The Nature of Historical or National Myths

Our nation’s history is full of stories. Some of these have been elevated and exaggerated to the point of being false. We could call these stories “national myths.” Why do we keep telling these stories over and over? It can be helpful to think about why these stories matter and how they inform or reinforce certain values or beliefs.

An important role for historians is to be able to understand different perspectives on events in history. We know that one account of history can have multiple interpretations. To think like a historian means knowing there are multiple views of the past and, therefore, also multiple sources. Asking good questions is an important strategy to get at an answer rather than taking the first thing that shows up on a Google search!

Asking questions about where certain myths come from and analyzing context and perspectives is much more useful than just correcting them. Myths that tell us the story of our country’s founding can tell us something about who we think we are as a nation, especially those that focus on our nation’s founding.

A Kindergarten Story Told Wrong

Remember when you were in Kindergarten and you traced your hand on a piece of construction paper to make a turkey for Thanksgiving? Did you know that much of the Thanksgiving myth is untrue? No turkey was served, in fact the menu included goose, duck, and venison (deer meat) brought by some members of the Wampanoag people who lived nearby. It wasn’t a national celebration until during the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln praised the cooperation between opposing sides and called on the warring North and South to remember their common history, including the feast shared by the early settlers and the Native Americans. Lincoln called it Thanksgiving. This was also a myth that was perpetuated in history books, classrooms, museums, and popular culture. Peaceful relations between Indigenous peoples and American colonizers was often short-lived. The myth of a peaceful Thanksgiving served a unifying purpose within a warring nation.

We all love a good story, especially one that shows us a version of the world that we can relate to. Some of our favorite stories include the first Thanksgiving, the idea that the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, and that Columbus discovered America. But none of these stories are true. So why do we continue to believe them? What do those stories help us to believe about the early days of the history of the United States?