingly agree with the notion that governments derive their only just authority from the consent of the governed. Just 23% favor scrapping that approach so that government experts could set policy without the need for voter approval.
As we celebrate America’s noble founding ideals, Americans recognize that our nation has never fully lived up to those ideals. Ninety-three percent (93%) nationwide recognize that racism has played a major role in America’s history. However, just 20% America was founded on racism and that we should start over with something new. Seventy percent (70%) of voters believe the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s helped the United States move closer to living out its founding ideals of freedom, equality, and self-governance.
America’s founding commitment to freedom was embedded in the Bill of Rights–the first ten Amendments to the Constitution. That commitment remains strong today, especially when it comes to freedom of speech. Given a choice between allowing free speech even though it is sometimes offensive and inaccurate or having the government determine what speech should be allowed, 80% of voters prefer free speech.
One of the complaints against King George in the Declaration of Independence was that he blocked immigration to the colonies. Today, 60% nationwide believe that legal immigration is good for the United States but illegal immigration is bad. Sixteen percent (16%) favor an open borders approach while 11% want to stop all immigration.
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Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left more than seven years ago and has had no involvement since that time.
Methodology
The online survey of 1,000 Registered Voters was conducted by Scott Rasmussen on June 29-30, 2021. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
