History as Interpretation

lAll history is interpretation.
lThe particular version of the past we choose to accept is determined as much by the needs of the present as by the reality of past events.
lAt times, history becomes a type of myth, a way of passing important cultural values from one generation to the next.

History as Myth

“Myth is, so to speak, a mental movie, with accompanying script, which Americans carry around in their heads regarding their heritage and sense of special destiny . . . Myth lays claim to preserving, repeating, and defending the treasury of wisdom our forebears entrusted to us.”

Nicholas Cords and Patrick Gerster,

Myth and the American Experience