Much of what Americans remember about American history is full of inaccuracies. As one writer put it: “With time, facts fade. But myths seem to go on and on.”
Nothing is better known, for instance, than the story that Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage proved the earth was not flat, when, in fact, Aristotle proved that it was round by pointing out during an eclipse that the earth casts a spherical shadow on the moon.
Then there is the common belief that Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery, when, in reality, it was accomplished by the Thirteenth Amendment. That the founders of our nation believed in equality is no more true than they believed in democracy, and all of Henry Ford’s Model Ts were not black. The first ones were painted green with a red stripe. And then there was Paul Revere.
Thanks to Henry Longfellow’s poem, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1863), most people think that Revere rode through the woods shouting “the British are coming” when the Redcoats left Boston and hit the trail toward Concord, Massachusetts on the night of April 19, 1775.
Actually, two other riders made the trip to Concord. After warning Lexington, Revere ran into a British patrol and was captured. Also, he did not yell “the British are coming.” In 1775, both Redcoats and colonials were British. In 1923, as president Warren G. Harding was touring the country on a campaign swing, he was made aware that Revere never completed the ride made famous by Longfellow. Harding told some nearby listeners that he didn’t care. “I love the story of Paul Revere,” he explained in his most presidential-sounding voice, “whether he rode or not.”
So what could the hero in Longfellow’s poem do for us today? The first thing is obvious. In the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election he could have shouted the warning, “The Russians are coming!” And whenever we spotted him riding by we could call out, “Hey, Paul. Are the Russians still coming?” Or, even better, we could ask the legendary hero if the Russians will ever go away.
The problems facing our nation today are unprecedented. The national debt is $20 trillion. Gangs and drugs are pouring across our borders. In our crime-infested cities citizens are gunned down every day and open season has been declared on our brave law enforcement officials. Rogue nations are building up nuclear arsenals and threatening attacks.
But the focus of many Americans is bringing down the current administration, even attacking the president’s daughter for her clothing line and criticizing one of his aids for how she was sitting in the oval office. Paul could have warned us that “the insufferables” were coming.
And then there is Congress. With the Trump-hating congressional Democrats, backed by left-wing liberals and the anti-Trump media, refusing to work with the current administration and congressional Republicans split into independent fiefdoms, nothing is being done to address the nation’s problems.
Had Paul been here he could have warned us that “the obstructionists” were coming. But apparently millions of Americans would still love Congress, whether they do anything or not.
Glenn H. Walker
Fayetteville, Ga.
