Nobody can fully understand the reality of every event that ever occurred in human history, so facts understandably become misconstrued or lost along the way - not to mention shifted entirely based on new discoveries. As a result, myths and misconceptions become folded into the fabric of the educational system and taught as if the truth. These fallacies, whether fabricated entirely or morphed as time ticks on, transcend culture and era. Every nation, every peoples and every time period will come saddled with a unique set of misunderstandings from outsiders. However, the following list mainly emphasizes those popularly taught in American schools. The author draws from experience both learning and teaching in the United States and does not intend to perpetuate Amero- or Eurocentrism. This article merely reflects familiarity rather than a dismissal of the problematic lessons taught in schools around the world.

1.) The Founding Fathers were all Christians.

Many tout that America, in spite of the First Amendment, exists as a Christian nation founded entirely on Christian doctrines by Christian men. While the highest percentage of them certainly adhered to this particular faith, even public schools generally fail to address the broader spectrum of belief systems present amongst the Founding Fathers. Anglicanism and other Protestant denominations did comprise the majority, but many of them found satisfaction in Deism or Unitarianism instead. Thomas Jefferson believed in God, but he rejected the concept of the Trinity that lay at the core of Christianity. His inspiration came largely from Enlightenment philosophies regarding freedom and morality rather than any religion, and he embraced many of the tenets of Unitarianism later on in life. Along with the majority of his contemporaries, Jefferson abhorred the idea of a national religion, writing about relationships with God as intensely personal matters that the government has no right to influence. In spite of only holding the insignificant little title of “President of the United States,” Jefferson and his fellow Founding Fathers of Deistic and Unitarian persuasions - including such obscure figures as John Adams and Benjamin Franklin - many schools still slap a uniform label of “Christian” on all of them. Not all who believe in God necessarily consider themselves as such.

2.) George Washington chopped down a cherry tree.

A mighty popular adage regarding the first American president that still circulates amongst public and private schools alike involves a young George Washington hacking down his father’s beloved cherry tree with an axe. When confronted, he fought temptation and eventually confessed to the misdeed. Over time, the tale has become solidified in schoolchildren’s minds as a verified lesson in the politician’s sense of honor, morphed considerably from its original status as a puffy piece of propaganda. Washington’s biographer Mason Locke Weems inserted tale into his 2 books, A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits, of General George Washington and The Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes Laudable to Himself and Exemplary to His Countrymen, which both overflowed with tall tales of the American legend. Whether or not Weems meant these as a tongue-in-cheek precursor to today’s Chuck Norris memes remains unclear, though his readers embraced these claims as a truth in need of perpetuating. Children were taught of the Founding Father’s virtue in order to inspire them towards living a moral life. Considering Weems made his living as a parson, this educational strategy is not outside the realm of possibility.

Interesting how a lie intended to illustrate the importance of honesty.

3.) Christopher Columbus discovered America.

With a name like “Christopher Columbus,” American schoolchildren probably immediately picture a valiant British (never Irish, Scottish or Welsh!) explorer standing on the bow of his ship with a stiff hand shielding his eyes from the harsh, glaring sun. In reality, Christoffa Corombo hailed from Genoa, Italy. And, oh yeah…he never actually discovered America. Nor was he the first European to ever set foot on the continent. Surprise! That honor actually goes to the Vikings. Led by Leif Eriksson, they began settling and trading in modern-day Newfoundland - which they referred to as Vinland - around the 11th Century CE. Relations with the Native Americans, also known as the peoples initially responsible for populating the region to begin with, remained poor at best. Because of these intercultural difficulties, most of the Norse colonists fled to Greenland and Iceland, and Corombo re-established intercontinental communication in 1492. From this connection, the eventual genocide of millions of Native Americans eventually sprung forth as the Europeans attempted to dominate the region with imperialistic fervor. An exceptionally unfortunate turn of events still frequently romanticized in American schools.

4.) Pocahontas was an adult princess who saved and loved John Smith.

Disney movies notoriously pay little attention to historical accuracy or political correctness, and their piggybacking off the legend of Powhatan woman Pocahontas only served to perpetuate already problematic misconceptions about her age and relationship with English colonist John Smith. She actually existed, though Pocahontas was actually a nickname. Matoaka, her actual moniker, has almost entirely disappeared from the consciousness of anyone but professional and amateur history buffs. Though the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the society’s structure did not recognize European concepts such as “princesses.” Historians place her as about 12 years old at the time she supposedly discouraged her father from beheading Captain John Smith - an event that may or may not have even happened in the first place! The Powhatan tribe had captured him, but Smith earned a reputation for boastfulness, exaggeration and embellishment amongst his Anglo peers. As his account of the situation sprouted up 16 years after it supposedly took place - not to mention the fact that nobody else seemed to bear witness! However, Smith did not make any hints towards a romantic liaison with Matoaka. Such perceptions only began springing up as the story passed from audience to audience, perhaps causing her age to slowly escalate over time. The young woman eventually fell victim to capture and confinement in Jamestown, where she learned English, converted to Christianity, married tobacco farmer John Rolfe and changed her name to Rebecca. After moving to England, she bore a son and served as an envoy for the Powhatan peoples, attempting to hold together a gossamer-fragile peace.

5.) Almost everything about Thanksgiving.

The image of Native Americans and buckle-clad Pilgrims gathering around festive picnic tables with heaps of corn and juicy, fat roasted turkeys has been hammered into the consciousness of every private and public American schoolchild alike. Just about the only element of the story with any real veracity is the fact that the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native American tribe did break bread and engages in recreational activities after surviving a particularly devastating winter. Tisquantum, nicknamed Squanto, did save their lives by teaching them how to fish, hunt, and grow and preserve their crops. Beyond that, though, most of the stories surrounding Thanksgiving Day remain largely fictitious. The “first” Thanksgiving was actually not the first Thanksgiving, and the Puritanical amongst the Pilgrims would never use such terminology for secularized fun. Such feasts never grew into annual celebrations until much later in American history; the Pilgrims never wore black and white; today’s pumpkin pie and turkey was “originally” dried corn, venison, fruit and poultry. Basically, pretty much anything currently taught about Thanksgiving in school distorts, romanticizes or flat-out lies about what really went down in Plymouth town.

Almost like finding out that Santa isn’t real, isn’t it?

6.) Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake!”

French King Louis XVI and his queen, the Austrian Marie Antoinette, both ended up deposed and guillotined during the French Revolution. The royal pair received considerable demonization at the hands of their subjects, and since history ends up written by the victors, the lines between fantasy and reality appear rather hazy. Historians generally accept that the queen never uttered the famous line “Let them eat cake!” in response to hearing of the poor’s plight. The only mention of any French aristocracy comes from only one line in Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, never elsewhere. In it, he speaks of a princess who declares, “Qu’il mangent de la brioche!” (“Let them eat brioche!”) when informed that the French peoples had run out of bread. His account remains entirely anecdotal, with little evidence aside from his friendship with Marie Antoinette to give a face to a quote. Even if it were true, the phrase itself may not necessarily imply her ennui towards how seriously the French people were suffering. Depending on the context, she very well could have meant that bakers should lower the prices of their brioche and sell them as if they were bread. The laws at the time dictated how much they could charge for baked goods, and merchants were required to bring their cakes down to bread prices in the event that the latter sold out. Although Marie Antoinette likely never said anything of the sort, if she did she may have actually been declaring something a little more populist than the revolutionaries initially believed.

7.) Classical statues and architectural constructs were made of pure white marble.

The detailed elegance of Greco-Roman statues and buildings exude a transcendent, sophisticated beauty that have inspired viewers for millennia. But their familiar marble grace appeared entirely different to the audiences for whom they were originally intended. Unlike the images projected in today’s minds and media alike, the Greeks and Romans gazed upon lavishly painted sculptures, reliefs, steles and architectural constructs. Forensics revealed traces of pigments held together with an unknown binding, and art historians and scientists pieced together the available evidence to form theories about what they may have looked like to their original creators and onlookers. It seems as if they favored extremely bright primary colors, perhaps even of metallic luster provided the right supplies remained on hand. In addition, the marbles appear to have sported little gradient in the colors - though some theorize that the Greeks and Romans may have preferred to create visual interest through painted patterns instead. Understandably, the contemporary notion of Greco-Roman art and architecture as uniformly untarnished marble stems from the gradual rotting away of the colors. Up until recently, humanity lacked the technology to detect any signs of paint or other previous mysteries of these ancient marvels.

8.) St. Patrick was Irish.

Catholics and non-Catholics inside and outside of Ireland consider the nation and its patron saint so inextricably tied to one another that many go their entire lives never knowing that St. Patrick was actually British! The bacchanalian celebrations that accompany his feast day only began emerging in the 1970’s amongst Irish-Americans, and they ironically celebrate a man belonging to the nationality what wrought wrenching genocide against their ancestors. In actuality, St. Patrick found himself kidnapped from his native land and ended up in Ireland as a shepherding slave for around 7 years. While there, he ended up converting to Christianity, and even felt a compelling need to return after attaining his freedom. Upon settling back in Ireland, he became a priest with the hopes of converting more to his newfound faith. His significance to the Irish peoples there lay more with his spreading Catholic doctrine across the small island rather than warding off all the snakes - which would have been impossible, considering they never actually lived there in the first place!

9.) “Witches” were burned at the stake in Salem.

Witch trials - no matter where they took place - embodied the extremism and paranoia present in the more radical Christian communities of the time. Because these hunts come fraught with lies and hate rather than rationality, a unique mythology has sprung up regarding the hows and whys of the process. Men and women convicted on witchcraft charges were, in fact, burned at the stake in England. But it was not the most common method of execution even there, and British law did not permit this particular punishment in their colonies. The accused in Salem, Massachusetts largely died by hanging…if they even survived death row. Giles Corey, however, received the horrifically graphic sentence of pressing.

10.) Vincent van Gogh sliced off his own ear.

Poor Vincent van Gogh likely suffered from what many contemporary psychologists believe to be either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The brilliant but extremely tortured artist is the subject of an infamous rumor discussed in art history classes the world over and mocked in numerous media outlets. However, some kernel of truth does actually lurk in the anecdote of him cutting off his own ear. van Gogh did actually lose a portion of his earlobe - and one of his more popular self-portraits even acknowledges the injury - but historians are split over the details. Most adhere to the popular theory that he sliced his left earlobe with a razor blade following a fight with friend and fellow artist Paul Gauguin. Afterwards, the tormented painter gifted it to a local prostitute, with some alleging that he sent it to her and others believing the grisly present was bestowed in person. In recent years, however, a couple of historians have theorized that van Gogh may have lost his earlobe after coming to bloody fisticuffs with Gauguin. Regardless of how the injuring incident occurred, however, the tale of the troubled artist losing an entire ear to his own hand remains a fallacy.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of misconstrued tidbits of information filter into lessons of all types in all places. Considering the millennia of history and plethora of perspectives that teachers must pull from, it is entirely understandable why such a phenomenon regularly takes place. Because of this, students should do their best to supplement their lessons through solo research and reading in order to gain the broadest possible view of how the species moved forward in time.