US History: 13 Myth-Busting Facts That Will Make You Rethink Everything You Know (PHOTOS)

You don't get much more American than Plymouth Rock, Independence Day, the Alamo and baseball. Too bad they're all knee-deep in myth! "The Mental Floss History of the United States" exposes many little-known truths in its rip-roaring retelling of American history. Here's a quick sneak peek ...

Visit Mental Floss here and check out the book here.

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Myth: There Were 13 Colonies

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Truth: Like the rest of us, you probably bought the ol’ Thirteen Colonies story, but it’s not an accurate depiction of colonial America for most of its history. As settlements were founded, each new city was recognized as its own colony: for example, Connecticut contained 500 distinct “colonies” before they were merged into one in 1661. Sometimes colonies were mashed together into mega-colonies, like the short-lived, super-unpopular Dominion of New England, which incorporated Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine, plus New York and New Jersey for a couple of years. Colonies also split, like Massachusetts, which spawned New Hampshire in 1679. And some colonies weren’t colonies at all: while it’s often listed as one of the Thirteen Colonies that rebelled in 1775, Delaware wasn’t technically a colony or a province. Designated “the Lower Counties on the Delaware,” it had its own assembly but fell under the authority of the governor of Pennsylvania until it declared itself an independent state in August 1776. So technically, there were just 12 colonies in 1775 and 13 states in 1776.

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Truth: Like the rest of us, you probably bought the ol’ Thirteen Colonies story, but it’s not an accurate depiction of colonial America for most of its history. As settlements were founded, each new city was recognized as its own colony: for example, Connecticut contained 500 distinct “colonies” before they were merged into one in 1661. Sometimes colonies were mashed together into mega-colonies, like the short-lived, super-unpopular Dominion of New England, which incorporated Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine, plus New York and New Jersey for a couple of years. Colonies also split, like Massachusetts, which spawned New Hampshire in 1679. And some colonies weren’t colonies at all: while it’s often listed as one of the Thirteen Colonies that rebelled in 1775, Delaware wasn’t technically a colony or a province. Designated “the Lower Counties on the Delaware,” it had its own assembly but fell under the authority of the governor of Pennsylvania until it declared itself an independent state in August 1776. So technically, there were just 12 colonies in 1775 and 13 states in 1776.

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Comments

[TaciturnYankee]

08:53 PM on 10/21/2010

This isn't a history book, it's a chance for the authors to say "Hey, look at how cool I am! I know stuff you don't!" Everything in those 14 examples is either generally known already or something I plain disagree with (Hoover/FDR). The blurb says "Smarter than your old history teacher". My old history could tell us about Hitler and WWII because he had been there and heard Hitler speak and could tell us first hand how he worked a crowd. My teacher was a heck of a lot smarter than this book. And he taught 40 years ago. This book is a self-serving attempt at someone's propaganda, but it's hard to tell just who's. Someone out of work looking for an easy book contract, perhaps?

[MichaelTurton]

07:38 PM on 10/19/2010

I think your researchers need to do their homework.

Myth: the Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany pretty much by itself.

Reality: the Soviet war effort was completely dependent on the United States. The US supplied almost all of its locomotives and rolling stock. It supplied all of its trucks -- no trucks, no offensives. We supplied nearly half of all their explosives, and a large portion of their food as well. Other contributions too numerous to list. Without the US, the Soviet war effort could never have functioned.

It's great to bust myths, but first do your research.

[rainbowblue]

09:53 PM on 10/08/2010

This could have been produced from Lies My Teacher Told Me.

or Howard Zinn's: A People's History of the United States.

or a decent highschool social studies program. (failing that, taking freshman/sophmore classes at a university)

meh...

[Protoguy]

05:12 AM on 10/08/2010

I want to know where the truth about Edison really is. There are too many rumors flying about how the man screwed Tesla hard with a rather nasty smear campaign, and the rest of us in the process. Telsa was a genius of a different magnitude.

[MJinCanada]

11:58 AM on 10/08/2010

What I read (admittedly not very much) suggested that Edison offered Tesla big bucks to work for him, then reneged on the salary. Tesla was not the bold self-promoter that Edison was, more of the shy nerd type. So Edison got all the publicity for being a genius even when he was wrong about DC and Tesla kept getting written off as a crank even though he was right about AC.

[Steven Raj]

05:02 AM on 10/08/2010

Distorting History has its consequences. Children of the future are not going to know the true richness of the past. The real heroes are going to be ignored and selected personnels are going to get promoted. If this matter is not addressed now, it is going to be near impossible to tell the truth in the future.

[Charles Grimmett]

11:55 PM on 10/07/2010

The truth is still part of a grand left-wing conspiracy!

[kathgirl1987]

09:43 PM on 10/07/2010

How about some citations to back up these interpretations of historical events? I'd give my students an incomplete for this exercise.

[rainbowblue]

09:48 PM on 10/08/2010

"interpertations..." a citation is generally not required for common knowledge. For instance, claiming the Earth to be round does not require me to cite any sources. Just like claiming that Columbus was a brutal monster whose stupidity in geography was the only thing that could dawrf his inhumanity. Unless you are getting your "facts" from a Texas textbook, these slides are common knowledge to any highschool student.

Besides, when's the last time you saw anyone use citations on the internet.

[tundramonkey]

07:25 PM on 10/19/2010

Except that they are not common knowledge. They are cheezy interpretations of the historic evidence lathered in Chicago school economic religion for the New Deal examples. The rest are misstated or warped interpretations of what are considered "common misconceptions." Anybody could play that Jay Leno style of game. The GOP depends on people not knowing the truth about their repeated economic failures, especially now that George Herbert Hoover Bush the third has repeated the Republican economic miracle.

[Charles Grimmett]

08:09 PM on 10/07/2010

As a black man who has a hobby of studying history, thank you! Your statement on the Alamo was long overdue. The puncturing of the myth of Texas freedom fighters is something that is needed to put the perspective of race and expansion west.

Slavery was a central issue that was tied to almost every aspect of America. The foundation for the civil war was laid in Texas. The fight for the maintenance of "property" in the form of slaves set the template for justifying the cession from the union that would occur less than 25 years later.

[PWMartin]

02:44 PM on 10/07/2010

This has a lot of generalities and half truths and just plain old falsehoods. The Hoover - FDR revisionism is just one example. Who fact checks this stuff?

[rainbowblue]

09:50 PM on 10/08/2010

No it's really not. Hoover really did try, he just didn't believe that Federal government had a lot of authority to do much. He believed strongly in the "layered cake" idea of Federalism (distinct seperations between government levels). FDR didn't do much, for two reasons: he had to bully his way through Congress, and he was no bleeding heart liberal.

[Appleblossom]

04:04 PM on 10/11/2010

FDR did a lot-even if some of the stuff he did was completely stupid after we had a chance to look at it from the perspective of time.

And yes, Hoover did more than anyone has EVER given him credit for but FDR was not some kind of hanger on. A lot of what FDR did had been done by him in New York where he was governor.

[TheFreedThinker]

09:38 AM on 10/07/2010

A true nerd's hero is Tesla, not Edison. Edison wished he was as brilliant as Tesla.

[Beercandyman]

07:50 PM on 10/07/2010

Very true. At the time Tesla was up there with Einstein while Edison was lumped with Ford.

[Hello Hooray]

05:43 AM on 10/08/2010

Tesla...... Rock On, Duuuude...... Eeeedison's Medicine...... Party On

[legalhound]

09:32 AM on 10/07/2010

There is something that you forgot about Wyoming and their attitude toward women. At first the, giving the vote to women was to ensure that Wyoming could become a state. There weren't enough people unless the women were counted. Beyond that, not only did Wyoming have the first female judge in the nation, they also had the fist female Governor.

[MJinCanada]

12:05 PM on 10/08/2010

And later the best developed laws protecting women against sexual assault. What I read was that after the legislature passed a law against bestiality, a very thoughtful member pointed out that they had just given sheep and cattle more protection from abuse than their own womenfolk. So they corrected that omission.

[Twohairydogs]

12:37 AM on 10/07/2010

Gosh, if WWII was all over before D-Day, how come so many American and British soldiers lost their lives in Normandy and throughout France? Sometimes, trying to put a new spin on history really isn't good history.

[jmyoung666]

08:53 AM on 10/07/2010

Even if it's correct?

[ancientmarinader]

11:42 AM on 10/07/2010

Who levelled Germany and Japan from the air? Wasnt Russia.

[JD Hobbs]

05:00 PM on 10/07/2010

Doesn't count. Nor did the firebombing of Dresden, the Battle of the Bulge, Battle of Ardennes, or the Battle of Britain. Apparently the entire war against Germany took place on the eastern front with the Western allies shooting Hollywood film footage in their spare time.

[Appleblossom]

04:07 PM on 10/11/2010

Of course they were-and of course there was no war in the Indian-Burma-China theatre. The US never was attacked directly by Japan and FDR was a tyrant and all sorts of other crap are being left out by this revisionist historian.

History is certainly not as simple as many textbooks make it out to be but neither is it as wrong as this guy is claiming.

[MrBA5]

06:14 PM on 10/06/2010

It was posted that some diaries gave other versions of our history in the fight at the Alamo. I recently read a diary that stated we had a certain meal at Macanac Island. I believed we ate a different meal. I reasearched the resturant on line and they didn't serve the meal that was suggested we ate. I am not basing my history on diaries alone. They may be just as flawed as your revisionist history.
My suggestion that you live under another form of government in Europe is to suggest that we have it better here than any other place on earth. But some of you want to distroy the rich history that we do have with insignificant history.

[Billy Morris]

05:19 PM on 10/06/2010

It is true that Columbus never admitted he discovered a new hemisphere, but it should be remembered that his charter from Ferdinand and Isabella was to establish trade with the Asia. It should be remembered that his titles and accompanying wealth would have been forfeit were he to ever admit he didn’t meet the terms of his royal charter.

[VanessaFas]

03:29 PM on 10/06/2010

I am currently reading this book, and feel like an idiot with every page turned! My parents spent tens of thousands of dollars on my private high school. They deserve at least a partial refund! Why did we spend days on the Teapot Dome scandal, but never talk about everything leading up to the Civil War? Why did I not know that Washington was chosen to lead the Continental Army because a)no one else would, and b) he was the guy with the most (not very much) military experience? I recommend this book for anyone who thinks they 'know enough' about American History, even teachers. I will have my kids read it when they are a little older, to fill in the gaps of their education.

[collettethehedgehog]

06:00 PM on 10/06/2010

Perhaps you kow that Washington's "lack" of military experience included being investigated for war atrocities in the Fremnch and Indian war then? Kind of hard for both to be true. In other words this is a BS mythbuster and any truths to be gleaned from history comes from wide academic study- not mythbuster gotcha's. History is and always has been a Rashoman test.

[Twohairydogs]

12:21 AM on 10/07/2010

Instead of throwing the "baby out with the bathwater", meaning your expense private education, why don't you try to utilize it. Years of studying history make me a bit leary about some of the points the authors have presented. Do your own independent research. Be a critical thinker. If you have the interest, check things out on your own and you might have a different opinion of history than has been presented in this book.