Folklore of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Folklore of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Founding myths

The founding of the United States is often surrounded by legends and tall tales. Many stories have developed since the founding long ago to become a part of America's folklore and cultural awareness, and non-native American folklore especially includes any narrative which has contributed to the shaping of American values and belief systems. These narratives may be true and may be false; the veracity of the stories is not a determining factor. Three so-called 'founding myths' (or national myths) include: Christopher Columbus, the Pilgrims, and George Washington.

[edit] Christopher Columbus

Though Christopher Columbus did not participate in the founding of the American government, he has been interpreted as a 'founder' of the American nation, in that it is descended from the European immigrants who would not have moved to the New World if Columbus had not found where it was. Indeed, one particularly pervasive story is that Columbus discovered America, as it is far easier to elevate a man to heroic status than to reflect the reality among complex series of waves of immigrants from multiple conditions and walks of life. According to some stories, Columbus began his journey across the Atlantic Ocean on Friday, August 3, 1492, in order to prove that the world was round, because he expecte"