It shouldn’t surprise anyone that when it comes to American history, journalists- who are practically all some variety of socialist now- get it wrong most of the time.
They study at schools that teach that ideology and point of view come before facts when recounting history.
You don’t like the conclusion? Change the facts.
Academics and journalists have gone about trying to re-write American history for a half-century. It’s easier to change facts than it is to read actual books about an event.
That’s partly why journalists have the story of Paul Revere’s ride so fouled up.
But the most significant reason why they have the story wrong is because they hate Sarah Palin and, apparently Paul Revere too.
As David Hackett Fischer observed in his excellent 1995 book Paul Revere’s Ride, published by Oxford University Press- O.K. some universities still teach history- “The only creature less fashionable in academe than the stereotypical ‘dead white male,’ is the dead white male on horseback.”
As most everyone has already read, Sarah Palin included a shout out about Revere recently.
The words were inelegant, yes, but generally correct historically.
This much is for sure: Palin’s version is a lot more correct than the journalists correcting her.
I’ve emphasized major points of dispute in the Palin quotes:
“He who warned the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms,” said Palin, “by ringing those bells, and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free.”
And she defended herself on Fox News on Sunday by saying: “Part of Paul Revere’s ride — and it wasn’t just one ride — he was a courier, he was a messenger. Part of his ride was to warn the British that we’re already there. That, hey, you’re not going to succeed.”
They key to understanding what Palin is talking about is to know that Paul Revere’s celebrated “ride” was not just a one-off event. That’s why Palin said “and it wasn’t just one ride.”
Months prior to the most famous “ride,” Revere took part in the powder alarms, acting as a courier to warn communities that the British would try to seize gunpowder stored in the country in order to deny it to potential rebels, to deny them arms.