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Fewer people consider themselves 'extremely proud' to be American than decade ago

By Danielle Haynes
Though most people -- 54 percent -- consider themselves "extremely proud" to be American, that number is down from the post-Sept. 11, 2001, years, which saw a surge in patriotism. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI
Though most people -- 54 percent -- consider themselves "extremely proud" to be American, that number is down from the post-Sept. 11, 2001, years, which saw a surge in patriotism. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- Fewer people consider in themselves to be "extremely proud" to be an American compared to a decade ago, a new Gallup poll indicates.

The survey found that while most people -- 54 percent -- consider themselves "extremely proud" to be American, that number is down from a peak of 70 percent in 2003. The surge in patriotism occurred two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

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That number has steadily declined in the intervening years, with a sharp drop between 2004 and 2005 from 69 percent to 61 percent. In 2013, the last time the poll was taken, 57 percent of people said they were "extremely proud."

In 2015, among those who did not consider themselves "extremely proud," 27 percent said they were "very proud," 14 percent were "moderately proud," 4 percent were "only a little proud" and 1 percent said they were "not at all proud" to be an American.

Those most likely to call themselves "extremely proud" were in the 65 and older age range, were from the South and identified as Republicans, the poll found.

"Americans' likelihood of saying that they are 'extremely proud' to be an American has returned to where it was in early 2001, before the 9/11 terrorist attacks," the writers of the study concluded. "While slightly more than half of Americans are now extremely proud to be an American, more than nine in 10 are at least moderately proud. This suggests that patriotism is still very much alive in the U.S., even if the fervor is slightly less than it was after 9/11."

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Gallup interviewed 1,527 adults between June 2 and 7 for the survey. The margin of error was 3 percent.

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