American Stories: Washington's Cherry Tree, Lincoln's Log Cabin, and Other Tales-True and Not-So-True-and How They Spread Throughout the Land

American Stories follows the evolution of our founding stories and myths and how they spread far and wide throughout our history. The story of the cherry tree, for example, tells us nothing about George Washington’s actual childhood, but surely it tells us something about what Americans wanted in the father of their country—an incorruptible leader of the people.

Along the same lines, the story of Betsy Ross’s flag tells us nothing about how the Stars and Stripes came to be, but does tell us...