The True History of Seven Popular History Myths, Part II
Still got the history blues? Maybe the truth about these three history myths will help.
It's been said that we teach our children our history myths, not our actual history. Maybe that's true, because there's no shortage of myths about the historical record. In Part I.html of this article, we looked at four such myths, covering everything from Napoleon's stature to Betsy Ross; in this half, we'll take on three more myths.
Myth 5: The United States became an independent nation on July 4, 1776.
Well, we like to think so, but that's not entirely accurate. Officially, the United States became independent only after we won the Revolutionary War and kicked the Brits out of our newly-acquired territory in 1783. Until then, we were officially just a rebellious province; declaring our independence didn't make it so.
To add insult to this history myth's injury, independence was actually proclaimed on July 2. The formal Declaration was adopted on July 4, with John Hancock as the only signer at that time. The other signers appended their names to the document across the course of several weeks, starting on August 2, 1776.
Myth 6: Christopher Columbus proved the world wasn't flat.
Nah. Even in Columbus' time, the only people who really believed the Earth was flat were cranks. Sailors certainly didn't; they could see evidence to the contrary every day they were at sea. It had been generally recognized that the world was round since the time of the ancient Greek philosopher Eratosthenes.
The controversy that resulted in this history myth was not whether the Earth was round, but how big it was, and how far it was to the Indies, Columbus' destination. Columbus grossly underestimated the circumference of the Earth, and would have run out of supplies if the Americas hadn't gotten in the way.
Myth 7: Feminists burned their bras in the 1960s.
Oh, sure, this myth sounds good, and it provided a lot of ammunition later on for those who derided the Women's Liberation movement with the condescending term "Women's Lib." However, no scholars have ever proven that any feminist group burned their bras, not even once. They did throw them away, though.
Apparently, the myth originated with a protest against the 1968 Miss America pageant, in which women tossed bras, girdles, and similar items of clothing into a trash can. This may have been conflated with draft-card burnings by young men at about the same time. That's how easy it is to create history myths, folks!
