Founding Myths Quotes

“Longfellow himself made history in two ways: he conjured events that never happened, and he established a new patriotic ritual.”
― Ray Raphael, Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

“The United States was founded not by isolated acts of individual heroism but by the concerted revolutionary activities of people who had learned the power of working together.”
― Ray Raphael, Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

“Much of what we think of as “history” is driven not by facts but by these narrative preferences.”
― Ray Raphael, Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

“Creatively, if not accurately, we have fashioned a past we would like to have had.”
― Ray Raphael, Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

“Today, the two most dominant visual reflections of the American Revolution are John Trumbull’s 1818 painting Declaration of Independence and Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 masterpiece Washington Crossing the Delaware—even though there was no ceremonial signing of the Declaration on July 4, 1776, the date mistakenly applied to Trumbull’s painting when it was hung in the Capitol Rotunda, and the flag displayed prominently in Washington’s boat had not yet been created.”
― Ray Raphael, Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past

“For more than two centuries, the oft-repeated story of how the United States achieved its independence has bound Americans together.”
― Ray Raphael, Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past