Johnny Appleseed

I listened to a podcast by "Stuff You Missed in History Class". This episode was about the life of Johnny Appleseed and who he really was. It was an interesting piece and helped me understand who he really was rather than know him through mythology and the disney version of him.

The way they told about his life was from other peoples accounts. They always make sure we know that they do not know for sure if it was true because there is not a lot of record but just word of mouth. They said he left his home when he was either 18 or 21. At the time everyone was planting apple trees so to say that he was the only one doing it was false. Apples at the time were not used to eat but for cider, vinegar, and alcohol drinks.

What I found interesting about him is that he was part of a church and would go around and preach the gospel. He was very giving and if anyone needed trees than he would give them what he had. He did not own much and whenever he did he would lose it because he would move away or stop paying. They do not know for sure if he ever saw his family again and it says that he lived until the age of 70, which at that time was very old because most lived until late 40s.

There are many prominent figures in America today and it is interesting how we hear these stories compared to how they really are. Many prominent figures are mythologized and made as a hero. Why do people make up stories or change them? Is it because they want a good story to tell? In Elementary I learned about Columbus that he was the one who found America and he is looked at really highly when in reality he did not make it to America. I like being a history major because you can learn the truth about who people really were and what they did rather than the Disney version. History has been construed for entertainment and it is hard for people to hear that our American heroes weren't always the great men that they are said to be.

It was an interesting story about the life of Johnny Appleseed. I did not know that he was actually a real person and that there was records of him.

http://www.learnoutloud.com/podcaststream/listen.php?url=http://netstorage.discovery.com/DMC-FEEDS/xml/Fact_or_Fiction06092008_180306.xml&all=1&title=30505