Liberty Bell

A recent poll has shown Americans know more about The Simpsons TV show than the US Constitution’s First Amendment. Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey.

When I quizzed myself, I remembered 4 of the 5 freedoms (freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly) but forgot the freedom “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

My skill at remembering the Simpsons’ names was lacking - to say the least. There’s Homer and… um… his name is Homer, right?

Although slightly dissapointed I didn’t remember the fifth, my performance was sadly much better than that of most Americans. Only 8 people in 100 could name at least three First Amendment freedoms. And only one of the 1,000 adults polled in the telephone survey could name all five freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment. Yet more than one in five (22 percent) could identify all five major characters in Matt Groening’s cartoon family.

Survey respondents also wrongly said that the First Amendment guarantees rights to own and raise pets (21 percent), to drive (20 percent) and of women to vote (36 percent). The first two are not rights at all, and women’s suffrage was not until the 19th Amendment in 1920.

To make it perfectly clear to my readers, the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment are:

Freedom of speech