Perseverance and Courage Valued Most, Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson Inspire Most
 

ARLINGTON, VA—While this Independence Day will certainly include the usual festivities – fireworks, cookouts, patriotic speeches and Americans dressed in red, white and blue – the meaning behind the celebration has not been lost on America’s next generation.

A new nationwide survey of nearly 3,000 high school students, released by the Bill of Rights Institute, Arlington, VA, provides a glimpse into what the nation’s future leaders think about American citizenship: what civic values they admire, who their political heroes are, and which of our Founding documents inspire them the most. 

The survey, based on an analysis of the top 3,000 essays submitted in the Bill of Rights Institute’s 2009-10 Being an American Essay Contest – the nation’s largest high school essay contest, with more than 50,000 entries this year – concentrated on three themes: civic values, Founding Fathers and American heroes, and Founding documents. 

The survey found:

1.      WHAT CIVIC VALUES DO AMERICAN STUDENTS VALUE MOST?

“Perseverance” and “courage” were cited most often as the civic values essential to being an American,...