My elementary school’s version of Jeopardy! was the buzzer and bell game. Miss Collins, with her bright blue eyes, frosted hair, pink shirts, and espadrilles, would divide us into teams, and we, eager 5th graders intent on earning extra credit, would study up on the Revolutionary War for the Big Day.
Miss Collins: “Who said ‘Give me liberty or give me death’?”
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Eager 5th grader: “Patrick Henry!”
Miss Collins: “Very good. Five points.”
Eager 5th graders: “Yay!”
The eager 5th graders did not know the context of the speech, or where it took place, or even who Patrick Henry was. But he did say those five words, and that’s apparently enough depth for a 5th grader.
(For those interested, Patrick Henry was an attorney and a revolutionary leader who advocated for war against the British at the second Virginia Convention in 1775. His famous speech, which ended in the extra-credit winning question above, was delivered without the use of the colonial version of the teleprompter – that is, notes.)
Back to the game.
Miss Collins: “Who sewed the first American flag?”
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Eager 5th grader: “Betsy Ross.”
Miss Collins: “Excellent! Another five points.”
Now Miss Collins was a very good teacher. When she gave students grades that were nothing to write home about, she looked them in the eye and said, “D is for darling.” And for those of us who finished our work early, we had a full classroom library to keep us busy. That Miss Collins, she was good.
But I’m not sure our team earned those five points for that last answer. Like so many historical facts, this one is brought under suspicion only because the best evidence we have that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag is from Betsy Ross herself. On her deathbed she told her grandson William Canby, “Yup, that was me.” Specious evidence there.
We do know that Mrs. Ross was a seamstress and did sew the most famous flag, with the thirteen stars (one for each original colony, thank you Miss Collins) arranged in a circle. But we can’t be sure that she even met George Washington, never mind presented him with the finished product.
The first flag was probably designed by New Jerseyan Francis Hopkinson, Chairman of the Continental Navy Board’s Middle Department. His flag, found here, has the stars arranged in an alternating horizontal pattern – three stars, then two stars.
So why is all this flag business important? Because history is more than the dates and sayings you memorized in school. And with Flag Day just around the corner (June 14), it would behoove us to accurately revisit that symbol of freedom that is so important to Americans.
Why? Because the flag means more than the droning out of the Pledge of Allegiance by uneager 5th graders. And while the Betsy Ross story is easy to remember, it’s inaccurate. So go ahead, be smarter than a 5th grader when you celebrate Flag Day this Sunday.
Tracey McCormick is Managing Editor at GreatHistory.com.
Related Articles |
Flag Day and San Francisco « SheSpoke. Find out what she said said:
[...] forget that Sunday is Flag Day. For a little history on that oft-overlooked day, go here. [...]
June 11th, 2009 at 10:31 am