WHAT EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW

WHAT EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW

What is your top 10 list of what every American should know That's the core question being posed by the Aspen Institute Citizenship & American Identity Program. Maybe your list includes the Declaration of Independence, the Underground Railroad, Madonna and the '69 Mets. We know how America is more polarized than ever. It's one of the reasons we createdthe Front Porch Movement. As we are bombarded with so many choices for information, it is more important than ever to have a common knowledge of our facts, our history, and our culture. Together, they are part of what “every American should know.” 


"What Every American Should Know” (WE-ASK) grew out of an essay in The Atlantic by the Citizenship & American Identity executive director Eric Liu. The program was created in 2014 to explore how, in an age of increasing diversity and widening inequality, this country can cultivate a sense of shared destiny and common civic purpose. 

This is a crowd sourcing project which will be updated as people contribute their own Top 10 lists. So here's your chance. What is your Top 10 List of "What Every American Should Know?" Share it here.

Need some suggestions? Here is our Top List followed by those already submitted by people from across the country. 

OUR TOP 10 LIST

  1. The Constitution

  2. The Underground Railroad

  3. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire

  4. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

  5. The British Invasion

  6. The Lessons of the Vietnam War

  7. The Moon Landing

  8. The Impact of American Exceptionalism

  9. The 2008 Financial Collapse

  10. The Changing Climate

THE CROWD’S TOP LIST

  1. Bill of Rights (U.S. history)

  2. Trail of Tears

  3. World War II

  4. Manifest destiny

  5. White privilege

  6. Declaration of Independence of the United States

  7. I Have a Dream

  8. Gettysburg Address

  9. Constitution of the United States

  10. Cold War