Americans name our greatest contribution over last 250 years — and list a surprising food as ‘most ‘American’
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Americans agree: The US brought has light to the world in its relatively short time as a nation.
Most Americans believe that democracy is this country’s greatest gift to the world, according to a new poll published out ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Those polled also gave a surprising answer for the most American food — shunning hot dogs, apple pie and pizza for the humble hamburger, according to the survey from CBS News.
Asked what they thought America’s greatest invention was, democracy/freedom came top among those surveyed, with 16% of the vote.
Second on the list was the lightbulb, at 14%.
Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the first commercial lightbulb in 1879.
The internet was third, with 10% of votes, while there were also honorable mentions for the automobile (6%), the telephone (5%), and the airplane (4%), according to the poll.
Michigan’s Henry Ford is credited with inventing the first-ever mass-produced car with the introduction of the Model T in 1908, although German inventor Karl Benz is recognized as the inventor of the first true modern automobile in 1886.
Scottish-born inventor Alexander Graham Bell completed the first-ever phone call at his laboratory in Boston in 1876, while the Wright Brothers achieved flight in North Carolina in 1903.
Those polled were also asked what they thought the food was that best represents America, with some surprising results.
The overwhelming winner was hamburgers, with a third (33%) opting for the ground beef sandwich, whose origin is strongly contested.
Although its name comes from the German city of Hamburg, the Library of Congress recognizes Danish immigrant Louis Lassen as the inventor of the hamburger sandwich at his diner in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1900.
Second place was barbecue (25%), while apple pie, for many the quintessential American food, was third with 19%.
The earliest surviving apple pie recipe dates back to medieval England, when instructions on how to make a “Tartys in Applis” featured in a cookbook from 1381.
Apple pie recipes were brought to North America by English, Dutch, and Swedish colonists, who introduced the trees to the country, and by the time of World War II, American soldiers were famously telling journalists they were fighting for “mom and apple pie.”
Tube steaks were the fourth most American food according to those surveyed, with 14% opting for the hot dog sandwich, while pizza completed the list with 6%.
The poll also found that almost half (47%) of Americans were not too excited or not at all excited about the upcoming “America 250” celebrations, and just over half (52%) said they would not fly a US flag at their home on July 4.