11 facts you learned about US history that are false

你所了解的11個美國歷史事實是錯誤的
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Some things you've learned in school may havesince been proven false, and that is especially true when it comes to UShistory.Many say history is written by the winner, leaving much of the truthout. In recent years, historians and experts have been coming forward to revealthe true stories around some of America's biggest historical events.

一些你從學校所獲知的東西已經(jīng)被證實是錯誤的，尤其是當其涉及到美國歷史時。很多人說由勝利者書寫的歷史遺漏了很多事實。近年來，歷史學家和專家已經(jīng)站出來披露一些有關美國最重大的歷史事件的真實故事。

From the first Thanksgiving to the moon landing,here's everything your teacher may have gotten wrong about American history.

從第一個感恩節(jié)到登陸月球，以下是所有你的老師可能搞錯的美國歷史事件。

MYTH: Christopher Columbus discovered America.

謬論：克里斯托弗·哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)了美洲

TRUTH: As early as primary school, most of uslearned that Christopher Columbus discovered America, but that is not accurate.In fact, the Spanish explorer never even entered North America. On his fourtrips across the Atlantic, starting in 1492,Columbus explored the Caribbeanislands of the Bahamas and Cuba. He also couldn't have discovered America becauseNative Americans were already living there. In fact, Columbus is not even thefirst European to explore the Americas. That honor goes to the Norse explorerLeif Erikson who sailed to the Western Hemisphere over 400 years earlier. Thenwhy is Columbus such a notable figure in American history? It's most likelybecause he started a new age of exploration and his trips to the New World ledto colonization.

事實：早在小學時我們中的大部分人就得知克里斯托弗·哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)了美洲大陸，但這是不準確的。事實上，這名西班牙探險家從未踏上過北美大陸。自他于1492年開始的四次橫渡大西洋的旅程當中，哥倫布探索了巴哈馬和古巴的加勒比海諸島。他也未能發(fā)現(xiàn)美洲，因為美洲土著早已經(jīng)生活在這里。事實上，哥倫布甚至不是第一個探索美洲的歐洲人。這項榮譽屬于挪威探險家列夫·埃里克森，早在400年前他就航行到過西半球，那么為什么在美國歷史上哥倫布是一位如此值得一提的重要人物呢?最有可能的是因為他開啟了一個新的探索時代并且他的新大陸之行導致了殖民。

MYTH: Christopher Columbus sailed on the Ni?a,Pinta, and Santa Maria.

謬論：克里斯托弗·哥倫布乘坐尼娜號、平塔號和圣瑪利亞號航海

TRUTH: "In 1492, Christopher Columbussailed the ocean blue" is a common children's song most learn in school.The song also mentions his three ships, which are usually known as Ni?a, Pinta,and Santa Maria. However, his ships were likely not named any of thosethings.Historians know that the Santa Maria's real name was La Gallega and theNi?a's real name was the Santa Clara. It is not known what the Pinta's actualname was at the time.

事實：“1492年，克里斯托弗·哥倫布航行在藍色大洋上”是一首在學校里學的最多的常見童謠。這首歌同樣提到了他通常為人所知的尼娜號、平塔號和圣瑪利亞號三艘船。然而他的船可能不是它們當中的任何一個。據(jù)歷史學家所得知，圣瑪利亞號的真正名字是拉加爾加號，尼娜號真正名字是圣克拉拉號。目前尚不清楚平塔號在當時的真名。

MYTH: Pocahontas and John Smith fell in love,uniting two cultures.

謬論：波卡洪塔斯和約翰·史密斯墜入愛河聯(lián)結了兩個文明（參考動畫《風中奇緣》）

TRUTH: For starters, Pocahontas wasn't even herreal name. Her official name was Amonute. Pocahontas was her nickname, whichmeant "playful" or "ill-behaved child." That's right,Pocahontas was just a child, about 11 or 12 years old, so it is very unlikelythere was any romance between her and John Smith, a grown man. In his journals,John Smith wrote that Pocahontas saved his life when her family tried toexecute him. He also wrote that during his captivity, the two became close andtaught each other their languages, but never mentioned anything romantichappening between them.

事實：首先。波卡洪塔斯甚至不是她的真名，她的正式名字是Amonute。波卡洪塔斯是她的綽號，意思是“頑皮的”或者“行為不良的孩子”。沒錯，波卡洪塔斯只是個孩子，大概11、12歲。因此在她和約翰·史密斯這個成人之間基本不大可能存在任何浪漫史。約翰·史密斯在他的日記中記述了當波卡洪塔斯的家人打算處決他時，她救了他一命。他還寫道，在他被囚禁期間，這兩個人變得親密起來并互相教授彼此的語言，但從未提到過兩人之間發(fā)生過任何浪漫故事。

MYTH: The first Thanksgiving was a peaceful andjoyous meal shared between the Pilgrims and Native Americans.

謬論：第一個感恩節(jié)是清教徒與美洲土著共享的和平而愉快的一餐

TRUTH: In school, most were taught that thePilgrims came over on the Mayflower and sought help from the Native Americansto survive in the New World. In 1620, the two groups supposedly came togetherfor a three-day feast to celebrate their relationship and new lives together.But many historians say this was not the case. The two groups had a lot ofhostile feelings towards each other. The Pilgrims viewed Native Americans assavages, and stole their farmland. They also killed more than 90% of the nativepopulation with smallpox, brought over on the Mayflower. These hostile conditions,historians believe, did not lead to a celebratory first Thanksgiving. In fact,some say the Native Americans were not even invited to the feast.

事實：在學校里，大部分人被教導清教徒乘五月花號而來，為了在新世界生存下去而向美洲土著求助。據(jù)說這兩個群體在1620年聚集在一起舉行了三天的盛宴來慶祝他們的友誼和在一起的新生活。但很多歷史學家說情況并非如此。這兩個群體對彼此抱有很大敵意，清教徒認為美洲土著是野蠻的并偷竊他們的農(nóng)田。還利用五月花號攜帶過來的天花病毒殺死了超過90%的土著人口。歷史學家相信在這些敵對的條件下不會有首個慶祝性的感恩節(jié)，事實上，有些人稱美洲土著甚至從未被邀請參加過盛宴。

MYTH: Witches were burned at the stake at theSalem witch trials.

謬論：在塞勒姆女巫審判中，女巫被燒死在火刑柱上

TRUTH: While most associate the Salem witchtrials of 1692 with witches burning at the stake, the truth is that not asingle person was burned. Of the 20 people who were convicted of practicingmagic, 19 were hung near Gallows Hill and one person was tortured to death. Butthroughout history, many referenced burning witches at the stake, so it caughton. For example, a magazine in 1860 wrote, "The North ... having begunwith burning witches, will end by burning us!"

事實：盡管大多數(shù)人將1692年的塞勒姆女巫審判與被燒死在火刑柱上的女巫聯(lián)系在一起，但事實是沒有一個人被燒死。 在20名被判有使用魔法罪的人中，有19人被吊死在絞架嶺附近，一人被折磨至死?？v觀歷史，很多人提到過在火刑柱上燒死女巫，因此這種說法流行起來，例如1860年的一本雜志寫道“北方……已經(jīng)燒死女巫，最終將以燒死我們結束！”

MYTH: Paul Revere rode horseback through thestreets of Massachusetts yelling, "the British are coming!"

謬論：保羅·里維爾騎馬穿過馬薩諸塞州的街道，高喊著“英國人要來了！”。

TRUTH: Paul Revere did ride horseback to warnthat the British were fast approaching Lexington, but he was not screaming.Instead, he was much more discreet since British troops might have been hidingnearby. He also wasn't alone. He was first joined by two other patriots, with 40more joining by the end of the night. Lastly, he would never have called them"British" because many of the colonists still considered themselvesBritish. At the time, he would have used the term "Regulars" to warnpatriots about the invasion. We have Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to thank forthis misconception. He wrote "Paul Revere's Ride" in 1861 and gotmost of the facts wrong.

事實：保羅·里維爾的確騎馬警告英國人正迅速逼近列克星敦，但他并未尖叫，相反地，由于英軍可能已經(jīng)隱藏在附近，他非常謹慎。而且他并非孤身一人。一開始有兩個其他愛國者加入，等到快天亮時有40多人加入進來。最后，他絕不會稱他們?yōu)橛?，因為大多?shù)殖民者仍然視自己為英國人。在當時，他會使用術語“正規(guī)軍”來向愛國者們預警這次入侵。我們有亨利·沃茲沃思·朗費羅來感謝這種誤解。他在1861年撰寫了《保羅·里維爾的騎行》，并將大部分事實搞錯了。

MYTH: George Washington had wooden teeth.

謬論：喬治·華盛頓有木牙
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TRUTH: The first president of the United States,George Washington, did not, in fact, have wooden teeth. But he did have a lotof dental issues. The former war general wore dentures made of ivory, gold, andlead. But wood was never used in dentures and it was definitely not found inWashington's mouth. No one truly knows how or why this rumor started. Somehistorians say that the ivory may have been worn down, therefore having agrainy, wooden appearance, confusing early observers.

事實：美國第一任總統(tǒng)喬治·華盛頓實際上并沒有木制牙齒，但他的確有很多牙齒上的問題，這位前戰(zhàn)爭時期的將軍使用由象牙、金子和鉛制成的假牙，但木頭從未被用于假牙，而且可以肯定的是在華盛頓的口中沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)假牙。沒人真正地知道這個謠言是如何以及為什么開始的。一些歷史學家稱象牙可能已經(jīng)被磨損了，因此具有顆粒狀的木質外觀，使很多早期觀察者感到困惑。

MYTH: The Declaration of Independence was signedon July 4, 1776.

謬論：獨立宣言簽署于1776年7月4日

TRUTH: While many believe we are celebrating theDeclaration of Independence's signing on the Fourth of July, it was actuallysigned in August of 1776. The confusion lies in the fact that July 4 was theday the final edition of the document was agreed upon. It was the deadline theContinental Congress gave itself and wrote down, though it wouldn't be signedfor another month.

盡管很多人相信我們正在慶祝7月4日簽署的獨立宣言，但它實際上簽署于1776年8月?；煜谟?月4日是文件最終版本取得一致意見的日子，這是大陸會議給自身規(guī)定并寫下的最后期限，不過一個月后它才會被簽署。

MYTH: Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.

謬論：托馬斯·愛迪生發(fā)明了電燈泡

TRUTH: In the late 1800s, Thomas Edison waswidely considered a genius after he invented the light bulb. But some sayEdison is not the sole inventor. In fact, there were over 20 inventors who hadcreated the incandescent light bulb before him. Additionally, it's rumored thathe borrowed (or stole) details from those other inventors. So, why does Edisonget all the credit? In part, he was a great salesman, and he knew how tooutpace everyone else who was working on the light bulb. Edison was luckyenough to receive the important patents he needed to be solely credited for theinvention.

事實：在19世紀末，在托馬斯·愛迪生發(fā)明電燈泡后，他被人們普遍認為是一個天才。但一些人稱愛迪生不是唯一的發(fā)明者。事實上在愛迪生之前有超過20個發(fā)明家已經(jīng)創(chuàng)造出了白熾燈。此外有傳言稱他從其他發(fā)明家那里借（或偷）了技術細節(jié)。那么，為什么愛迪生獲得了所有功勞？部分原因是，他是個了不起的推銷員并且他知道如何超過每一個研究電燈泡的人。愛迪生很幸運地獲得了他所需的重要專利，這是這項發(fā)明唯一的功勞。

MYTH: Slavery largely happened in the South.

謬論：奴隸制主要發(fā)生在南方

TRUTH: Many associate slavery with the South,but the truth is that slavery existed in every colony before the RevolutionaryWar. In fact, Massachusetts was the first colony to legalize slavery, and NewYork had over 1,600 slaves in 1720. Equally upsetting is the fact thatpresidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both owned slaves.

事實：很多人將奴隸制和南方聯(lián)系在一起，但事實是在獨立戰(zhàn)爭之前奴隸制存在于每一個殖民地。事實上馬薩諸塞州是第一個將奴隸制合法化的殖民地，并且紐約在1720年擁有超過1600名奴隸。同樣令人沮喪的事實是總統(tǒng)喬治·華盛頓和托馬斯·杰斐遜都擁有自己的奴隸。

MYTH: Neil Armstrong said, "One small step forman, one giant leap for mankind," when he landed on the moon.

謬論：尼爾·阿姆斯特朗在登上月球后說過“這是人類的一小步，卻是人類的一大步”

TRUTH: If you examine the famous line uttered byNeil Armstrong in 1969, you realize it doesn't really make sense. Because"man" and "mankind" essentially meant the same thing, ifhis famous line was accurate, what he basically said was, "that's onesmall step for mankind, one giant leap for mankind." Upon returning home,Armstrong clarified that he did say "one small step for a man," whichmakes much more sense. Peter Shann Ford, a computer programmer, said he foundproof that the missing "a" was actually just lost in transmissionback to Earth.

事實：如果你仔細檢查尼爾·阿姆斯特朗在1969年說過的這句名言，你會意識到它實際上講不通。因為"man"and "mankind"本質上是指的同一事物，如果他的名言是準確的，他基本上說的是“這是人類的一小步，卻是人類的一大步”。回到地球后，阿姆斯特朗澄清他的確說過“一個人的一小步”，這樣就講得通了。一名叫做彼得·尚恩·福特計算機程序設計員稱，他發(fā)現(xiàn)了證據(jù)證明缺少的“A”實際上在傳輸回地球的過程中丟失了。