Common historical fallacies: Difference between revisions

From A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide
 
(20 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 6: Line 6:
** but even the most objectively-minded teacher has as a point of view, an underlying outlook
** but even the most objectively-minded teacher has as a point of view, an underlying outlook


== US History fallacies ==
* todo:
=== Slavery was the basis of the colonial and antebellum American economy ===
** FDR "Nothing to Fear but Frear itself" speech
==== logical fallacy 1: slave-produced exports were the driving force of the antebellum U.S. economy ====
** Precolumbian Native Americans rode on horses
* while cotton represented a significant portion of antebellum exports,  
** medieval Europe thought the world was flat
** Cinco de Mayo is Mexican independence day
** Viking helmits had horns on them
** Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake"
also: Newton and the apple, Napoleon short, War of the Worlds, Einstein bad at math
 
* todo: poupular historical notions that are true
** Aztec human sacrifice
**
 
== George Washington did not cut down a cherry tree ==
* that Washington cut down a cherry tree and, when confronted about it by his father, replied, "I cannot tell a lie" has been considered an historical fabrication
* Washington's first biographer, Parson Weems, told the story in the 5th edition of his "The Life of Washington" (1806)
** long considered apocryphal (a made up story to make a valid point), there is no evidence that Washington <nowiki>''did not''</nowiki> cut down the cherry tree
=== contrary evidence 1: the story is plausible ===
** whether or not apocryphal, Weems related the story to illustrate Washington's high character
** but the story is not implausible (unlikely):
*** Weems tells of Washington receiving a new hatchet for his sixth birthday
*** a hatchet would be a very valuable gift for a young boy and one that would certainly not go unused
*** a six-year old could plausibly chop down a small Cherry tree
=== contrary evidence 2: primary source witness to the event ===
* Weems was told the story by an elderly woman who had been friends with the family
** it is, therefore, from a primary source (a witness)
** Weems did not give her name, so she remains an anonymous primary source
** since it appeared in the 5th edition, Weems was likely to have heard from many people who wanted to add to his biography of Washington
* <u>Conclusion</u>: this source is as valid as many others that are used in the writing of history, so it is not only not contestably false but arguably true
* sources:
** https://www.nps.gov/articles/george-washington-and-the-cherry-tree.htm
 
== The Declaration's "All men are created equal" only applied to white males ==
=== purpose of statement of "equal at birth" ===
* at the First Continental Congress in 1774, the colonists official opposed Parliamentary rule with the "Declaration of Resolves of the First Continental Congress"
* thereby the colonial rebellion was against the Parliament and the King's policies
** while specifically objecting to actions taken by the King, the Declaration of Resolves did not deny the King's sovereignty
*** in fact, the objections were specifically defined as "a loyal address"
click EXPAND for first and last paragraphs of the '''Declaration of Resolves'' of 1774:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
-------------------------------------------------------------------
<pre>
Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parliament, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of America by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly imposed taxes on them, and in others, under various presences, but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue, hath imposed rates and duties payable in these colonies, established a board of commissioners, with unconstitutional powers, and extended the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, not only for collecting the said duties, but for the trial of causes merely arising within the body of a county
 
To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great Britain will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, only resolved to pursue the following peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement or association. 2. To prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America: and 3. To prepare a loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered into.</pre>
-------------------------------------------------------------------
** see
*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_and_Resolves_of_the_First_Continental_Congress
*** https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/resolves.asp
</div>
* the phrase "all men" logically refers to "all people" because:
** as included in the Declaration of Independence, the clause "that all men are created equal",
*** was a logical element designed to justify self-government and the American dissolution its ties to Britain;
*** and thereby was directed at the King of England in order to deny divine rule;
**** if "all men are created equal" and "Governments are instituted among Men," then,
**** logically, a king is just a man, born the same as any other man or woman ("Men"), as monarchs can be females, as well as males, as well as of any race;
**** thereby even a king, being born equal to all "Men," governs at the will of the people;
**** thus negating the legitimacy of "divine rule" by which the King of England (and all monarchs) justified his rule
click EXPAND to read excerpt from the Declaration of Independence:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
-------------------------------------------------------------------
<pre>We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,  That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.</pre>
-------------------------------------------------------------------
</div>
* with that primary purpose, the statement of equality of "all men are created equal" does, in fact, mean what it says
** which does, in fact, create a hypocrisy of its political and legal application to white males
** the South Carolina slave-owner, colonial army officer and, later politician, Charles Pinckney, objected to the bill of rights under the theory that any assertion of inherent, or natural, rights would also assert equality of men at birth
*** that is, Pinckney recognized the radical statement of "all men are born equal."
* having stated in the Declaration "that all men are created equal" is a "self-evident truth", then
** the Founders set in motion the most important political concept in history and creation of the modern world:
*** that all people are created equal
* its application across US history can be seen in the following events:
{| class="wikitable"
| 1820s-30s ||Jacksonian Revolution|| expansion of equality and political participation to all free white males, not just property owners
|-
| 1820s-50s ||Abolition Movement|| promotion of and actual expansion of equality and political participation to free black males in northern states
|-
| 1860s-70s||Reconstruction|| Constitutional amendments 13-15 to abolish slavery, give citizenship to former slaves, and protect the right of black males to vote
|-
| 1919 ||19th Amendment|| Constitutional amendment to secure the right to vote for women (and thus the right to full political participation)
|-
| 1950s ||Desegregation|| Supreme Court annulment of segregation and positive Federal actions on protecting equal rights for all races
|-
|}
 
== US History fallacies: slavery ==
 
=== Slavery was the basis of the colonial, early Republic, and antebellum American economy ===
* periods:
** colonial,1609-1775 (or to the end of the Revolution, 1781)
** early Republic, 1775-1815
** antebelleum ("before the war)"), 1815-1861 (start of the Civil War)
* here we must distinguish between slave and free economies, generally North and South
* modern historians have argued that slavery was the basis for the entire colonial and antebellum US economy
* this entry will look into evidence for and against that claim
 
==== background notes on colonial and antebellum slavery ====
* by 1790, Virginia and Maryland had by far the highest slave populations (w/ North Carolina following)
** slavery in the Upper South was focused on tobacco planting and processing
*** into the late 1700s, African slavery replaced indentured servitude (white immigrants who worked for ocean passage for 5 to 10 years)
** however, with the advent of mass cotton production, demand for slaves grew in the deep South
*** 500,000-800,000 slaves were sold from the Upper to the Lower southern states
**** this movement of people constituted the largest forced migration in U.S. history
**** In the book, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Harriett Beecher Stowe describe it as "to be sold down the river"
** this expansion was significant in western portions of the South, principally in the Mississippi River valley that was part of the Louisiana Purchase
*** where lands were fertile, available and inexpensive
** as cotton production grew, the southern economy became focused on the slave system that sustained it
*** not all slaves produced cotton (about 56% of slaves worked on cotton plantations by 1860)
**** but most of those who did not produce cotton worked to support the cotton economy
**** as did poor whites
*** by 1850 95% of the cotton crop was produced with slave-labor
**** (see https://www.jstor.org/stable/40056471 fn 1)
* sources:
** http://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/ushistory/chapter/the-economics-of-cotton/
** https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/167224
** https://reason.com/2018/07/19/slavery-did-not-make-america-r/
** https://networks.h-net.org/node/11465/discussions/4297558/poor-whites-antebellum-us-south-topical-guide
 
==== fallacy: large cotton plantations were more profitable than other economic activities ====
 
* cotton created enormous wealth for southern plantation owners (which was severely unequal across free whites)
* however, historians estimate from 4-10% profits on cotton farming
** for example, one small farmer who owned several slaves was able to achieve 10.6% rate of return on his cotton crop and slave/hired labor in 1860
*** see J. William Harris (1990)<ref>Harris, J. William. “The Organization of Work on a Yeoman Slaveholder’s Farm.” ''Agricultural History'', vol. 64, no. 1, Agricultural History Society, 1990, pp. 39–52, <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/3743181</nowiki>.</ref> https://www.jstor.org/stable/3743181
* >> to expand
* <u>Conclusion</u>: opportunity costs:
** investments were recycled back into cotton at
** the focus on slaveholding created a dead-weight loss
*** << to expand/ explain
 
==== fallacy: slave labor was more efficient than free labor ====
 
* historians Fogel and Engerman argued that the "gang system" of large groups of slaves working in conjunction was responsible for increased cotton harvest efficiencies
** economists Olmstead and Rhode (2008)<ref>Olmstead, Alan L., and Paul W. Rhode. “Biological Innovation and Productivity Growth in the Antebellum Cotton Economy.” ''The Journal of Economic History'', vol. 68, no. 4, [Economic History Association, Cambridge University Press], 2008, pp. 1123–71, <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/40056471</nowiki>.</ref> point out that
*** plantation owners managed and recorded picking per slave or free worker, not as groups
*** if the "gang system" was more efficient, we would expect its more widespread use, but evidence does not indicate it
*** furthermore, harvesting efficiencies peaked and flattened around 1850, despite increase in plantation sizes and its geographic spread
*** per worker "picking rates" increased and did not decrease following the Civil War and emancipation
*** the economist tracked picking rates per cotton variety and found a distinct advantage in certain varieties
** economist Robert A. Calvert (1970)<ref>Calvert, Robert A. “Nineteenth-Century Farmers, Cotton, and Prosperity.” ''The Southwestern Historical Quarterly'', vol. 73, no. 4, Texas State Historical Association, 1970, pp. 509–38, <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/30236597</nowiki>.</ref> reported significantly higher picking rates in post-Civil War, even before introduction of mechanization in the late 1880s
*** see https://www.jstor.org/stable/30236597
* Olmstead and Rhode argue that increased cotton harvesting efficiencies in to the late antebellum period were the result of new cotton varieties:
** planters constantly experimented with different varieties, seeking higher yields, pest resistance and ease of harvest
** implications of new varieties:
*** prior to their introduction, the extend of planting was limited to harvest labor capabilities
**** i.e., harvesting was the constraint upon production (limited its extent)
*** the new cottonseed varieties allowed for expansion of those harvesting capabilities
**** as the cost of their seeds rose, which further gave advantage to large plantations
* the implication is that the supremacy of the slave plantation was not due to labor efficiency but to allocation of assets and investment instead focused on large plantations
** as yeoman farmers moved west, they built cotton farms, especially in Texas
** however, they were quickly followed by large planters who bought the best land, making it unavailable to small farmers
** advantages of slave labor were therefore derived of scale and not efficiencies in scale
* see
** https://www.jstor.org/stable/40056471
** https://www.jstor.org/stable/26217427
*** https://www.jstor.org/stable/3741275
* <u>Sidenote on farming efficiencies and sharecropping</u>:
** a significant consequence of industrialization was to raise the cost of farming itself with
*** machinery
*** fertilizers
*** specialized seeds
** these costs further entrenched former slaves in the sharecropper system
** see Mauldin (2017)<ref>MAULDIN, ERIN STEWART. “Freedom, Economic Autonomy, and Ecological Change in the Cotton South, 1865–1880.” ''Journal of the Civil War Era'', vol. 7, no. 3, University of North Carolina Press, 2017, pp. 401–24, <nowiki>https://www.jstor.org/stable/26381451</nowiki>.</ref>
 
==== fallacy: slave-produced exports were the driving force of the entire antebellum U.S. economy ====
* while cotton represented a significant portion of antebellum exports,
* and while cotton was the dominant slave-produced southern agricultural product,  
* and while cotton was the dominant slave-produced southern agricultural product,  
** not all cotton was produced by slaves/ slave owners;
** exports were not a significant portion of the overall U.S. antebellum economy
** exports were not a significant portion of the overall U.S. antebellum economy
** production and exports of cotton increased significantly after the Civil War and emancipation
*<u>Conclusion</u>: slavery was not the "driving force" or basis of the slavery-era American economy
click EXPAND to view chart of US exports as portion of the economy, 1790-1860:
click EXPAND to view chart of US exports as portion of the economy, 1790-1860:
MERCHANDISE IMPORTS, EXPORTS, AND TRADE BALANCE (billions of dollars):
Year Exports GDP Exports as % of GDP
1820 0.07 0.07 10%
1830 0.07 1.01 6.90%
1840 0.12 1.55 7.70%
1850 0.14 2.56 5.40%
1860 0.33 4.32 7.60%
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
-------------------------------------------------------------------
MERCHANDISE IMPORTS, EXPORTS, AND TRADE BALANCE (billions of dollars):
{| class="wikitable"
|Year
|Value of Exports ($bn)
|Est. GDP ($bn)
|Exports as % of GDP
|Cotton % of exports
|Cotton % of GDP
|-
|1820
|0.07
|0.07
|10%
|40.0 % (est)
|4.0%
|-
|1830
|0.07
|1.01
|6.90%
|(no data)
|
|-
|1840
|0.12
|1.55
|7.70%
|(no data)
|
|-
|1850
|0.14
|2.56
|5.40%
|53.4%
|2.9%
|-
|1860
|0.33
|4.32
|7.60%
|(no data)
|
|}
* Note that about75% of total cotton production was exported
-------------------------------------------------------------------
</div>
</div>


[[File:Slavery in the 13 colonies.jpg|thumb|Enslaved populations in the Thirteen Colonies in 1770.[1]]]
[[File:Slavery in the 13 colonies.jpg|thumb|Enslaved populations in the Thirteen Colonies in 1770.[1]]]
[[File:US-SlaveryPercentbyState1790-1860.svg|thumb|Evolution of the enslaved population of the United States as a percentage of the population of each state, 1790–1860]]
[[File:US-SlaveryPercentbyState1790-1860.svg|thumb|Evolution of the enslaved population of the United States as a percentage of the population of each state, 1790–1860]]


==== logical fallacy 2: colonial period slave v. overall population growth ====
==== logical fallacy 2: colonial period slave v. overall population growth ====
Line 35: Line 234:
* growth of colonial African slavery was linear (upward but constant) until the development of the cotton gin
* growth of colonial African slavery was linear (upward but constant) until the development of the cotton gin
** up to 1800, colonial population growth was significantly higher for whites than for slaves (see chart)
** up to 1800, colonial population growth was significantly higher for whites than for slaves (see chart)
* <U>CONCLUSION</U>: therefore increases in the slave population was not the basis of the colonial development
* <u>CONCLUSION</U>: therefore increases in the slave population was not the basis of the colonial development
click EXPAND to view comparative table of colonial white and slave population growth:
click EXPAND to view comparative table of colonial white and slave population growth:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
-------------------------------------------------------------------
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|Year
|Year
Line 156: Line 356:
* after 1800, the slave population increased dramatically following introduction of the cotton gin
* after 1800, the slave population increased dramatically following introduction of the cotton gin
* non-black population growth exceeded that of blacks (free and slave) for all decennial (every 10 years) census counts except 1810 & 1880
* non-black population growth exceeded that of blacks (free and slave) for all decennial (every 10 years) census counts except 1810 & 1880
-------------------------------------------------------------------
</div>
</div>


Line 167: Line 368:
**** just as an office building has a value but its economic output is measured not by its value but by the sum of its rents
**** just as an office building has a value but its economic output is measured not by its value but by the sum of its rents


==== logical fallacy 4: black population growth for about slavery ====
==== logical fallacy 4: black population growth higher without slavery ====
* according to the decennial Census count:
* according to the decennial Census count:
** only in the 1810 Census count did black population growth ''under slavery'' exceed that of non-black population growth  
** only in the 1810 Census count did black population growth ''under slavery'' exceed that of non-black population growth  
Line 178: Line 379:
click on EXPAND to view chart of comparative population growth 1790-1990:
click on EXPAND to view chart of comparative population growth 1790-1990:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
-------------------------------------------------------------------
* Census counts marking higher black population growth are in '''bold'''
* Census counts marking higher black population growth are in '''bold'''
** note that the lowest population growth counts occur following periods of war or during the Depression (1870, 1920, 1940)
** note that the lowest population growth counts occur following periods of war or during the Depression (1870, 1920, 1940)
Line 315: Line 517:
|19.3%
|19.3%
|}
|}
-------------------------------------------------------------------
</div>
</div>
=== Slavery was not profitable ===
* in the early to mid 20th century, Confederacy apologists and "Lost Cause" historians argued that slavery was not profitable and had stagnated by the time of the Civil War
** these historians argued that, as a result its unprofitability and inefficiency, slavery as an institution would have died off on its own in the American South
** and that more profitable and efficient uses of labor and capital would replace slavery
==== contrary evidence 1: antebellum South had highest per capital wealth ====
==== problem with contrary evidence 1: Southern wealth was tied  to land and slaves ====
* the principal source of the wealth of the slave South was due to land and slave speculation
** which drove up prices and thus values
** as a result,
==== contrary evidence 1: slavery was profitable ====
* slavery was extremely profitable for large slave plantation owners
* cotton was more profitable than rice
* rice & sugar planting:
** the largest slave plantation in US history was Brookgreen plantation in South Carolina, which held 1,092 slaves engaged in rice planting
** economies of scale likely made rice and sugar planting more profitable for larger plantations
** additionally, sugar planting required large investments in equipment to process sugar cane, thereby making for economies of scale for larger sugar plantations


=== Colonial and early Republic southern white slave owners & manumission ===
=== Colonial and early Republic southern white slave owners & manumission ===
Line 327: Line 551:
click EXPAND to read passage by Jefferson on liberty, slavery and emancipation from the Notes on the State of Virginia, 1790:
click EXPAND to read passage by Jefferson on liberty, slavery and emancipation from the Notes on the State of Virginia, 1790:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
<pre>And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God  That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?  Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep for ever; that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events; that it may be come probable by supernatural interference!  The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.  But it is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject through the various considerations of policy, of morals, of history natural and civil.  We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every one=s mind.  I think a change already perceptible, since the origin of the present revolution.  The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is disposed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the masters, rather than by their extirpation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII</pre>
<pre>And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God  That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?  Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep for ever; that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events; that it may be come probable by supernatural interference!  The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.  But it is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject through the various considerations of policy, of morals, of history natural and civil.  We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every one=s mind.  I think a change already perceptible, since the origin of the present revolution.  The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is disposed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the masters, rather than by their extirpation.</pre>
- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII
-------------------------------------------------------------------
</div>
</div>
==== Fallacy no. 2: white slave owners did not free their slaves ====
==== Fallacy no. 2: white slave owners did not free their slaves ====
Line 334: Line 560:
click EXPAND to read the Wikipedia entry on Robert Carter III's manumission (freeing) of his slaves:
click EXPAND to read the Wikipedia entry on Robert Carter III's manumission (freeing) of his slaves:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
-------------------------------------------------------------------
<pre>Manumission<br>
<pre>Manumission<br>
In the years after the Revolutionary War, Virginia's legislature (having barred the slave trade in 1778) passed several laws sympathetic to freeing slaves, although it did not pass a law legalizing manumission until 1782, and throttled many petitions for wider emancipation. Numerous slaveholders in the Chesapeake Bay area freed their slaves, often in their wills (like Quaker John Pleasants) or deeds, and noted principles of equality and Revolutionary ideals as reason for their decisions. The number of free African Americans increased in the Upper South from less than one percent before the Revolution, to 10 percent by 1810. In Delaware, three-fourths of the slaves had been freed by 1810. In the decade after the act's passage, Virginians had freed 10,000 slaves, without visible social disruptions. The price of slaves reached a 20-year low as the percentage listed as "black, tithable" (i.e. slaves) fell below 40%, the lowest point in the century. However, Virginia's courts sidestepped issuing appellate decisions ratifying emancipation until 1799, and the methodology of within-life emancipation was not established.</pre>
In the years after the Revolutionary War, Virginia's legislature (having barred the slave trade in 1778) passed several laws sympathetic to freeing slaves, although it did not pass a law legalizing manumission until 1782, and throttled many petitions for wider emancipation. Numerous slaveholders in the Chesapeake Bay area freed their slaves, often in their wills (like Quaker John Pleasants) or deeds, and noted principles of equality and Revolutionary ideals as reason for their decisions. The number of free African Americans increased in the Upper South from less than one percent before the Revolution, to 10 percent by 1810. In Delaware, three-fourths of the slaves had been freed by 1810. In the decade after the act's passage, Virginians had freed 10,000 slaves, without visible social disruptions. The price of slaves reached a 20-year low as the percentage listed as "black, tithable" (i.e. slaves) fell below 40%, the lowest point in the century. However, Virginia's courts sidestepped issuing appellate decisions ratifying emancipation until 1799, and the methodology of within-life emancipation was not established.</pre>
* from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Carter_III#Manumission
* from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Carter_III#Manumission
-------------------------------------------------------------------
</div>
</div>
<references />
== Myth: factory conditions in late 19th century United States industrial economy were abusive and paid low wages ==
* Factory wages were higher in the United States than in other countries
* higher wages in the U.S. were a primary migration "pull" factor
** many, up to half, even, of the immigrants who came to the U.S. planned to make money to send back to their families in their home countries, then return
* U.S. states regulated factory conditions more closely than did other nations

Latest revision as of 17:14, 12 August 2023

Creating Common historical fallacies taught by high school & other teachers

  • teachers are frequently responsible for erroneous historical facts or interpretations
    • teachers have a point of view that inescapably informs their teaching
  • the best teachers "teach" not "preach"
    • but even the most objectively-minded teacher has as a point of view, an underlying outlook
  • todo:
    • FDR "Nothing to Fear but Frear itself" speech
    • Precolumbian Native Americans rode on horses
    • medieval Europe thought the world was flat
    • Cinco de Mayo is Mexican independence day
    • Viking helmits had horns on them
    • Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake"

also: Newton and the apple, Napoleon short, War of the Worlds, Einstein bad at math

  • todo: poupular historical notions that are true
    • Aztec human sacrifice

George Washington did not cut down a cherry tree[edit | edit source]

  • that Washington cut down a cherry tree and, when confronted about it by his father, replied, "I cannot tell a lie" has been considered an historical fabrication
  • Washington's first biographer, Parson Weems, told the story in the 5th edition of his "The Life of Washington" (1806)
    • long considered apocryphal (a made up story to make a valid point), there is no evidence that Washington ''did not'' cut down the cherry tree

contrary evidence 1: the story is plausible[edit | edit source]

    • whether or not apocryphal, Weems related the story to illustrate Washington's high character
    • but the story is not implausible (unlikely):
      • Weems tells of Washington receiving a new hatchet for his sixth birthday
      • a hatchet would be a very valuable gift for a young boy and one that would certainly not go unused
      • a six-year old could plausibly chop down a small Cherry tree

contrary evidence 2: primary source witness to the event[edit | edit source]

  • Weems was told the story by an elderly woman who had been friends with the family
    • it is, therefore, from a primary source (a witness)
    • Weems did not give her name, so she remains an anonymous primary source
    • since it appeared in the 5th edition, Weems was likely to have heard from many people who wanted to add to his biography of Washington
  • Conclusion: this source is as valid as many others that are used in the writing of history, so it is not only not contestably false but arguably true
  • sources:

The Declaration's "All men are created equal" only applied to white males[edit | edit source]

purpose of statement of "equal at birth"[edit | edit source]

  • at the First Continental Congress in 1774, the colonists official opposed Parliamentary rule with the "Declaration of Resolves of the First Continental Congress"
  • thereby the colonial rebellion was against the Parliament and the King's policies
    • while specifically objecting to actions taken by the King, the Declaration of Resolves did not deny the King's sovereignty
      • in fact, the objections were specifically defined as "a loyal address"

click EXPAND for first and last paragraphs of the 'Declaration of Resolves of 1774:


Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parliament, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of America by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly imposed taxes on them, and in others, under various presences, but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue, hath imposed rates and duties payable in these colonies, established a board of commissioners, with unconstitutional powers, and extended the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, not only for collecting the said duties, but for the trial of causes merely arising within the body of a county

To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great Britain will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which both countries found happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, only resolved to pursue the following peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement or association. 2. To prepare an address to the people of Great-Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America: and 3. To prepare a loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered into.

  • the phrase "all men" logically refers to "all people" because:
    • as included in the Declaration of Independence, the clause "that all men are created equal",
      • was a logical element designed to justify self-government and the American dissolution its ties to Britain;
      • and thereby was directed at the King of England in order to deny divine rule;
        • if "all men are created equal" and "Governments are instituted among Men," then,
        • logically, a king is just a man, born the same as any other man or woman ("Men"), as monarchs can be females, as well as males, as well as of any race;
        • thereby even a king, being born equal to all "Men," governs at the will of the people;
        • thus negating the legitimacy of "divine rule" by which the King of England (and all monarchs) justified his rule

click EXPAND to read excerpt from the Declaration of Independence:


We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,   That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

  • with that primary purpose, the statement of equality of "all men are created equal" does, in fact, mean what it says
    • which does, in fact, create a hypocrisy of its political and legal application to white males
    • the South Carolina slave-owner, colonial army officer and, later politician, Charles Pinckney, objected to the bill of rights under the theory that any assertion of inherent, or natural, rights would also assert equality of men at birth
      • that is, Pinckney recognized the radical statement of "all men are born equal."
  • having stated in the Declaration "that all men are created equal" is a "self-evident truth", then
    • the Founders set in motion the most important political concept in history and creation of the modern world:
      • that all people are created equal
  • its application across US history can be seen in the following events:
1820s-30s Jacksonian Revolution expansion of equality and political participation to all free white males, not just property owners
1820s-50s Abolition Movement promotion of and actual expansion of equality and political participation to free black males in northern states
1860s-70s Reconstruction Constitutional amendments 13-15 to abolish slavery, give citizenship to former slaves, and protect the right of black males to vote
1919 19th Amendment Constitutional amendment to secure the right to vote for women (and thus the right to full political participation)
1950s Desegregation Supreme Court annulment of segregation and positive Federal actions on protecting equal rights for all races

US History fallacies: slavery[edit | edit source]

Slavery was the basis of the colonial, early Republic, and antebellum American economy[edit | edit source]

  • periods:
    • colonial,1609-1775 (or to the end of the Revolution, 1781)
    • early Republic, 1775-1815
    • antebelleum ("before the war)"), 1815-1861 (start of the Civil War)
  • here we must distinguish between slave and free economies, generally North and South
  • modern historians have argued that slavery was the basis for the entire colonial and antebellum US economy
  • this entry will look into evidence for and against that claim

background notes on colonial and antebellum slavery[edit | edit source]

fallacy: large cotton plantations were more profitable than other economic activities[edit | edit source]

  • cotton created enormous wealth for southern plantation owners (which was severely unequal across free whites)
  • however, historians estimate from 4-10% profits on cotton farming
    • for example, one small farmer who owned several slaves was able to achieve 10.6% rate of return on his cotton crop and slave/hired labor in 1860
  • >> to expand
  • Conclusion: opportunity costs:
    • investments were recycled back into cotton at
    • the focus on slaveholding created a dead-weight loss
      • << to expand/ explain

fallacy: slave labor was more efficient than free labor[edit | edit source]

  • historians Fogel and Engerman argued that the "gang system" of large groups of slaves working in conjunction was responsible for increased cotton harvest efficiencies
    • economists Olmstead and Rhode (2008)[2] point out that
      • plantation owners managed and recorded picking per slave or free worker, not as groups
      • if the "gang system" was more efficient, we would expect its more widespread use, but evidence does not indicate it
      • furthermore, harvesting efficiencies peaked and flattened around 1850, despite increase in plantation sizes and its geographic spread
      • per worker "picking rates" increased and did not decrease following the Civil War and emancipation
      • the economist tracked picking rates per cotton variety and found a distinct advantage in certain varieties
    • economist Robert A. Calvert (1970)[3] reported significantly higher picking rates in post-Civil War, even before introduction of mechanization in the late 1880s
  • Olmstead and Rhode argue that increased cotton harvesting efficiencies in to the late antebellum period were the result of new cotton varieties:
    • planters constantly experimented with different varieties, seeking higher yields, pest resistance and ease of harvest
    • implications of new varieties:
      • prior to their introduction, the extend of planting was limited to harvest labor capabilities
        • i.e., harvesting was the constraint upon production (limited its extent)
      • the new cottonseed varieties allowed for expansion of those harvesting capabilities
        • as the cost of their seeds rose, which further gave advantage to large plantations
  • the implication is that the supremacy of the slave plantation was not due to labor efficiency but to allocation of assets and investment instead focused on large plantations
    • as yeoman farmers moved west, they built cotton farms, especially in Texas
    • however, they were quickly followed by large planters who bought the best land, making it unavailable to small farmers
    • advantages of slave labor were therefore derived of scale and not efficiencies in scale
  • see
  • Sidenote on farming efficiencies and sharecropping:
    • a significant consequence of industrialization was to raise the cost of farming itself with
      • machinery
      • fertilizers
      • specialized seeds
    • these costs further entrenched former slaves in the sharecropper system
    • see Mauldin (2017)[4]

fallacy: slave-produced exports were the driving force of the entire antebellum U.S. economy[edit | edit source]

  • while cotton represented a significant portion of antebellum exports,
  • and while cotton was the dominant slave-produced southern agricultural product,
    • exports were not a significant portion of the overall U.S. antebellum economy
    • production and exports of cotton increased significantly after the Civil War and emancipation
  • Conclusion: slavery was not the "driving force" or basis of the slavery-era American economy

click EXPAND to view chart of US exports as portion of the economy, 1790-1860:


MERCHANDISE IMPORTS, EXPORTS, AND TRADE BALANCE (billions of dollars):

Year Value of Exports ($bn) Est. GDP ($bn) Exports as % of GDP Cotton % of exports Cotton % of GDP
1820 0.07 0.07 10% 40.0 % (est) 4.0%
1830 0.07 1.01 6.90% (no data)
1840 0.12 1.55 7.70% (no data)
1850 0.14 2.56 5.40% 53.4% 2.9%
1860 0.33 4.32 7.60% (no data)
  • Note that about75% of total cotton production was exported

Enslaved populations in the Thirteen Colonies in 1770.[1]
Evolution of the enslaved population of the United States as a percentage of the population of each state, 1790–1860

logical fallacy 2: colonial period slave v. overall population growth[edit | edit source]

  • we can measure the relative importance of slavery, as well as its expansion, by studying slave population numbers and growth
  • growth of colonial African slavery was linear (upward but constant) until the development of the cotton gin
    • up to 1800, colonial population growth was significantly higher for whites than for slaves (see chart)
  • CONCLUSION: therefore increases in the slave population was not the basis of the colonial development

click EXPAND to view comparative table of colonial white and slave population growth:


Year Free Population increase % Slave Population increase %
1610 350 n/a n/a n/a
1620 2300 657.1% n/a n/a
1630 4540 197.4% 60 30.0%
1640 26003 572.8% 597 290.2%
1650 48800 187.7% 1600 32.8%
1660 72180 147.9% 2920 78.8%
1670 107365 148.7% 4535 100.6%
1680 144529 134.6% 6971 90.5%
1690 193671 134.0% 16729 99.5%
1700 223083 115.2% 27817 86.0%
1710 286834 128.6% 44866 111.6%
1720 397361 138.5% 68839 107.7%
1730 538379 135.5% 91021 97.8%
1740 755576 140.3% 150024 103.6%
1750 934380 123.7% 236420 88.1%
1760 1267794 135.7% 325806 109.7%
1770 1688278 133.2% 459822 98.1%
1780 2204980 130.6% 575420 98.1%
  • after 1800, the slave population increased dramatically following introduction of the cotton gin
  • non-black population growth exceeded that of blacks (free and slave) for all decennial (every 10 years) census counts except 1810 & 1880

logical fallacy 3: colonial per capita wealth not reliant upon slavery[edit | edit source]

  • in 1774, slavery represented a significant proportion of per capita private wealth:
    • 28.7% of national per capita wealth
    • 31.7% of southern per capita wealth
      • measured here as an asset, slavery was less than 1/3rd overall colonial wealth
      • = static measurement (snapshot of current values)
      • but not a measurement of economic output
        • just as an office building has a value but its economic output is measured not by its value but by the sum of its rents

logical fallacy 4: black population growth higher without slavery[edit | edit source]

  • according to the decennial Census count:
    • only in the 1810 Census count did black population growth under slavery exceed that of non-black population growth
      • this growth coincided with the introduction of the cotton gin and rapid expansion of slavery across the deep South
  • notably, black population growth has exceeded non-blacks following emancipation and desegregation
    • equally notable,
  • Conclusions:
    • while slave and free black population grew significantly under slavery, emancipation and desegregation led to higher relative population growth for blacks
    • segregation inhibited black population growth, thus racial discrimination is not conducive of population growth (and we can infer from that economic activity)

click on EXPAND to view chart of comparative population growth 1790-1990:


  • Census counts marking higher black population growth are in bold
    • note that the lowest population growth counts occur following periods of war or during the Depression (1870, 1920, 1940)
    • the data also show that lower population growth for blacks occurred following segregation
Year non-Black population Growth Black population Growth
1990      218,723,813.00 9.3%     29,986,060.00 13.2%
1980      200,050,780.00 10.8%     26,495,025.00 17.3%
1970      180,631,637.00 12.6%     22,580,289.00 19.7%
1960      160,451,344.00 18.3%     18,871,831.00 25.5%
1950      135,655,075.00 14.2%     15,042,286.00 16.9%
1940      118,803,757.00 7.1%     12,865,518.00 8.2%
1930      110,883,903.00 16.4%     11,891,143.00 13.6%
1920         95,247,489.00 16.0%     10,463,131.00 6.5%
1910         82,144,503.00 22.3%       9,827,763.00 11.2%
1900         67,160,581.00 21.1%       8,833,994.00 18.0%
1890         55,459,038.00 27.3%       7,488,676.00 13.8%
1880         43,574,990.00 29.4%       6,580,793.00 34.9%
1870         33,678,362.00 24.7%       4,880,009.00 9.9%
1860         27,001,491.00 38.1%       4,441,830.00 22.1%
1850         19,553,068.00 37.8%       3,638,808.00 26.6%
1840         14,189,705.00 34.7%       2,873,648.00 23.4%
1830         10,532,060.00 33.9%       2,328,642.00 31.4%
1820           7,866,797.00 34.2%       1,771,656.00 28.6%
1810           5,862,073.00 36.1%       1,377,808.00 37.5%
1800           4,306,446.00 35.8%       1,002,037.00 32.3%
1790           3,172,006.00           757,208.00 19.3%

Slavery was not profitable[edit | edit source]

  • in the early to mid 20th century, Confederacy apologists and "Lost Cause" historians argued that slavery was not profitable and had stagnated by the time of the Civil War
    • these historians argued that, as a result its unprofitability and inefficiency, slavery as an institution would have died off on its own in the American South
    • and that more profitable and efficient uses of labor and capital would replace slavery

contrary evidence 1: antebellum South had highest per capital wealth[edit | edit source]

problem with contrary evidence 1: Southern wealth was tied to land and slaves[edit | edit source]

  • the principal source of the wealth of the slave South was due to land and slave speculation
    • which drove up prices and thus values
    • as a result,

contrary evidence 1: slavery was profitable[edit | edit source]

  • slavery was extremely profitable for large slave plantation owners
  • cotton was more profitable than rice
  • rice & sugar planting:
    • the largest slave plantation in US history was Brookgreen plantation in South Carolina, which held 1,092 slaves engaged in rice planting
    • economies of scale likely made rice and sugar planting more profitable for larger plantations
    • additionally, sugar planting required large investments in equipment to process sugar cane, thereby making for economies of scale for larger sugar plantations

Colonial and early Republic southern white slave owners & manumission[edit | edit source]

Fallacy no. 1: white slave owners did not think the institution was wrong[edit | edit source]

  • while there was extensive racism and expansion of slavery, southern whites were not unaware of the evils of the institution
  • slave-owner Thomas Jefferson famously emancipated his slaves only after his death
    • (which was a common practice)
    • however, Jefferson recognized that slavery was wrong
      • and that the "wrath" of God would punish those who violated the "liberties of the nation", which he believed should include those of slaves to be freed ("total emancipation")

click EXPAND to read passage by Jefferson on liberty, slavery and emancipation from the Notes on the State of Virginia, 1790:


And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God  That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?  Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep for ever; that considering numbers, nature and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situation, is among possible events; that it may be come probable by supernatural interference!  The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.  But it is impossible to be temperate and to pursue this subject through the various considerations of policy, of morals, of history natural and civil.  We must be contented to hope they will force their way into every one=s mind.  I think a change already perceptible, since the origin of the present revolution.  The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is disposed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the masters, rather than by their extirpation.

- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII


Fallacy no. 2: white slave owners did not free their slaves[edit | edit source]

  • slave owners did free slaves and sometimes all of their slaves, as did Virginia plantation owner Robert Carter III

click EXPAND to read the Wikipedia entry on Robert Carter III's manumission (freeing) of his slaves:


Manumission<br>
In the years after the Revolutionary War, Virginia's legislature (having barred the slave trade in 1778) passed several laws sympathetic to freeing slaves, although it did not pass a law legalizing manumission until 1782, and throttled many petitions for wider emancipation. Numerous slaveholders in the Chesapeake Bay area freed their slaves, often in their wills (like Quaker John Pleasants) or deeds, and noted principles of equality and Revolutionary ideals as reason for their decisions. The number of free African Americans increased in the Upper South from less than one percent before the Revolution, to 10 percent by 1810. In Delaware, three-fourths of the slaves had been freed by 1810. In the decade after the act's passage, Virginians had freed 10,000 slaves, without visible social disruptions. The price of slaves reached a 20-year low as the percentage listed as "black, tithable" (i.e. slaves) fell below 40%, the lowest point in the century. However, Virginia's courts sidestepped issuing appellate decisions ratifying emancipation until 1799, and the methodology of within-life emancipation was not established.

  1. Harris, J. William. “The Organization of Work on a Yeoman Slaveholder’s Farm.” Agricultural History, vol. 64, no. 1, Agricultural History Society, 1990, pp. 39–52, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3743181.
  2. Olmstead, Alan L., and Paul W. Rhode. “Biological Innovation and Productivity Growth in the Antebellum Cotton Economy.” The Journal of Economic History, vol. 68, no. 4, [Economic History Association, Cambridge University Press], 2008, pp. 1123–71, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40056471.
  3. Calvert, Robert A. “Nineteenth-Century Farmers, Cotton, and Prosperity.” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, vol. 73, no. 4, Texas State Historical Association, 1970, pp. 509–38, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30236597.
  4. MAULDIN, ERIN STEWART. “Freedom, Economic Autonomy, and Ecological Change in the Cotton South, 1865–1880.” Journal of the Civil War Era, vol. 7, no. 3, University of North Carolina Press, 2017, pp. 401–24, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26381451.

Myth: factory conditions in late 19th century United States industrial economy were abusive and paid low wages[edit | edit source]

  • Factory wages were higher in the United States than in other countries
  • higher wages in the U.S. were a primary migration "pull" factor
    • many, up to half, even, of the immigrants who came to the U.S. planned to make money to send back to their families in their home countries, then return
  • U.S. states regulated factory conditions more closely than did other nations