The Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

AP US

Founding Myths:

The Stories that Hide Our Patriotic Past

Most of the historical events that are taught today are merely fabrications of what really happened many years ago. These fabrications soon turn into myths because they are continually passed on incorrectly, but yet people still believe them to be true. Founding Myths: Stories that Hide Our Patriotic Past is filled with many historical happenings that people believe are true, and the actuality of what really happened as well. Ray Raphael, the author of the book, believes "there are three main reasons [why we cling to these myths], thoroughly intertwined: they give us a collective identity, they make good stories, and we think they are patriotic"5). The fact that people would rather believe the myths rather than reality shows that we as Americans would much rather just go on believing that we are more patriotic than we actually are. In fact, "even if they [the myths] don't tell true history, these imaginings work as stories. Much of what we think of as Ð''history' is driven not by facts but by these narrative demands"(5). America's extreme pride in the United States is what perpetuates people to embellish the actual events and though this seems harmless, it forces people learning about America's past to believe the fallacies instead of the truth. While this seems like a positive impact to make our country appear better, in actuality it is negative because people aren't hearing of the truth of America's past historical events.

The story of the shot heard Ð''round the world is one of the most well known myths. "At dawn in Lexington on April 19, 1775, several hundred British Regulars, in full battle formation, opened fire on local militiamen. When the smoke had cleared, eight of the sleep-eyed farmers who had been rousted in the middle of the night lay dead on the town green" (67). The myth is that the first shot fired by the Redcoats was the start of the Revolution. In reality, "the American Revolution did not begin with Ð''the shot heard Ð''round the world'"(69). In fact, the Revolution had started more than half a year before, when thousands of angry patriot militiamen overthrew British authority throughout Boston. People ever since have been mistaken about the shot heard Ð''round the world and we have made it so that we appear as the victims while Britain is the bad guy. Though America was not the only one at fault, this myth has a negative impact on our country because factual events were misinterpreted and some of the most important battles that led up to the shot heard Ð''round the world were simply just forgotten.

The Winter at Valley Forge was another historical event which was very much exaggerated to make America appear more patriotic. This 1777-1778 winter encampment "with its pain and suffering, its heartaches and despair, might well be called the turning point of the revolution"(85). It was falsely depicted like this for years and F. Van Wyck Mason went on to describe it as "one of the cruelest winter in our country's history" (86). The story goes that the snow and blizzards were apparently unbearable and our pride-filled men stood strong to defend our country. In reality, the weather was hardly to blame, and many of the men who were enlisted ended up deserting the war altogether. The "patriotic" men who made up the army were none other than "farmers and artisans, rich and poor, young and old with their own jobs to tend to...and the ranks of the Continental Army became filled with boys eager for adventure and men without property or jobs. These were the folks who hobbled into Valley Forge on December 19, 1777" (87). The false depiction of Valley Forge brings upon a negative impact on our country because it was made to appear much worse than it actually was, and now it will continually be taught incorrectly in the future generations.

Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence acts as