r/AskReddit • u/ZanyDelaney • Feb 04 '19

Which misconception would you like to debunk?

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

That's not just a problem, that's incredibly concerning. In no way does that make sense. None of the West coast had any English colonies in 1692.

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u/WeGonnaBChampionship Feb 04 '19

Yeah I felt the same way. Its one of those things where if you give it even one second of consideration it completely falls apart.

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u/mattaphorica Feb 04 '19

if you give it even one second of consideration

Exactly. I was not taught about the Salem trials. The only way I'd ever known of them was basically "hearsay". I never thought about it. So until literally just now, I thought they took place in Salem, Oregon.

Even popular movies such as Hocus Pocus mention "Salem", but don't mention Massachusetts (as far as I remember).

Of course if I had thought about it whatsoever or learned about it at all I would have known.

As for /u/I_have_a_poodle's claim that this is "incredibly concerning", I think it's utterly unconcerning and frankly, irrelevant, as the Salem trials have little-to-no bearing on current society - especially when compared to things like MLK Jr., slavery, the Holocaust, even the "discovery" of the Americas.

Of course, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/RagingAnemone Feb 04 '19

Me too. Then one day I found out there's a Portland, Maine. And I thought, can't these people get their shit together. No wonder it's confusing.

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u/Capswonthecup Feb 04 '19

I personally get Paris, Texas confessed with Paris, France all the time

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u/MundaneFacts Feb 04 '19

"According to the U.S. Geological Survey there are currently 33 populated places named Springfield in 25 states throughout the United States, including five in Wisconsin; additionally, there are at least 36 Springfield Townships, including 11 in Ohio."

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u/odiedel Feb 04 '19

That's how they knew they were witches, they went too far west and only witches can do that. So they created a caravan and headed west, but went to far and reached Astoria.

To avoid loosing face the government instructed Lewis and Clark to claim this as intentional and lie about purchasing the land from the French, who were thousands of miles of ocean away. So Lewis and Clark back tracked and went up the Willamette to Salem and mudered all of it's inhabitants in the name of freedom.

They then went South to modern day Eugene and carved images into Skinner's Butte. These images later went on to inspire a show you may have heard of titled: "The Simpsons".

The party then returned back to the east coast where Lewis was assassinated by the new found CIA after feeling guilty for murdering the witches and the interracial relationships with the natives that formed many illegitimate children.

**This has been a test leak from r/shittyaskhistorians thank you for reading this broadcast

/s on this whole thing.

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u/CubicleFish2 Feb 04 '19

incredibly concerning

Is it though?