I Cannot Tell a Lie: There Was No
Cherry Tree: Using Historical
Myths to Engage Students
Candace Fikis
West Chicago Community H.S.
West Chicago, Illinois
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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 school
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Agenda for today’s presentation
1.
2.
3.
4.
Explain why lesson was created
Walk you through the lesson as a student
A chance to process the lesson as a teacher
Further exploration of this topic
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Why did we create this lesson?
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 skills
4. NCSS C3 Framework and new IL State Standards
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Why did we create this lesson?
“[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)
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C3 Connections
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When do we do this lesson?
1. After introductions, first major lesson
2. Set stage for the year and lessons throughout the year
3. Get an idea how much history students know already, myths
they believe
4. Get a glimpse of writing ability
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Truths and Myths in History
Activity
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Why study United States history?
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.
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Why study United States history?
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.
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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.”
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Why study United States history?
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.
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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?
Painting by W.B. Trego The
March to Valley Forge - 1883
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.
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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
• Mild Winter of 1777 (the
winter of 1780 was horrible)
• Troops suffered without
supplies
• Congress did not allocate
supplies for troops
• Troops displayed resilience
through suffering
• 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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Reflection of the lesson as a teacher
Speak with someone by you, about the benefits and maybe
problems with doing such a lesson in your classroom
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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
With your table partner, please answer the following
questions:
When you hear the word massacre, what do you
think of?
What do you think then happened at the Boston
Massacre?
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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 witness
2. 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 Classroom
2. 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 account
2. 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
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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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Extensions of the lesson?
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."
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Extensions of the lesson?
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”).
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Additional reflections of the lesson
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
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Additional questions or reflections
Contact: Candace Fikis
West Chicago Community High School
Social Studies Teacher
[email protected]
630-876-6454
Lisa Willuweit
Humanities Division Head
[email protected]
630-876-6450
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