Half Of Americans Are Willing To Give Up Personal Freedoms To Protect Country.

Half of Americans — 49 percent — are willing to relinquish personal freedoms and privacies to protect the country, according to a new survey commissioned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, an authority on the founding of America.

The survey, released to coincide with the first July 4th since last September’s terror attacks, also revealed that Americans rank the right to affordable health care and the right to an education as more important to their welfare than freedom of speech, freedom of religion and other basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

One Constitutional freedom in particular — freedom of the press — barely registered in the survey. Only 10 percent of respondents rated freedom of the press as important to society, and even fewer, six percent, deemed it important to themselves and their families. The survey’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percent.

“The results are provocative,” said Colin Campbell, president of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “We’re divided on whether we should preserve our freedoms inviolate or be prepared to make compromises. Half of Americans would accept a curtailment of our basic Constitutional guarantees.

“Americans’ views about freedoms have evolved significantly since they were debated in Williamsburg more than 200 years ago,” Campbell added. “When asked which freedoms are valued most, those actually in the Constitution rank far behind concerns about health care, education and getting ahead economically. We assume the existence of fundamental rights and focus instead on modern needs and entitlements.”

“The survey results remind us that rights taken for granted are rights that can easily be eroded or lost,” said Gordon Wood, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Brown University professor and trustee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “Colonial Williamsburg is a place where the struggles and precariousness associated with freedom are represented and explored every day.”

Our Freedoms Post-9/11

One outcome of the 9/11 tragedies may be the end — at least temporarily — of the self-centered American. Twice as many Americans — 60 percent — said “fundamental responsibility to society and the role you play as a citizen of this country” is more important than “fundamental freedom as an individual and the ability to do whatever you want,” which was endorsed by only 30 percent of respondents.

The survey also examined a number of principles on which the U.S. has been built. Of six principles surveyed, participants chose freedom of speech as the most important for society as a whole, and second most important to themselves and their families.

Beyond freedom of speech, however, respondents were divided in defining how basic Constitutional freedoms can and should be pursued in a post-9/11 climate.

For example, 49 percent agreed with the statement “We are living in dangerous times. If we need to relinquish some of our personal freedoms and privacies to protect our country, we should all be prepared to do that.” A total 41 percent supported the statement “Even though we are living in dangerous times, Americans should not be forced to give up personal freedoms.”

Similarly, 53 percent agreed that the FBI should be allowed greater monitoring powers, while 43 percent did not.

“Our Founding Fathers couldn’t have anticipated the FBI or massive terror assaults with airplanes,” Wood said. “Nevertheless, it’s remarkable how the issues of 225 years ago continue to shape our public dialogue. The debate over the rights of the individual, radical for its time in the 18th century, preoccupies us to this day.”

Referendum on Current Issues

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation survey canvassed 1,000 Americans across all ethnic, gender, regional, and economic backgrounds. Other results include:

* 59 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “The U.S. Constitution should be interpreted as the Founding Fathers intended in order to preserve the core principles they stood for,” and 36 percent supported “The U.S. Constitution should be re-interpreted every generation or so in light of new social challenges and political realities.”

* 60 percent of respondents considered it appropriate to teach the Koran in American schools to broaden students’ understanding of worldviews, compared with 27 percent who considered such teachings inappropriate.

* In an open-ended question, 56 percent of respondents cited “freedom” as the reason for “love of country,” followed by 15 percent who responded “because I’m American,” 10 percent who answered “it’s the best place to live” and eight percent who replied “opportunities.”

One percent of respondents cited “democracy” as the reason for “love of country.”

* In an open-ended question, 21 percent of respondents said “being a good citizen” and an additional 21 percent cited “upholding the law” as their most “fundamental responsibility as an American citizen,” followed by eight percent for “serve and support country,” seven percent for “vote,” six percent for “morality,” and five percent each for “helping the next generation” and “freedom.”

* In terms of gender, men were more likely than women to believe that opportunity for economic advancement is important to them and their families, while women were more likely to cite freedom of religion and healthcare as most important to them and their families.

* In terms of ethnicity, African-Americans and Hispanics were more likely to identify opportunity for economic advancement and right to pursue an education as important for them and their families, while whites said affordable healthcare and freedom of speech are most important.

Survey Background

The survey, conducted by StrategyOne, polled the 1,000-person sample base by telephone on June 7-14. A complete report on survey results is available at the Colonial Williamsburg website at http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org.