Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past, by Ray Raphael
The New Press, 2004
280 pages plus Notes, and index. Various paintings of people and scenes scattered throughout text
Library: 973.3 RAP
Description
The truth behind the popular founding myths of America:
-The legend of Paul Revere's Ride was invented by the poet Henry Wadsworth Longellow in 1861, eighty-six years after the fact.
-Thomas Jefferson was not seen as the architect of American equality until Abraham Lincoln assigned him that role, four score and seven years later.
-Molly Pitcher, the revolutionary heroine whose picture adorns many current textbooks, is a complete fabrication.
In Founding Myths, award-winning author and historian Ray Raphael examines thirteen well-known tales of America's founding moment. Supposedly these stories commemorate our nation's birth, but Raphael shows how they belittle the REvolutionary ideal popular sovereignty. Conceived in the narrowly nationalistic politics of the nineteenth century, they undermine today's egalitarian values. Surprisingly, our best-loved tales sell America short.
Why then do these myths persist in movies, plays, novels, and even best-selling history books and school texts? Tracking each narrative through time, Raphael explores the curious intersection of history-making and story-making to seek out answers. By laying nare our myths of national creation, he uncovers the true roots of American patriotism. Dounding Myths is a timely and welcome celebration of the spirit that propelled our country to independence.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Inventing a Past
Heroes and Heroines
1. Paul Revere's Ride
2. Molly Pitcher
3. The Man Who Made a Revolution: Sam Adams
David and Goliath
4. The Shot Heard 'Round the World: Lexington and Concord
5. The Winter at Valley Forge
Wise Men
6. Jefferson's Declaration of Independence
7. Founding Fathers: The Greatest Generation
Doing Battle
8. "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death"
9. "Do Not Fire Until You See the Whites of their Eyes
Good vs Evil
10. Patriotic Slaves
11. Brutal British
Happy Endings
12. The Final Battle at Yorktown
13.
March of the American People
Conclusion: Storybook Nation, or Why We Tell Tall Tales
A Note for Teachers
Notes
Photo Credits
Index
