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You Fail Me, Ghost Hunters
Sep. 7th, 2009 02:45 pmI like watching Ghost Hunters. They amuse me. And sometimes they end up capturing some interesting phenomenon that really can't be explained. Mostly they disprove hauntings - electro-magnetic fields known as "fear cages" put off by wiring, houses settling, cars driving by - while occasionally coming across evidence that can only be explained by "paranormal activity." This does not necessarily equal "haunted," which is something they greatly stress.
In the first episode of season five, the TAPS team travels to the Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia, where popular legend proclaims that Betsy Ross made the first American flag of the "stars and stripes" design. This is something that has been reported by the Ross family since the centennial celebration of 1876, when Ross' grandson approached the Historical Society of Pennsylvania with a paper that "proved" that the Continental Congress approached her to make the very first American flag. This is something that has been taught to school children across the country - Betsy Ross made the very first American flag.
What they fail to mention is that there were several other seamstresses who were also recruited to make flags, and while Betsy Ross most likely DID make an American flag, the chances of her making the FIRST American flag are slim. This is not to say that she should be discounted from history. If anything, she was a remarkable woman who owned her own business after her husband died, and continued to run her business even AFTER she remarried. For a woman during the American revolution, this was a remarkable feat.
My gripe comes from the fact that so many children are taught folklore and popular historical myths and not the facts and that it's further reinforced by popular media. It's like saying Sacagawea was hired as a guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition.
In the first episode of season five, the TAPS team travels to the Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia, where popular legend proclaims that Betsy Ross made the first American flag of the "stars and stripes" design. This is something that has been reported by the Ross family since the centennial celebration of 1876, when Ross' grandson approached the Historical Society of Pennsylvania with a paper that "proved" that the Continental Congress approached her to make the very first American flag. This is something that has been taught to school children across the country - Betsy Ross made the very first American flag.
What they fail to mention is that there were several other seamstresses who were also recruited to make flags, and while Betsy Ross most likely DID make an American flag, the chances of her making the FIRST American flag are slim. This is not to say that she should be discounted from history. If anything, she was a remarkable woman who owned her own business after her husband died, and continued to run her business even AFTER she remarried. For a woman during the American revolution, this was a remarkable feat.
My gripe comes from the fact that so many children are taught folklore and popular historical myths and not the facts and that it's further reinforced by popular media. It's like saying Sacagawea was hired as a guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition.
