“For over two centuries we’ve been trapping ourselves inside a narrow national narrative”
How do we decide which stories from history to tell? By, says Ray Raphael, creating a suitable, sometimes easy narrative. At TEDxEureka, Raphael uses the American Revolution to show how this narrative might not be as accurate as we think, and asks that as gatekeepers of the past, we become aware of how easily our narratives can be manipulated.
Among Ray Raphael's 17 books is The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord, which chronicles the 1774 Massachusetts Revolution featured in this talk. Raphael also authored A People's History of the American Revolution (the first volume in Howard Zinn's "People's History" series), Founding Myths: Stories That Hide Our Patriotic Past, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Founding Fathers and the Birth of Our Nation.