Noah Webster, whose name became synonymous with "dictionary" and who has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education" in America, had some words of advice and encouragement for the nation's youth in 1788.

"Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country," Webster said. "He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country."Courtney Plunk, a member of the student group PoliTech at Texas Tech University, recently gave fellow classmates a history quiz. Webster would not have been pleased with the results, which Courtney posted online.Their written answers reflected what they heard in lectures, but key words were obviously lost in translating them to paper.One student wrote that one of the causes of the Revolutionary War was that the English put "tacks" in their tea. Another noted that Ben Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.Here are some other misunderstood and then misreported words that appeared in their answers (quotes added on key words):• The colonists won the war and no longer had to pay for "taxis."• Delegates from the original 13 states formed the "Contented" Congress.• Thomas Jefferson, a "Virgin" (i.e. Virginian), and Benjamin Franklin were two "singers" of the Declaration of Independence.• Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backward and declared, "A "horse" divided against itself cannot stand."• The Constitution of the United States was adopted to secure domestic "hostility."• Under the Constitution the people enjoyed the right to "keep bare arms."Another study showed a large percentage of high school-age students was just as out of touch with their history. More than a fifth of the survey respondents didn't know which country we declared our independence from, including 14 percent who thought it was France, not the British.Many teens didn't know the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, and a good percentage didn't know there were 13 original colonies.Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a proponent of limited government, is author of "Written Out of History: The Forgotten Founders Who Fought Big Government."Lee feels that "modern, progressive narrative" has been chipping away the key figures and principles of the American founding for generations. His book sheds light on some of the lesser-known Founding Fathers.It also inspires a return of power back to the people. Lee explains that a few powers are given to our federal government in Washington, but everything else is supposed to remain with the people, which is the essence of the 10th Amendment and the rest of the Constitution.As for Noah Webster, one late-19th century print called him the "Schoolmaster of the Republic," and he certainly deserves to be ranked as a major figure in American history. An accomplished essayist, he provided some of his ideas used by the Founding Fathers in formulating the Constitution.Webster's Dictionary defines "forgotten man" as "a person or category of persons that receives less attention than is merited."Ironically, Webster himself fits that definition.By Jim Zbick |

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