Folklore of the United States
Folklore of the United States encompasses the myths, legends, tall tales, oral traditions, music, customs, and cultural expressions that have developed within the United States over centuries. It reflects the diverse origins of the nation’s people, drawing from Native American traditions, European settler narratives, African American storytelling, and the folklore of immigrant communities from Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere.
American folklore includes iconic figures such as Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed, regional creatures like Bigfoot and the Jersey Devil; and urban legends that persist into the digital age. It also incorporates folk music, superstitions, ghost stories, and festival traditions that vary across regions and populations.
As a dynamic and evolving body of cultural expression, U.S. folklore continues to adapt to new technologies, social changes, and hybrid identities, remaining a vital lens through which Americans interpret their shared—and contested—histories.
Native American Folklore
cultures are rich in myths and legends that explain natural phenomena and the relationship between humans and the spirit world. According to Barre Toelken, feathers, beadwork, dance steps, music, the events in a story, the shape of a dwelling, or items of traditional food can be viewed as icons of cultural meaning.Native American cultures are numerous and diverse. Though some neighboring cultures hold similar beliefs, others can be quite different from one another. The most common myths are the creation myths, which tell a story to explain how the earth was formed and where humans and other beings came from. Others may include explanations about the Sun, Moon, constellations, specific animals, seasons, and weather. This is one of the ways that many tribes have kept, and continue to keep, their cultures alive; these stories are told as a way of preserving and transmitting the nation, tribe, or band's particular beliefs, history, customs, spirituality, and traditional way of life. According to Barre Toelken, "Stories not only entertain but also embody Native behavioral and ethical values."
Although individual tribes have their own sacred beliefs and myths, many stories have much in common. Myths about floods are almost universal amongst Plains tribes, usually ending with the restoration of the submerged earth. There are many "hero stories" immortalising the adventures of heroes with supernatural powers, who right wrongs and defeat evils. Animal tales are common, some explaining how features of certain animals occurred, some using animal characters for narration, and others using animals symbolically. There are also myths where supernatural beings appear in the form of animals, with the bear, elk, eagle, owl, and snake frequently referred to."
Founding myths
The founding of the United States is often surrounded by national myths, legends, and tall tales. Many stories have developed since the founding long ago to become a part of America's folklore and cultural awareness, and non-Native American folklore especially includes any narrative which has contributed to the shaping of American culture and belief systems. These narratives have varying levels of historical accuracy; the veracity of the stories is not a determining factor.Christopher Columbus
is an important figure in the body of American myth. His status, not unlike that of most American icons, is representative not of his accomplishments, but of the self-perception of the society that chose him as a hero. Having severed its ties with England and its cultural icons, the young United States was left without a history or heroes on which to base a shared sense of its social identity. Washington Irving was instrumental in popularizing Columbus. His version of Columbus' life, published in 1829, was more a romance than a biography. The book was very popular, and contributed to an image of the mariner as a solitary individual who challenged the unknown sea, as triumphant Americans contemplated the dangers and promise of their own wilderness frontier. As a consequence of his vision and audacity, there was now a land free from kings, a vast continent for new beginnings.In reality, Columbus never stepped foot in the land that would become the United States of America. Despite this fact, early American history books and biographies like those authored by Irving and George Bancroft painted Columbus as a noble explorer guided by God to reach the New World. Historian Jeremy Belknap argued that Columbus was a brilliant navigator who fully understood his discovery and was unappreciated by the monarchs. The idea that this was a preordained event later led the Christian settlers to believe that it was their purpose to colonize the North American continent, while the view of Columbus as a genius dependent on monarchical good will turned him into a lauded revolutionary figure.
In the years following the Revolution, the poetic device "Columbia" was used as a symbol of both Columbus and America. The first mascot of the United States, Columbia appears as a female personification of the United States itself. She was portrayed as a goddess holding a sword, olive branch, and laurel wreath. These items represented justice, peace, and victory. King's College of New York changed its name in 1792 to Columbia, and the new capital in Washington was subtitled District of Columbia.
Jamestown
In May 1607, the Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the Godspeed sailed through Chesapeake Bay and thirty miles up the James River settlers built Jamestown, Virginia, England's first permanent colony. Too late in the season to plant crops, many were not accustomed to manual labor. Within a few months, some settlers died of famine and disease. Only thirty-eight made it through their first year in the New World. The winter of 1609-1610 was known as the "Starving Time." Due to an extreme drought, hostile relations with the Powhatan, and the loss of a supply ship, the people of Jamestown were left with nothing to eat. The settlers were forced to eat their horses, cats, dogs, and boot leather. In 2013, the first direct evidence was found of cannibalism within Jamestown.Captain John Smith, a pirate turned gentleman, turned the settlers into foragers and successful traders with the Native Americans, who taught the English how to plant corn and other crops. Smith led expeditions to explore the regions surrounding Jamestown, and it was during one of these that the chief of the Powhatan Native Americans captured Smith. According to an account Smith published in 1624, he was going to be put to death until the chief's daughter, Pocahontas, saved him. From this, the legend of Pocahontas sprang forth, becoming part of American folklore, children's books, and movies.
Plymouth
is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620, and an important symbol in American history. There are no contemporary references to the Pilgrims' landing on a rock at Plymouth. The first written reference to the Pilgrims landing on a rock is found 121 years after they landed. The Rock, or one traditionally identified as it, has long been memorialized on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The holiday of Thanksgiving is said to have begun with the Pilgrims in 1621. They had come to America to escape religious persecution, but then nearly starved to death. Some friendly Native Americans, including Squanto, helped the Pilgrims survive through the first winter. The perseverance of the Pilgrims is celebrated during the annual Thanksgiving festival.Revolutionary War figures
George Washington
, the country's first president, is the most preeminent of American historical and folkloric figures, as he holds the place of "Pater Patriae". Apocryphal stories about Washington's childhood include a claim that he skipped a silver dollar across the Rappahannock River at Ferry Farm. Another tale claims that as a young child, Washington chopped down his father's cherry tree. His angry father confronted the young Washington, who proclaimed "I cannot tell a lie" and admitted to the transgression, thus illuminating his honesty. Parson Mason Locke Weems mentions the first citation of this legend in his 1806 book, The Life of George Washington: With Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honorable to Himself and Exemplary to His Young Countrymen. This anecdote cannot be independently verified. Samuel Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, is also known to have spread the story while lecturing, personalizing it by adding "I have a higher and greater standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can lie but I won't."Patrick Henry
was an attorney, planter and politician who became known as an orator during the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. Patrick Henry is best known for the speech he made in the House of Burgesses on March 23, 1775, in Saint John's Church in Richmond, Virginia. With the House undecided on whether to mobilize for military action against the encroaching British military force, Henry argued in favor of mobilization. Forty-two years later, Henry's first biographer, William Wirt, working from oral histories, tried to reconstruct what Henry said. According to Wirt, Henry ended his speech with words that have since become immortalized: "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" The crowd, by Wirt's account, jumped up and shouted "To Arms! To Arms!". For 160 years Wirt's account was taken at face value. In the 1970s, historians began to question the authenticity of Wirt's reconstruction.Betsy Ross
is widely credited with making the first American flag. There is, however, no credible historical evidence that the story is true. Research conducted by the National Museum of American History notes that the story of Betsy Ross making the first American flag for General George Washington entered into American consciousness about the time of the 1876 centennial celebrations. In the 2008 book The Star-Spangled Banner: The Making of an American Icon, Smithsonian experts point out that accounts of the event appealed to Americans eager for stories about the revolution and its heroes and heroines. Betsy Ross was promoted as a patriotic role model for young girls and a symbol of women's contributions to American history.Other Revolutionary War heroes who became figures of American folklore include: Benedict Arnold, Benjamin Franklin, Nathan Hale, John Hancock, Walter Butler, John Paul Jones, Banastre Tarleton and Francis Marion.