Mayflower: Question 3

Philbrick shows us that many of the classic images that shape our current view of the Pilgrims—from Plymouth Rock to the usual iconography of the first Thanksgiving—have been highly fictionalized. Why has America forsaken the truth about these times in exchange for a misleading and often somewhat hokey mythology?

The fact that America has twisted the original story of its history into a mythology is hardly surprising. Did Washington really cut down the cherry tree? And we all know that Theodore Roosevelt didn't shoot that poor, defenseless, teddy bear. The very personality of America needs heroes. Not only does it need heroes, however, but it needs those heroes to be flawless in the eyes of the general public.

Thus, the national myth of Thanksgiving was created, elevating the status of the humble Pilgrims to that of demigods. No matter that these same Pilgrims were really brutal swindlers in their dealings with the Indians, and caused great destruction of many Native villages. Besides, who but a few scholarly erudites (such as Philbrick) would even bother to leak out the Pilgrims' true story? America has always shown a willingness to brush the embarassing parts of its history under the rug, as if they never even happened.