Nov 22, 2023 07:12 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 22, 2023 07:33 PM by C C.)
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/than...ry-science
INTRO: Ask someone in the United States to name five events important to the country’s foundation and there’s a good chance they’ll mention the Pilgrims.
That’s what researchers found a few years ago when they put that question to some 2,000 people. The Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas and the Civil War topped the list. But 'coming in seventh place were the Pilgrims, the team reported in 2022 in Memory Studies.
Their inclusion in the list is bizarre, says coauthor Abram Van Engen, an English professor at Washington University in St. Louis interested in national origin stories. “There’s no great reason why we start America with the Pilgrims…. They’re kind of late to the game.”
Before them, after all, came the Native Americans, Spanish settlers in St. Augustine, Fla., and European settlers — and the slaves they brought with them — in Jamestown, Va. But the Pilgrims’ tale of religious persecution, perseverance and self-governance provides people with a tidy, if aggrandized, national origin story, says Van Engen.
The “Thanksgiving myth” is part of that tale, says coauthor and cognitive psychologist Henry Roediger, also at Washington University. The shorthand for that story, he says, goes like this: In 1621, the Pilgrims and Native Americans “had this peaceful meal and powwow [while] singing kumbaya.” (MORE - details)
INTRO: Ask someone in the United States to name five events important to the country’s foundation and there’s a good chance they’ll mention the Pilgrims.
That’s what researchers found a few years ago when they put that question to some 2,000 people. The Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas and the Civil War topped the list. But 'coming in seventh place were the Pilgrims, the team reported in 2022 in Memory Studies.
Their inclusion in the list is bizarre, says coauthor Abram Van Engen, an English professor at Washington University in St. Louis interested in national origin stories. “There’s no great reason why we start America with the Pilgrims…. They’re kind of late to the game.”
Before them, after all, came the Native Americans, Spanish settlers in St. Augustine, Fla., and European settlers — and the slaves they brought with them — in Jamestown, Va. But the Pilgrims’ tale of religious persecution, perseverance and self-governance provides people with a tidy, if aggrandized, national origin story, says Van Engen.
The “Thanksgiving myth” is part of that tale, says coauthor and cognitive psychologist Henry Roediger, also at Washington University. The shorthand for that story, he says, goes like this: In 1621, the Pilgrims and Native Americans “had this peaceful meal and powwow [while] singing kumbaya.” (MORE - details)
