Such as George Washington and the Cherry tree
or even Christopher Columbus discovering america?
2007-02-23 04:19:27 · 10 answers · asked by tardis1977 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
Darn I mispelled a word in my question
It should be
known to be false!
2007-02-23 04:20:14 · update #1
Id say this is because of a few reasons.
1. The books are sometimes wrong.
2. The teacher doesn't do his/her own research.
3. Teacher doesn't know any better.
I, over the years, because I eat, breathe, and live history, have come to notice these myths and my bellstarter is to actually write a myth and the fact about it.
The one about Columbus is tricky. He didn't get to America 1st (it was probably the Vikings circa 1000CE) but he was the 1st to come back and spread the news of his discovery to the masses. So his 'discovery' was more important because he told someone and someone went to check out his story.
The US archives website deals with many myths about Columbus.
2007-02-23 12:50:24 · answer #1 · answered by IamCount 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Myths and folklore all have one thing in common. They are based on a grain of truth but then they are embelished by time and the storytellers. Any orally transmitted information will be changed by each storyteller just a little bit, so over time it becomes more and more fancifull. So, there really was a George Washington, but the cherry tree is just a "nice" story. Columbus was also a real person and even though Columbus was not the first person to discover America, his journey was the first one documented on paper. Later, it was discovered that the VIkings on the east coast and possibly the Chinese on the west coast were there much much earlier, but they were not known at that time. Myths, folklore are part of the rich traditions of every culture on earth and people know they are mostly not true but they still love to hear them and keep them alive in their cultures, so your history teachers are just educating you in the "cultural history" of your country.
2007-02-23 07:32:15 · answer #2 · answered by Just Me 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because what is known to be truth, no matter which branch of study you refer to (history, science, philosophy, math, etc., even spelling...) is constantly evolving, and our educational systems are not funded to provide new, up-to-date textbook information to our children every year.
Change is not instantaneous, it is more like constant evolution. Facts (and myths) as they arbitrarily are perceived at any given point in time are placed in books and this is what is taught. By the time the book is published the facts (and the myths) have already changed.
2007-02-23 05:21:39 · answer #3 · answered by JS 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, lern to spel. I don't know about the cherry tree deal but Columbus discovered the new world for Western Civilization and our culture is a part of Western Civ. Sure other people came to this land but how did their 'discovery' impact humanity as a whole?
2007-02-23 04:40:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think that's because a lot of these myths are related to American popular culture and the legacy of oral story telling. These things make good stories... that's why they were made up to begin with. It's a phenomenon that also works with Bible stories.
I think that the history teachers I know (and I teach high school) have all moved to more concrete facts and interpretations of history. They may share these traditional views with their students, but they present them as the myths they are.
2007-02-23 04:25:10 · answer #5 · answered by omouse 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Good question...I always think that it is pretty annoying when anyone does that like when I went to Washington DC this guid kept on talking about all this stuff and I was like so what? I would prefer true stories thank you.
2007-02-23 04:55:04 · answer #6 · answered by Holla 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Great question! I wish I knew the answer.
Another question is why do people belive everything they were taught in elementary school?
2007-02-23 04:23:34 · answer #7 · answered by manny d 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because its something that interests the teacher. also they are important for you to understand certain things like George Washington never lieing.
2007-02-23 04:24:05 · answer #8 · answered by Cole Cooper™ 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
because your use of 'myth' denotes poor understanding of the English language. Myth's is possessive.....what you want is 'myths'. You also showed your deficiencies in spelling....you wanted 'known'....not 'none'. NONE is 'not any'.....'known' is 'understood'...which is what you were trying to say.
2007-02-23 11:11:02 · answer #9 · answered by levatorlux 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because it's in the book.
2007-02-23 04:44:57 · answer #10 · answered by lisateric 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋