Millennials sure know a lot about twerking, Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber. But when it comes to U.S. history and the Gettysburg Address, specifically, not so much.
The Media Research Center’s Dan Joseph quizzed students at George Mason University about the Gettysburg Address, which was given by President Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago on Tuesday. While the students — ironically called the Patriots — are receiving an education at one of the country’s best universities, they apparently aren’t very well-versed in one of the most famous speeches in the country’s history.
Joseph asked students if they knew who said the phrase “four score and seven years ago” and though many knew it was President Lincoln, they couldn’t recall what speech it was from.
“I have no idea,” one student said when Joseph asked where the phrase was spoken. “I think it might have been the Emancipation Proclamation.”
“A speech, um, what’s his face,” another student replied.
Others claimed to have never heard the words and couldn’t say who spoke them.
“Is it a president who gave it?” one co-ed asked.
Joseph asked one female if she knew who gave the speech, even going so far as to help her out, saying the man had a monument in Washington, D.C., and had several movies made about his life.
“Um, George Washington?” she replied.
“It is Lincoln’s speech to everyone saying, ‘Hey, we need to chill out and you know, be cool and stuff,'” another student said.
Some Patriots, thankfully, were able to name both the Gettysburg Address and President Lincoln as the one who spoke it, saving Millennials from complete embarrassment.
Check out the video below, courtesy of MRCTV.
