As with all history there myths that get passed around so much that soon become a fact….but in reality they are still a myth no matter how many times they are uttered.

As a political Historian I feel it necessary to corr4eect a bunch of the myths that we have lived with for generations.

10 myths that we all know and have heard…..

• The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776. Though the Declaration was adopted by Congress on July 4, the document wasn’t signed by most of the delegates until August 2.
• Thomas Jefferson didn’t sign the Constitution. Though Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence, he missed the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia because he was serving as the United States’ envoy in Paris at the time.
• Neither did John Adams. Like Jefferson, Adams was away from the United States at the time it was signed. He was in London serving as the United States minister to Great Britain.
• The Founding Fathers didn’t originally want the turkey as the United States’ national symbol. The debate over the Great Seal began in 1776 and lasted six years, involving ideas about religious and mythical scenes. The turkey was not a close contender.
• The Liberty Bell probably didn’t ring after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Historians say it’s unlikely the bell rung because the steeple that housed the bill was rotted at the time. It’s also unlikely it cracked that day.
• There weren’t originally 13 colonies. Until 1776, Delaware was legally considered a lower county of the colony of Pennsylvania. It left to become an independent state in 1776.
• There’s no proof Betsy Ross created the the first American flag. According to National Geographic, the only evidence Ross played any part in designing or sewing the American flag that made its debut in 1777 is testimony from her family. Likewise, there’s no proof Ross didn’t create the flag, and several reasons she may have done so.
• Neither the Constitution nor the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper. They were both written on parchment, though some early drafts of the documents could have been written on the widely-used hemp.
• Most of the Founders who signed the Declaration of Independence didn’t sign the Constitution. Only six signed both: George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read,James Wilson and Roger Sherman.
• The Constitution doesn’t say “All Men Are Created Equal.” That language is contained within the Declaration of Independence; the original Constitution included provisions such as the Three-Fifths Clause, which counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person to determine representation in Congress.

That will do for now….

Class Dismissed

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”