It is often said that history is written by the winners. If we add to this statement the fact that it is often difficult for people to admit their mistakes, then perhaps the interpretation of some events learned in school may not be true.
Pocahontas history
The story of how the daughter of the chief of one of the Indian tribes, Pocahontas, saved the English colonist John Smith, has long been known. In reality, Pocahontas was captured, where she was held until her father paid the required ransom for her. However, instead of returning to her people, she was left with the kidnappers. Pocahontas married an Englishman at the age of 17. Together they traveled to England, where she played the role of "civilized savage" to stimulate investment for the colony.
Lincoln wanted to end slavery
The truth is that the Civil War was started in order to prevent the South from separating, the liberation of the slaves had nothing to do with it. Abraham Lincoln once said: “If I could save the Union without freeing a single slave, I would do it; and if I could save him by freeing all slaves, I would do it; and if I could save him by freeing some and leaving others, I would have done it too."
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Victory in the war of 1812
Technically, no one won the War of 1812. According to the Ghent Agreement, the borders of states remained the same as before the outbreak of the war with Napoleon.
First Thanksgiving was a big party
The settlers never officially invited the natives to join in celebrating their first harvest. Most likely, the Wampanoag Indians happened to be on it. The holiday became popular more than 200 years later, after the decree of Abraham Lincoln.
Egyptian slaves built pyramids
This is what the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote in his writings. In fact, the pyramids were built by the poor who came from the north and south of Egypt. Workers who died during construction were buried in tombs near the sacred pyramids.
Ellis Island spelling lessons
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was once a major migration point. Its employees were responsible for checking the ship's manifestos. Of course, there was no requirement to change the names of arriving immigrants. It's just that at that time people in New York could legally change the spelling of their name using the new spelling, which probably explains all the changes in their spelling.
Americans defeated the Nazis
Of course, the Americans contributed to the success of the Allied powers in World War II, but the Soviet Union deserves much more respect, since it was he who took the main blow of the Germans on the Eastern Front.
Civil war fought for state rights
Depending on where the American grew up in, he may have heard that the cause of the Civil War was the struggle for the rights of individual states. But this is not the case. The reason was people: some wanted to own others, using them as slaves.
Witches were burned at the stake
At the end of the 17th century, a trial of witches took place in the American city of Salem. It is believed that everyone accused of witchcraft was burned at the stake. In reality, 15 of them died in prison, 19 were hanged, and one person was stoned.
Settlers fled from persecution
The Pilgrim Fathers who came to America and founded the Plymouth Colony were actually afraid of becoming too "Dutch". Having left England for Holland, they were worried that they were losing their national culture, and therefore came to America to create a colony where they could not only preserve their language, but also defend their religious rights.
Slaves are workers
The myth that slaves in the American South were actually workers who immigrated to America is still in some textbooks published in 2015.
Brokers' suicide
The image of financiers throwing themselves out of the window after the stock market crash in 1929 was created by a tabloid newspaper. The reality is that the number of suicides committed by people who jumped out of buildings on Wall Street from October 24 until the end of the year was two.
People in the Middle Ages did not live long
Life expectancy in the Middle Ages was about 30 years. But this does not mean that people lived a little. The extremely high infant mortality rate has dropped significantly. Therefore, if a person in England in the Middle Ages lived to be 21 years old, there was a great chance that he would celebrate his 64th birthday.
Discoverer of North America
When Christopher Columbus went in search of India, he did not find North America. Instead, he ended up in the Caribbean, where he kidnapped several Aboriginal people and founded many settlements before starting the transatlantic slave trade.
Thomas Edison - inventor of the light bulb
There were many who made light bulbs before Edison. The merit of the latter was that he came up with a way to create a stronger vacuum inside the lamp and high resistance. He also created an integrated electric lighting system that made it easier to use his bulbs. So it can be said that he simply invented a better light bulb.
Paul Revere shouted, "The British are coming!"
It is unlikely that he did this, being surrounded by British loyalists. Paul Revere actually traveled and warned people in person, gathering a group that bypassed Middlesex County, announcing the advance of the army.
Van Gogh's ear
The story of the artist who cut off his ear and sent it to the woman with whom he was in love is true only in the sense that he actually lost part of this organ. Art critics believe that the ear was cut off by Gauguin, an experienced swordsman. And the story was invented by both of them in order to free Gauguin from prison.
Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat the cake"
This phrase actually belongs to the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who wrote it in his autobiography. At that time, Marie Antoinette was only 9 years old.
What the Texans fought for
A group of Texans in 1836 fought at the Alamo to secede from Mexico. The reason for their intransigence is simple: Mexico had recently outlawed slavery. The Texans wanted to keep this right.
Best friends
The Founding Fathers of the United States were not associates working together to overthrow monarchical tyranny. On the contrary, they were constantly arguing. Thomas Jefferson generally got into a fight with John Adams' wife, which is why they did not speak for almost 10 years.
Potato hunger
Ireland after the great famine of 1845-1849 were accused of excessive dependence on potatoes. Nevertheless, the death of 1 million people was not caused only by late blight of tubers. Many scholars today argue that the UK's refusal to provide famine relief, combined with economic policies that put landowners' rights over those of the poor, amounted to genocide.
Cleopatra - Egyptian
Despite the fact that she reigned in Egypt, Cleopatra was actually Greek (her ancestors came from Macedonia). However, she was the only member of the dynasty to speak Egyptian.
Marco Polo and pasta
The story that Marco Polo brought pasta from his travels in Asia was actually dreamed up by a group of food associations to get more people in the United States to eat pasta.
Nero played the violin when Rome burned
The Emperor, of course, has a reputation as a psychopath, but he did not dance or play while Rome burned. Firstly, Nero was not even in the city at that time, and secondly, the violin did not exist at that time.
The earth was considered flat in the Middle Ages
Since the time of Aristotle, the fact that the Earth is a sphere has been accepted by almost all European scientists. Columbus couldn't get funding for his trip, not because people thought he was going to sail to the ends of the earth. In fact, they believed that India was much further away than the navigator thought, and they were right.
Vomitoria
The idea that the Romans had rooms where they emptied their stomachs with vomit is nothing more than a fiction. Vomitoria (translated as "ejaculate") really existed. But these were just the architectural features of the stadiums: the audience entered and exited along a narrow corridor.
John F. Kennedy said, "I'm a donut"
When the president said in German, "Ich bin ein Berliner," the people laughed at the fool who called himself a donut. It turns out that in German it means "I am a Berliner", and the Germans call the donut Pfannkuchen.
Apple seeds
There is a legend that Johnny Appleseed went from city to city and scattered apple seeds everywhere. In reality, this missionary set up and tended apple nurseries, then left someone to take care of them, and he returned after a few years.
Wild West Cowboys
Unlike what is shown in westerns, shootouts between cowboys were quite rare. In fact, the crime rate was quite low, and many historians believe that people in the Wild West lived more securely than we do today.
Viking helmets
The Vikings never wore horned helmets. They first appeared in Wagner's cycle of operas "Der Ring des Nibelungen" (1876), and now this is the only way we present them.
Author: Svetlana Chambi
