Justin Andress
Even though we’re a pretty young nation, the finer points of American history are still complex. We’ve only been around for about two centuries, but there’s a lot of material to cover. So, you could be forgiven for not knowing all the facts surrounding every detail of our nation. That said, there are a lot of things in our country’s past that most of us accept as fact that are simply false. George Washington didn’t chop down a cherry tree, for example. There were only twelve original colonies, not thirteen (because Delaware belonged to Pennsylvania, not Britain). The list goes on and on … Check out some of these commonly spouted American myths, half-truths, inaccuracies and embellishments that most of us believe as historical fact.
1. Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride
We all know the story of brave Paul Revere, charging through the dark and muddy streets of colonial America shouting out a warning to alert the fledgling Americans, “The British are coming!” In real life, the ride wasn’t considered a big deal (not until poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow got his hands on it). It wasn’t even mentioned in Revere’s obituary. There’s also little to no chance that Revere would have been shouting since his mission was technically a secret. What’s more, there were two other riders — Samuel Prescott and William Dawes — who actually rode that night, as well. Dawes actually rode more than either man (but “Revere” is more poetic, I suppose).
