I Cannot Tell a Lie: There Was No Cherry Tree: Using Historical

Myths to Engage Students

Candace FikisWest Chicago Community H.S.

West Chicago, Illinois1

WCCHS Facts• Serves primarily West Chicago, Carol Stream,

and Winfield (all western suburbs of Chicago)

• 2082 students

• 57% Hispanic, 32% Caucasian, 4% Asian, 2% African American, 4% Multi

• 48% free and reduced lunch, 11% Limited English Proficiency, 97% graduation rate.

• 3 different K-8 districts feed into our high school2

1. Explain why lesson was created2. Walk you through the lesson as a student3. A chance to process the lesson as a teacher4. Further exploration of this topic

Agenda for today’s presentation

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1. Lies My Teacher Told Me and Teaching What Really Happened - James W Loewen at Prairie Ridge Conference

2. Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts - Sam Wineberg

3. Common Core - content vs skills4. NCSS C3 Framework and new IL State Standards

Why did we create this lesson?

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“[Historians] see themselves as detectives searching for evidence among primary sources to a mystery that can never be completely solved...To historians, history is an argument about what facts should or shouldn't mean. Even when historians are able to piece together the basic story of what happened, they rarely agree about what an event means or what caused it. Historians argue about the past's meaning and what it has to tell us in the present.” (Wineburg, Thinking Like a Historian)

Why did we create this lesson?

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C3 Connections

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1. After introductions, first major lesson2. Set stage for the year and lessons throughout the year3. Get an idea how much history students know already, myths

they believe4. Get a glimpse of writing ability

When do we do this lesson?

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Truths and Myths in History Activity

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In your groups of 4 brainstorm as many events and people that you think are important to United States history. Use the dry erase marker to fill up the table top.

Why study United States history?

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Individually, please write down your favorite story from American History or the story (or biography) of your favorite American figure. It should:

--be at least a solid paragraph in length (meaning 5-10 sentences)--have a beginning, a middle and an end.--be simple to follow

This must be written in your first journal entry on Google Classroom.

Why study United States history?

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For a brief example, my American story is George Washington and the Cherry Tree.

“One day, young George Washington was playing in his backyard and decided to cut down his father’s cherry tree. Furiously his father bellowed ‘who cut down my cherry tree?’ Consumed with guilt, young George Washington replied ‘I cannot tell a lie father, I cut down your cherry tree.’ Although disappointed, George’s father appreciated his son’s honesty. George learned the importance of honesty which he carried with him for the rest of his life.” 11

In your groups of 4, each person must share the history story he/she wrote; the oldest person in the group will go first.

Then, as a group choose one of your stories to share with the class.

Why study United States history?

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As we listen to a few US History stories think about:-- Do these stories have anything in common?-- Why do we study these types of stories when studying U.S. History?--Do these stories help form or support American ideals/values?

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--Does it matter if the stories are true?

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For example, the George Washington and the Cherry Tree story is not true. This story was a creation of Parson Weems in his The Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes Laudable to Himself and Exemplary to his Countrymen published in 1806 (Washington died in 1799).

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Images help distort truth and create stories.

Engraving by John McRae - 1867

Painting by Grant Wood -1939

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How do historical myths continue to

exist?

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Next, we are going to do some research to write an accurate historical story. Please read pages 113 and 116 (up to “Colonial Life During the Revolution”) in The Americans. Once you are done reading, write a story about Valley Forge. It should:

--be accurate and include some specific facts--at least a solid paragraph in length (5-10 sentences)--have a beginning, a middle and an end.

This is Journal Entry #2.

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The Revolutionary War & Valley Forge:What happened?

In your groups of four, each person should read their historical story.Chose one story from the group that is the most accurate, simple, and overall appealing.Painting by W.B. Trego The

March to Valley Forge - 1883 20

How to tell a good historical story? What does it need? Let’s make a list…

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Historians rely on both primary sources (items or writings from people who were there) and secondary sources (written by someone who was not there).

Which is more reliable?

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Valley Forge Myth vs. Truth

• Horrible Winter of 1777• Troops suffered without

supplies• Troops displayed resilience

through suffering

• Mild Winter of 1777 (the winter of 1780 was horrible)

• Congress did not allocate supplies for troops

• Troops at camp Morristown in 1780 mutinied

Early 19th Century Historians combined these two historical events to create a better story. Many historical myths are based on lies by omission or partial truths – selective history.*

* See Ray Raphael, Founding Myths: Stories that Hide our Patriotic Past (New York: New Press, 2004) 85-104.

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Speak with someone by you, about the benefits and maybe problems with doing such a lesson in your classroom

Reflection of the lesson as a teacher

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How this continues throughout the course

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Propaganda and Persuasion in the American Revolution

Boston Massacre

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The Boston Massacre

When you hear the word massacre, what do you think of?What do you think then happened at the Boston Massacre?

With your table partner, please answer the following questions:

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Read 2 different accounts from eyewitnesses who were at the event, one British, one American. As you read:

1. Highlight/underline the basic facts of what happened according to the witness2. Circle the major differences in facts between the accounts.

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Now that you have heard 2 witness accounts, your job is to try to report the facts:

1. Go to your Unit II Journal in Google Classroom2. Write a 5-10 sentence summary of what happened at the Boston Massacre (remember to use the techniques in writing an historical story from Unit I) for the entry

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In your groups of 4:

1. Share each person’s account2. Choose the best version of the story

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How does the following story compare to yours? To your table partner’s story? To the eyewitness accounts?

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The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry.

The presence of British troops in the city of Boston was increasingly unwelcome. The riot began when about 50 citizens attacked a British sentinel. A British officer, Captain Thomas Preston, called in additional soldiers, and these too were attacked, so the soldiers fired into the mob, killing 3 on the spot (a black sailor named Crispus Attucks, rope maker Samuel Gray, and a mariner named James Caldwell), and wounding 8 others, two of whom died later (Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr).

A town meeting was called demanding the removal of the British and the trial of Captain Preston and his men for murder. At the trial, John Adams and Josiah Quincy II defended the British, leading to their acquittal and release. Later, two of the British soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter.

The Boston Massacre was a signal event leading to the Revolutionary War. It led directly to the Royal Governor evacuating the occupying army from the town of Boston. It would soon bring the revolution to armed rebellion throughout the colonies.

From www.ushistory.org 33

Completed just three weeks after British sentries killed five colonists and wounded six others, Paul Revere's engraving shaped the popular image of the Boston Massacre.

How does this picture depict the event?

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Next is a copy of chromolithograph by John Bufford around 1856.

How does this picture depict the event?

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Here is another, The Boston Massacre, engraving based on a painting by Alonzo Chappel, 1868

How does this depict the event?

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Which is the most accurate? How can art (or other things like writing) be

used as propaganda?How was the Boston Massacre used to gain

support for the American Revolution?

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What words should be used to study and write about U.S. History?

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Howard Zinn - “Patriotism and the 4th of July” Essay“Our own history is enough to make one wary. Empire begins with what was called, in our high school history classes, "westward expansion, “a euphemism for the annihilation or expulsion of the Indian tribes inhabiting the continent, in the name of "progress" and "civilization."

Extensions of the lesson?

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Larry Schweikart - 48 Liberal Lies About American History Introduction “Textbooks can be slanted in a number of ways, including labeling (using loaded terms to describe those positions liberals favor as “progressive,” “forward-thinking,” “liberating” while characterizing conservative or religious views as “fundamentalist,” “backward,” “nativist”, or prejudiced”).

Extensions of the lesson?

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1. Warnings: Struggles with students, community/parent backlash

2. Finding various sources that could help students see the bias that are accessible to your students

Additional reflections of the lesson

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Contact: Candace FikisWest Chicago Community High SchoolSocial Studies Teachercfikis@d94.org630-876-6454

Lisa WilluweitHumanities Division Headlwilluweit@d94.org 630-876-6450

Additional questions or reflections

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