I have taught middle school social studies, high school American history and world history, and American history in two different community colleges in two states: Tennessee and Texas. On May 20, 2018, after completing 28 years at Maryville College, I retired as Director of Teacher Education. Deborah and I moved to Tyler, Texas to be closer to our children and grandchildren. I have rediscovered that public education in both states face similar issues in their history and social studies curricula regarding state required standards, historical content, and the strongly held views of various community and political groups.
A few weeks back, a short paragraph in the Tyler newspaper caught my eye. It reported an argument over history standards in Texas. One of those arguments seemed to basically boil down to this: Should all of those Americans/Texans who died at the Alamo be considered heroes? If I have misrepresented this issue, please let me know. After all, it was a very short article.
Being from Tennessee and growing up less than 100 hundred miles from the birthplace of Davy Crockett, I will never forget when I read for the first time that several historians had concluded that Davy Crockett may not have died like a hero at the Alamo. Some recent documentation they had read seemed to suggest he died more like a coward begging for his life. My reaction was explosive. What is this? It must be some of those communist college professors incorporating revisionist theory to destroy our country and its values. Please remember this was a few years after the McCarthy era.
But the real shocker to everything I believed took place in 1971 in a graduate history course I was taking at Middle Tennessee State University. The event under investigation was The Boston Massacre. I was taking this course several years before the internet, websites, and email made a dramatic change in the availability of primary sources. However, the library had copies of historical documents on microfiche. I had the opportunity to read accounts of this event in colonial newspapers as well as accounts in newspapers in England. In colonial newspapers this event was called The Boston Massacre, but in English newspapers it was called The Boston Riot. But which description was more accurate? These differing accounts put me in a real moral dilemma over patriotism and truth.
This was the first time in my young academic career that I examined a controversial historical event in detail from various viewpoints. Who were the Americans in the crowd that confronted a single British soldier and later the soldiers who came to protect him? Were they average citizens of Boston coming out for an evening stroll? Not really. They were mainly sailors recruited from a local tavern. During what time of the day did this event take place? During the night. Did the soldiers attack these Americans without cause? Not really. The colonists first attacked the lone sentry and later the other soldiers who came to protect him by screaming at the soldiers and throwing ice and rocks. In this state of mass confusion, the soldiers fired on the Americans killing five. Were any legal actions taken against these soldiers? Yes, they were put on trial. Where, in London? No, in Boston. I have read transcripts of testimonies given by several soldiers at the trial. The soldiers were defended by John Adams who later served as President of the United States. Captain Preston, the officer in charge of the soldiers, was found not guilty of murder. Only two of the soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and were branded on their thumbs.
After completing this research, I left and while walking down the library steps, I kept saying to myself, “They have lied to me; my teachers have lied to me.” My conclusion was that this event should more correctly be described as The Boston Riot. If the history teacher includes both versions as he/she describes this event (a pivotal event in the American myth), Does this make the teacher unpatriotic or unamerican? I hope not, but in the real world, I know this is possible in many communities.
We live in a climate where politicians and community leaders at the highest levels often confuse myth with truth. When we allow history to distort the truth for propaganda purposes, the end result is down right scary.
Bless You My Children,
tls
tls
Dr. Terry L. Simpson
Professor Emeritus
Maryville College Educator Preparation Program
