Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Images
Betsy Ross was indeed a real person, but it's unlikely that she created the stars-and-stripes.
- Nike sparked an outpouring of criticism when it cancelled a star-spangled shoe bearing the famed "Betsy Ross flag" on the advice of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
- The sportswear company's move sparked an online debate.
- But some critics of Nike may be dramatically overstating Ross's role in the Revolution.
- The mythologizing of Ross actually dates back to America's Victorian period, and the popular version of the story we've all heard has never actually been proven.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Betsy Ross has been thrust into the culture wars, just in time for the Fourth of July. So why is America's most famous seamstress trending on Twitter?
The Wall Street Journal was first to report that Nike's planned shoe - emblazoned with the famed "Betsy Ross flag" - was kicked to the curb after Kaepernick reportedly told execs that the flag would be associated with slavery.
A screenshot of the controversial shoe's listing on sneaker-resale exchange StockX, where the shoe was being listed for as much as $2,957.
News of the shoe's cancellation has left Nike in the midst of a fierce online debate about the validity of the sportswear giant's decision.
Doug Ducey, the Republican governor of Arizona, tweeted that he "ordered the Arizona Commerce Authority to withdraw all financial incentive dollars under their discretion that the State was providing for the company to locate" in Goodyear, Arizona.
Lamenting Nike's choice, he went on to discuss Ross's role in American history.
Ross is best known for creating the first iteration of the United States' stars and stripes.
As the story goes, George Washington visited her upholstery shop in Philadelphia, unannounced, with a very special request. The new country that the general was attempting to forge needed a new standard.
Ross whipped up a red, white, and blue flag with thirteen stripes and thirteen stars, and, in doing so, threaded herself into the annals of history.
Here's the thing, though. There's no evidence that this actually happened. There's no record of Washington dropping in on Ross. It's unknown who created the first stars-and-stripes, and historians have put forward over a dozen suspects in the search for America's inaugural flag-maker.
"Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong" author James W. Loewen puts it bluntly: "Betsy Ross never did anything."
That's not true, of course. Ross was indeed a real upholsterer who lived through the American Revolution. In "Betsy Ross and the Making of America," Marla R. Miller writes that "there's no doubt that Ross was working as a Philadelphia flag maker by 1777, and over her sixty-year career she made hundreds of flags."
But her status as an American icon didn't become cemented until around 1876 - the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence - when, as Loewen writes, "some of her descendants, seeking to create a tourist attraction in Philadelphia, largely invented the myth of the first flag."
Read more: Nike faces backlash on social media after pulling US flag shoe design days before the Fourth of July
Ross immediately proved to be a popular addition to the United States' revolutionary pantheon.
"Among the few female figures to emerge as compelling characters in our national origin stories, Ross was embraced by teachers and schoolchildren, civic leaders, artists and authors of children's literature," Miller writes. In a sense, the founders needed someone for young girls to look up to, according to Miller. The winsome story repeated throughout the years by Ross's family ensured that she fit into the fabric of the nation's founding seamlessly.
Of course, Ross's true historical significance is beside the point. Regardless of whether or not she stitched up our fledgling nation's first flag, observers will criticize or laud Nike for pulling the star-spangled shoe - and debate whether the flag design is largely associated with slavery.
Meanwhile, the shoes are still technically available to purchase over at popular sneaker-resale exchange StockX, which is currently selling them for over $2,000).
And finally, it shouldn't take a controversy over a shoe for our kids to know who Betsy Ross is. A founding mother. Her story should be taught in all American schools. In the meantime, it's worth googling her. 9/9
- Doug Ducey (@dougducey) July 2, 2019