--- In HRSepCnS@yahoogroups.com, "buckeyeelo" <buckeyeelo@...> wrote:
I had sent the following email to The History Channel (A&E Network it
turns out)
The following was my email and their reply to date
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 13:49:00 -0400
To: [deleted]
From: "viewer relations (EXCHANGE)" <thc.viewerrelations@...>
Subject: Re: AE Help Desk
At 10:42 AM 9/4/2006 -0400, you wrote:
The request below was made from the help desk:
First Name: [delete]
Last Name: [detete]
Request Type: comment
Request: The following program aired on Sunday September 3, 2006 at
5:00 PM [on the history Channel]
The Revolution: 12 - Road to the Presidency.
It contained inaccurate information near the end
(This is also being sold ad a DVD which contains the same inaccurate
information
The information I refer to is that Geo Washington added So Help Me
God to
his swearing in.
That is a myth. The actual facts are that never happened.
There is absolutely no contemporary evidence that supports that myth.
The first mention of that myth appears in the 1840s in two books
published
at that time.
There is no evidence that any President ever uttered those words until
approx the 1880s
Dr. Mike Newdow and a group of others researching this with him have all
the evidence that shows beyond any doubt that Washington and the So Help
Me God addition is a myth and not factual at all.
ja
Dear Mr. [delete]
Thank you for your recent e-mail pointing out a possible error in our
program THE REVOLUTION: A PRESIDENT AND HIS REVOLUTION.
We have forwarded your e-mail to our programming department for review.
Cordially,
Viewer Relations
LATEST UPDATE FROM THEM AND ME BACK TO THEM
On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:34:54 -0400, you wrote:
[SNIPPED THE REPEAT OF MY LETTER TO THEM AND THEIR FIRST REPLY]
:|>
:|>Dear Mr. Alison,
:|>
:|>Thank you for your recent e-mail pointing out a possible error in our
:|>program THE REVOLUTION: A PRESIDENT AND HIS REVOLUTION.
:|>
:|>We have forwarded your e-mail to our programming department for review.
:|>
:|>
:|>Cordially,
:|>Viewer Relations
:|>
:|>
:|>Dear Mr. Alison,
:|
:|Again, we appreciate your interest in The History Channel program THE
:|REVOLUTION: A PRESIDENT AND HIS REVOLUTION. We forwarded your remarks to
:|the producer, who responded as follows:
:|
:|
:|"I am not sure what Mr. Alison means by "There is no contemporary evidence
:|that supports this myth" but there seems to be a consensus that extends
:|well beyond Bruce Chadwick, our historian, who told us this story on camera.
You can tell the producer that (1) Consensus is not evidence, nor proof nor
is it primary source documentation. (2) There is no contemporary evidence
that supports this myth" means exactly that. There is no contemporary
evidence that supports Geo Washington saying "So help me God."
No letters written by anyone present on the balcony, no newspaper reports,
no journal or diary entries that say he ever said those words. No official
reports from diplomats back to their countries mentioning he ever said
those words
That producer will not be able to find one valid primary source document
that supports the myth that G Washington ever said those words. On the
other hand we can provide a huge amount of valid primary source evidence
supporting the fact no one ever said he said those words that the story of
him saying those words never surfaced until long after the event with the
source of the story being a person not above inventing such things
:|
:|I would refer Mr. Alison to the U.S. Senate, the National Archives
:|publications, the White House website and even the sites for PBS and the BBC.
I am aware of everyone of those and everyone of those are incorrect. Not a
single on of those sources provide a single contemporary document that
upholds their position.
:|
:|Exact links are:
:|
:|http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/chronology/gwashington1789.htm
:|
:|http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2000/winter/abrupt-transition-1.html
:|
:|http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060607-3.html
:|
:|http://www.pbs.org/newshour/inauguration/history.html
:|
:|http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1125080.stm"
:|
:|Regards,
:|Viewer Relations
Here is a very brief summation of the evidence:
As already stated above there is not a single valid report from that day
stating that Washington ever said those words. That includes from anyone on
the balcony with him and from anyone within hearing distance from the
balcony. That includes witnesses reports officials from other countries
etc.
No biography written about Washington, prior to the 1854 that includes the
swearing in ceremonies makes any mention of Washington altering the US
Constitution by adding those words.
In the 1850s two books were published that tells a revised story and the
very first appearance of the story that Washington said So help me God
appears in American History
The author and book title was
Rufus W. Griswold, The Republican Court; or, American Society in the
Days of Washington. ( 1854 55 )
Griswold states in his book that he was told the story by another
who also published the story in his book when his set of books were
published a year or so later. That man's name was Washington Irving and
the set of books five-volume The Life of George Washington(1855-59).
Washington irving was suppose to have been a eye witness and is suppose to
have heard Washington say those words.
However, Washington Irving had just turned 6 years of age two weeks prior
to this event and furthermore placed himself in the crowd at street level
a block away from the balcony where the swearing in took place,.
We have copies of letters or diary entries written by people just across
the street from the balcony at the same level as the balcony or higher
saying they couldn't clearly hear what was being said on the balcony.
Thus no boy a block away would have heard anything that was said
For general information, part of the myth is that every President after
Washington also said So help me God when sworn in. That too is a myth. The
evidence shows that no President ever uttered such words until the late
1800s and even then not every President did so. There were a few who
didn't
You can give the producer my email address directly if you like so that he
may contact me, or i can provide the email address for Dr. Michael Newdow
who began this research and who basucally has all the research.
It's is up to the rprducer if they are interested in facts or myths
Thanks
ja
.
