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Book

Founding myths : stories that hide our patriotic past

Call Number

  • 973.3 R217.1 2014 (CEN)

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Edition

Revised edition.

Publication Information

New York : New Press, 2014.

Physical Description

x, 420 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm

Summary

Examines thirteen well-known American stories, including those about Paul Revere's legendary ride and Thomas Jefferson's pivotal role in the establishment of American equality, contending that many of their surrounding myths are not supported by recent scholarship.

Contents

  • Introduction: inventing a past
  • Heroes and heroines
  • Paul Revere's ride
  • Sam Adams's mob
  • Molly Pitcher's cannon
  • David and Goliath
  • The shot heard 'round the world
  • The winter at Valley Forge
  • Wise men
  • Jefferson's declaration
  • An assembly of demigods
  • American aristocracy
  • Doing battle
  • "Give me liberty or give me death!"
  • The whites of their eyes
  • Good v. evil
  • Patriotic slaves
  • Brutal British
  • Happy endings
  • The final battle: Yorktown
  • March of the American people
  • Storybook nation
  • Conclusion: why we tell tall tales
  • Afterword: which myths persist, and why.

Subjects