Miracles and Massacres: True and Untold Stories of the Making of America

About the Writing of This Book

This book comprises twelve stories that took place over a period of about 230 years. Not one person alive today was alive when even half of these events actually took place. That means we are left with history books, biographies, oral accounts and, in some cases, court transcripts and official reports to tell us what happened. Like anything that spans so much time and, in some cases, is so controversial, these accounts often conflict with each other. It is up to all of us to read all of the evidence and discern what is fully true, what is exaggerated, and what is a lie.

This section is meant to help you better understand the research and writing process for each story, including any key decisions we made regarding major facts, characters or scenes. A chapter-by-chapter accounting is below, but there are also a few things that apply to the entire book that I want to point out.

1. We sometimes modified quotations for clarity. This mainly applies to quotes from the revolutionary period, but we occasionally modified more modern quotes as well if we felt that they left the reader confused. We tried to be as delicate as possible and we never changed the meaning of any direct quotations.

2. In some cases we imagined characters or scenes. Whenever we did this we were careful to ensure that nothing we created contradicted anything that we knew to be true from the historical record.

3. Dialogue and character thoughts were often imagined based on the historical record. None of this dialogue contradicts anything about the characters or story that we know to be true.

Chapter 1: Jack Jouett: The Ride That Saved America

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

“Charles S. Yordy, III: The Pennsylvania Line Mutiny, its Origins and Patriotism.” Unearthing the Past: Student Research on Pennsylvania History, Pennsylvania State University. http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/digital/pahistory/folder_2.html.

Crews, Ed. Captain Jack Jouett’s Ride to the Rescue. Colonial Williamsburg. http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Summer06/ride.cfm.

Jack Jouett: Louisa County’s Revolutionary Hero. Louisa County, Virginia. http://www.louisacounty.com/LCliving/jouett.htm.

“Jack Jouett of Virginia: The ‘Other Ride.’ ” Valley Compatriot. February 1984. Donal Norman Moran, ed. http://americanrevolution.org/jouett.html.

Jack Jouett’s Ride. History Happens: Stories from American History on Music Video. http://www.ushistory.com/story_jack.htm.

Jack Jouett’s Ride. Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia. http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jack-jouetts-ride.

Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/cowp/historyculture/lieutenant-colonel-banastre-tarleton.htm.

The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress: 1781. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/1781.html.

Timeline of the Revolutionary War. Ushistory.org. http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/revwartimeline.htm.

Visit the Home of the “Paul Revere of the South.” Jack Jouett House Historic Site. http://www.jouetthouse.org.

Notes on specific scenes and characters:

The scene in which Jouett overhears a conversation in the tavern is factual, but some of the dialogue is imagined to provide historical context.

The scene with Tarleton and a young, unnamed soldier at the campfire is imagined, though all of the information conveyed in the scene is factual.

The scene in which Jouett arrives at Monticello is factual, but the dialogue is fictional. There is no record of what he actually said to Jefferson, but the imagined dialogue is supported by reports of how Jefferson reacted.

The scene in which the Dragoons arrive in Monticello is based on the records that we believe are most authentic. That said, there are varying accounts of how Jefferson responded to Jouett’s news (some have him eating breakfast before heading out) and where he rode to first (one account says that he rode up the mountain and hid in the hollowed-out shell of an oak tree).

The scene at the end with Jouett and Stevens is factual, but the dialogue is imagined.

Chapter 2: Shays’ Rebellion: A Loud and Solemn Lesson

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts Passed by the General Court: 1786–87. http://archive.org/details/actsresolvespass178687mass.

Allen, Herbert S. John Hancock: Patriot in Purple. Beechhurst Press, 1953.

Barry, John Stetson. The History of Massachusetts. Ulan Press, 2012.

Buckley, Kerry W. A Place Called Paradise: Culture and Community in Northampton, Massachusetts, 1654–2004. University of Massachusetts Press, 2004.

Clogston, William, and Moses King. King’s Handbook of Springfield, Massachusetts: A Series of Monographs, Historical and Descriptive. Ulan Press, 2012.

Copeland, Alfred Minott. “Our County and Its People”: A History of Hampden County, Massachusetts. Vol. 1. Ulan Press, 2012.

Cushing, Thomas. History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men. Vol. 1. J. B. Beers, 1885.

Danver, Steven L., ed. Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO, 2010.

Davis, Kenneth C. America’s Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation. Harper Perennial, 2009.

Everts, Louis H. History of the Connecticut Valley, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Louis H. Everts, 1879.

Feer, Robert A. Shays’ Rebellion. Garland, 1988.

Field, David Dudley. A History of the County of Berkshire, Massachusetts, in Two Parts: The First Being a General View of the County: the Second, an Account of the Several Towns. Ulan Press, 2012.

Fiske, John. The Critical Period of American History, 1783 to 1789. Kessinger, 2010.

“Friday December 1st. 1786.” National Archives. http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/03-02-02-0001-0011-0001.

Harlow, Ralph Volney. Samuel Adams, Promoter of the American Revolution. Henry Holt, 1923.

Hart, Albert Bushnell, ed. American History Told by Contemporaries. Vol. 3. University of Michigan Library, 1917.

Herrick, William Dodge. History of the Town of Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts from the Incorporation, June 27, 1785, to the Present Time. Ulan Press, 2012.

Holland, Josiah Gilbert. History of Western Massachusetts: The Counties of Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire, Embracing an Outline, or General History, of the Section, an Account of its Scientific Aspects and Leading Interests, and Separate Histories of its One Hundred Towns. Repressed, 2012.

Kaufman, Martin, ed. Shays’ Rebellion: Selected Essays. Institute for Massachusetts Studies, 1987.

Leibiger, Stuart. Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic. University of Virginia Press, 2001.

Lockwood, John Hoyt. Westfield and Its Historic Influences, 1669–1919: The Life of an Early Town, with a Survey of Events in New England and Bordering Regions to which it was Related in Colonial and Revolutionary Times. Vol. 2. Nabu Press, 2012.

Masur, Louis P. Rites of Execution: Capital Punishment and the Transformation of American Culture, 1776–1865. Oxford University Press, 1991.

Minot, George Richards. The History of the Insurrections, in Massachusetts, in the Year 1786 and the Rebellion Consequent Thereon. British Library, 2010.

Munroe, James Phinney. The New England Conscience: With Typical Examples. Richard G. Badger, 1915.

Richards, Leonard L. Shays’ Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final Battle. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.

Sears, Lorenzo. John Hancock: The Picturesque Patriot. Gerbert Press, 2008.

Starkey, Marion L. A Little Rebellion. Knopf, 1955.

Stewart, David O. The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution. Simon & Schuster, 2008.

Szatmary, David P. Shays’ Rebellion: The Making of an Agrarian Insurrection. University of Massachusetts Press, 1984.

Thompson, Francis McGee. History of Greenfield: Shire of Franklin County, Massachusetts. History of Greenfield Ulan Press, 2012.

Trumbull, James Russell. History of Northampton Massachusetts from Its Settlement in 1654. Forgotten Books, 2012.

Willard, David. Willard’s History of Greenfield. Kneeland & Eastman, 1838.

Most of the dialogue in this chapter was imagined, but the following quotations were taken in whole or in part from the historical record:

“We are either a united people, or we are not”: Stan V. Henkels, Washington-Madison Papers Collected and Preserved by James Madison, Estate of J. C. McGuire. 1892, p. 25.

“Tell ’em we can’t afford to pay neither debts nor taxes”: Fiske, 179.

“Gentlemen: By information from the General Court”: Holland, 250.

“They say Captain Shattuck has perished in his prison cell”: Richards, 21.

“The men of property”: Hart, 191–93.

“You know it. Your very manner tells me you know it”: Starkey, 130.

“If the matter isn’t settled by sunset”: Starkey, 131.

“If you advance”: Lockwood, 109.

Luke Day’s letter: Lockwood, 107–8.

“Barracks and stores”: Herrick, 95.

“That’s all we want, by God!”: Feer, 367.

“Take the hill”: Szatmary, p. 102.

“Fire o’er the rascals’s heads!”: Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, Edward J. Blum, and Jon Gjerde, eds., Major Problems in American History, vol. 1, Cengage Learning, 2011, p. 141.

“March on! March on!”: Stewart, 13.

“Another volley—this time waist height”: Minot, 111.

“I’m afraid I’ve only four”: Copeland, 97.

“Whether you are convinced or not of your error”: Charles Oscar Parmenter, History of Pelham, Mass. From 1738 to 1898, Including the Early History of Prescott, Ulan Press, 2012, p. 379.

“My boys, you are going to fight for liberty”: Everts, 77.

“Sir: However unjustifiable the measures”: Holland, 268–69.

“I must have a word with you”: Richards, 31.

“And discipline breaking down”: Richards, 31.

“In monarchies, the crime of treason”: Ira Stoll, Samuel Adams: A Life, Free Press, 2008, p. 224.

“What country can preserve its liberties”: North American Review, January–April 1830, p. 524.

“As you have set yourselves against”: Caleb Smith, The Oracle and the Curse: A Poetics of Justice from the Revolution to the Civil War, Harvard University Press, 2013, p. 76.

“Our fate is a loud and solemn lesson”: Smith, 75.

Chapter 3: The Virginia Convention: Compromising for the Constitution

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

Bailyn, Bernard, ed. The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over Ratification, Part Two: January to August 1788. Library of America, 1993.

Beeman, Richard R. Patrick Henry: A Biography. McGraw-Hill, 1974.

Beveridge, Albert J. The Life of John Marshall. Vol. 1. Cosimo Classics, 2013.

Broadwater, Jeff. George Mason, Forgotten Founder. University of North Carolina Press, 2006.

Brookhiser, Richard. James Madison. Basic Books, 2011.

DeRose, Chris. Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe: The Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation. Regnery History, 2011.

Grigsby, Hugh Blair. The History of the Virginia Federal Convention of 1788, with Some Account of Eminent Virginians Who Were Members of that Body, Vol. 1. Forgotten Books, 2012.

Gay, Sydney Howard. James Madison. Ulan Press, 2012.

Gutzman, Kevin R. James Madison and the Making of America. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013.

Hunt, Gaillard. The Life of James Madison. Ulan Press, 2012.

Ketcham, Ralph. James Madison: A Biography. University of Virginia Press, 1990.

Kidd, Thomas S. Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots. Basic Books, 2011.

Maier, Pauline. Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788. Simon & Schuster, 2011.

Mayer, Henry. A Son of Thunder: Patrick Henry and the American Republic. Grove Press, 2001.

Mayo, Bernard. Myths and Men: Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. University of Georgia Press, 2010.

Meade, Robert Douthat. Patrick Henry: Practical Revolutionary. Lippincott, 1969.

Robertson, David. Debates and Other Proceedings of the Convention of Virginia, Convened at Richmond . . . June 1788: For the Purpose of Deliberating on the Constitution. Ulan Press, 2012.

Rowland, Kate Mason. Life of George Mason, 1725–1792. Ulan Press, 2012.

Smith, Jean Edward. John Marshall: Definer of a Nation. Holt Paperbacks, 1998.

Tyler, Moses Coit. Patrick Henry. Echo Library, 2009.

Unger, Harlow Giles. Lion of Liberty: Patrick Henry and the Call to a New Nation. Da Capo Press, 2010.

Willison, George F. Patrick Henry and His World. Doubleday, 1969.

Writ, William. Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry. University Press of the Pacific, 2004.

Most of the dialogue in this chapter was imagined, but the following quotations were taken in whole or in part from the historical record:

“Caesar had his Brutus”: Writ, 83.

“a scarecrow with a wig”: Unger, 162.

“The people gave them no power to use their name”: Mayer, 402.

“The government is for the people”: Mayer, 402–3.

“I am a friend of the Union”: Beveridge, 377.

“Randolph has thrown himself fully into our scale. Mason and Henry take different and awkward ground, and we are in the best spirits”: Gutzman, 207.

“Worthy friend”: Robertson, 36.

“The former is the shield and protector of the latter”: Robertson, 37.

“Don’t ask how trade may be increased”: Robertson, 43.

“What are the checks of exposing accounts?”: Meade, 356.

“This illustrious citizen advises you to reject this government”: Robertson, 152–53.

“I beg the honorable gentleman to pardon me”: Robertson, 187–88.

“Our progress is low”: Gay, 114.

“Nothing has excited more admiration in the world”: Gutzman, 232.

“His proposed amendments could be subsequently recommended”: Gutzman, 233.

“Madison tells you of the important blessings”: Robertson, 625.

“Virtue will slumber”: Robertson, 165.

Note that some scenes in this chapter were imagined or expanded beyond what we know from the historical record. This includes, for example, the scene at the end of the story in which James Madison thinks about Patrick Henry’s warnings and ultimately decides that they have no merit.

Chapter 4: The Barbary War: A Steep Price for Peace

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

“Battle of Derna, 27 April 1805: Selected Naval Documents.” http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/barbary_derna.htm.

Baepler, Paul, ed. White Slaves, African Masters: An Anthology of American Barbary Captivity Narratives. University of Chicago Press, 1999.

Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. Wars of the Barbary Pirates: To the Shores of Tripoli: The Rise of U.S. Navy and Marines. Osprey, 2006.

Lambert, Frank. The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World. Hill & Wang, 2007.

London, Joshua E. Victory in Tripoli: How America’s War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation. Wiley, 2005.

Oren, Michael B. Power Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present. Norton, 2008.

Ray, William. Horrors of Slavery: Or, the American Tars in Tripoli. Rutgers University Press, 2008.

Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address. March 4, 1801. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/jefinau1.asp.

Whipple, A. B. C. To the Shores of Tripoli: The Birth of the U.S. Navy and the Marines. Bluejacket Books, 2001.

Zacks, Richard. The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805. Hyperion, 2006.

Most of the dialogue in this chapter was imagined, but the following quotations were taken in whole or in part from the historical record:

“No man will hereafter love you as I do—but I prefer the field of Mars to the bower of Venus”: Oren, 63.

“We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists”: Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address.

“Nothing but a formidable force will effect an honorable peace with Tripoli”: London, 146.

“I sincerely wish you could empower”: London, 145.

“. . . that I might never experience the horrors of another morning”: William Ray Diary, December 22, 1803.

“We are now about to embark on an expedition”: Oren, 59.

“A fleet of Quaker meetinghouses would have done just as well!”: Zacks, 7.

“. . . limit to the avarice of the Barbary princes”: Zacks, 39.

“Stop! I will cut off the head of any man who dares to fire a shot!”: Whipple, 199.

“We have marched a distance of two hundred miles”: Whipple, 202.

“. . . for the purpose of obtaining a peace with my brother”: Whipple, 214.

“. . . more favorable and—separately considered—more honorable”: Lambert, 153.

“I firmly believe we would have entered Tripoli”: Whipple, 256.

“. . . settled policy of America, that as peace”: Oren, 74.

“The United States, while they wish”: Oren, 74.

Some scenes in this chapter were imagined or expanded beyond the basic historical record, including:

The May 15, 1801, scene in Tunis is imagined. The attack in Tripoli on the U.S. consulate it describes was real, although it is unclear to what degree the people in the consulate would have felt they were in danger, as the Tripolitans’ main act of aggression was cutting down a flagpole outside.

The July 1, 1803, scene is imagined. While Jefferson did make the decision to send the USS Philadelphia to Tripoli, it is unclear exactly when he came to this decision.

The May 1, 1804, scene is imagined. Ray kept a diary, and he did not mention this incident in it. The scene’s focus is on the beating of an American prisoner. The Tripolitans were famous for abuse of their slave prisoners.

The battle of Derna had more fronts than the one described in the April 27, 1805, entry. Eaton divided his army, and this scene tells the story from Eaton’s point of view, focusing on his bayonet charge. Eaton kept a diary, but most of the battle details are imagined (for example, Eaton plunging his bayonet into an enemy soldier), as is the dialogue. (Eaton getting shot is real.)

Chapter 5: Edison vs. Westinghouse: An Epic Struggle for Power

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

A Warning from the Edison Electric Light Company. Edison Electric Light Company, 1887. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=RylRAAAAYAAJ&rdid.

Bellis, Mary. “Death, Money, and the History of the Electric Chair: The History of the Electric Chair and Death by Execution.” About.com. http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventions/a/Electric_Chair.htm.

Daly, Michael. “Topsy: New Book Tells how Thomas Edison Electrocuted an Innocent Elephant at Coney Island.” New York Daily News, June 29. 2013. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/topsy-elephant-slain-thomas-edison-article-1.1385182#commentpostform.

“Edison Electrocuting a 28 year old Elephant named Topsy.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow-CwEdwktg.

“Electric Light Companies—Domestic: Edison Electric Light Co (1887–1889).” http://edison.rutgers.edu/NamesSearch/glocpage.php3?gloc=CA019&.

“The Great Barrington Electrification, 1886.” Edison Tech Center, 2010. http://edisontechcenter.org/GreatBarrington.html.

“The History of the Electric Chair.” Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty. http://www.ccadp.org/electricchair.htm.

Jonnes, Jill. Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. Random House, 2003.

King, Gilbert. “Edison vs. Westinghouse: A Shocking Rivalry.” Smithsonian.com, October 11, 2011. http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/10/edison-vs-westinghouse-a-shocking-rivalry/.

Kosanovic, Bogdan R. “Nikola Tesla.” University of Pittsburgh, December 29, 2000. http://www.neuronet.pitt.edu/~bogdan/tesla/.

Prout, Henry G. A Life of George Westinghouse. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1921. http://books.google.com/books?id=NglTzPG3-l8C&pg.

“Seat of Power.” Snopes.com. July 21, 2007. http://www.snopes.com/science/edison.asp.

“Tesla: Life and Legacy: War of the Currents.” PBS.org, http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_warcur.html.

“Thomas Edison and the Electric Chair.” Free Enterprise Land, 2005. http://www.freeenterpriseland.com/EDISON.html.

Most of the dialogue in this chapter was imagined, but the following quotations were taken in whole or in part from the historical record:

“The most effective of these, are known as ‘alternating machines’ ”: Mark Essig, Edison and the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death. Walker, 2003.

“I believe there has been a systemic attempt”: Jonnes, 167.

“The only excuse for the use of the fatal alternating current”: The Electrical Engineer: A Monthly Review of Theoretical and Applied Science, August 1888, p. 360.

“In your judgment, can alternating electric”: Liz Sonneborn, The Electric Light: Thomas Edison’s Illuminating Invention, Infobase, 2007.

Chapter 6: The Battle of Wounded Knee: Medals of Dishonor

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

“Battle of Wounded Knee.” Record Union, February 13, 1891. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015104/1891-02-13/ed-1/seq-1.pdf.

Beyer, Walter F., and Oscar F. Keydel. Deeds of Valor: How America’s Heroes Won the Medal of Honor. Detroit: Perrien-Keydel, 1901.

Carroll, John M. The Arrest and Killing of Sitting Bull: A Documentary. Glendale, CA: A. H. Clark, 1986.

Coleman, William. Voices of Wounded Knee. University of Nebraska Press, 2000.

“Col. Forsyth Exonerated: His Action at Wounded Knee Justified.” New York Times, 13 February 1891. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=2&res=9A03E7DA1F3BE533A25750C1A9649C94609ED7CF&oref=slogin&oref=slogin.

Congressional Medal of Honor Society. “John Lafferty.” CMOHS.org. http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/778/lafferty-john.php.

Eastman, Elaine Goodale, and Kay Graber. Sister to the Sioux: The Memoirs of Elaine Goodale Eastman, 1885–91. University of Nebraska Press, 1978.

Ewing, Charles B. “The Wounded of the Wounded Knee Battlefield, with Remarks on Wounds Produced by Small and Large Calibre Bullets.” Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 126 (1892): 463.

“Fields of Fire: Massacre at Wounded Knee.” Oneofmanyfeathers.com, January 14, 2013. http://www.oneofmanyfeathers.com/massacre_at_wounded_knee.html.

Green, Jerry. “The Medals of Wounded Knee.” Nebraska History 75 (1994): 200–8.

Huntzicker, William E. “The Sioux Outbreak in the Illustrated Press.” South Dakota State Historical Society. Vol. 20, No. 4, 1990. http://www.sdshspress.com/index.php?id=279&action=950.

“Indian Fighter Quits Army.” New York Times, January 15, 1911. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9A06E3D81731E233A25756C1A9679C946096D6CF.

“Indian Police.” Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.law.022.

“Indian Wars Campaigns.” U.S. Army Center of Military History. http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/iw.html.

Kelley, William Fitch. Pine Ridge 1890: An Eye Witness Account of the Events Surrounding the Fighting at Wounded Knee. Pierre Bovis, 1971.?

Lindberg, Christer, ed. “Foreigners in Action at Wounded Knee.” Nebraska History 71 (1990): 170–81.

“Massacre at Wounded Knee, 1890.” Eyewitnesstohistory.com, 1998. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/knee.htm.

Mauer, Lauren. “Rank and File: The Rocky History of Compulsory Military Training at MIT.” MIT Technology Review, February 21, 2012. http://www.technologyreview.com/article/426941/rank-and-file/.

McLaughlin, James. “An Account of Sitting Bull’s Death.” PBS.org, 1891. http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/sbarrest.htm.

“Native American Sioux Dance 1894.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQGW5a0q51w.

9th Memorial Cavalry. “William Othello Wilson.” 9thcavalry.com, 2013. http://www.9thcavalry.com/history/wilson.htm.

Ostler, Jeffery. The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Richardson, Heather Cox. Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre. Basic Books, 2010.

Selfless Service: The Cavalry Career of Brigadier General Samuel M. Whitside from 1858 to 1902. Thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College by Samuel L Russell, Maj, USA, B.S., Virginia Military Institute, 1988, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 2002.

Senate Joint Resolution 14, 111th Cong., 1st session. April 30, 2009.

Shackel, Paul A. “Wounded Knee Memorialization.” In Myths, Memory, and the Making of the American Landscape. University Press of Florida, 2001, pp.112–15.

Spotted Elk, Calvin. “No Medals for Massacre.” Avaaz.org. www.avaaz.org/en/petition/No_Medals_for_Massacre_Justice_for_Wounded_Knee/.

Viola, Herman. Trail to Wounded Knee: The Last Stand of the Plains Indians. National Geographic Society, 2003.

“Wounded Knee Massacre: Battle of Wounded Knee: Sioux Campaign of 1890–91: United States Army Reports.” http://www.paperlessarchives.com/wounded-knee-army-reports.html.

Most of the dialogue in this chapter was imagined, but the following quotations were taken in whole or in part from the historical record:

“the assassin of the brave Custer”: Huntzicker.

“In the annals of American history, there cannot be found a battle”: Huntzicker.

“Troops were not disposed to deliver its fire”: New York Times.

“The interests of military service do not, in my judgment”: New York Times.

“Mr. President, what happened at Wounded Knee was not worthy”: Letter to the White House from Calvin Spotted Elk, https://m.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10151398571283035&p=10&_rdr.

Most of the scenes in this chapter were developed based on facts from the historical record. However, while Nelson Miles was at the massacre site on January 1, 1891, it was a few days later that the arguments presented in our story were used to convince the Sioux to return to the reservation. In addition, while a Sioux named White Lance was at Wounded Knee and did visit the massacre site on January 1, the rest of the White Lance story is imagined.

Chapter 7: Easy Eddie & the Hard Road to Redemption

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

Cantwell, Robert. “Run, Rabbit, Run.” Sports Illustrated, August 27, 1973. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1087714/4/index.htm.

Ewing, Steve and John B. Lundstrom. Fateful Rendezvous: The Life of Butch O’Hare. Naval Institute Press, 1997.

“Lt. Butch O’Hare: Navy’s First Flying Ace.” National WWII Museum. February 20, 2012. http://www.nww2m.com/2012/02/lt-butch-ohare/.

Offner, Larry. “The Butch O’Hare Story.” St Louis Magazine, July 2005. http://www.stlmag.com/St-Louis-Magazine/July-2005/The-Butch-OHare-Story/.

Sherman, Stephen. “Grumman F4F Wildcat: 7860 Planes Produced, Starting in December, 1940.” Acepilots.com. May 2002. http://acepilots.com/planes/f4f_wildcat.html.

Sherman, Stephen. “Lt. Cdr. Edward “Butch” O’Hare: First U.S. Navy Ace, Medal of Honor Recipient.” Acepilots.com. June 1999. acepilots.com/usn_ohare.html.

“USS Lexington (CV-2).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Lexington_%28CV-2%29.

There are a few imagined characters and sequences in this chapter that are worth pointing out: Eddie’s girlfriend at the speakeasy is not a specific, real-life person. The scene when Eddie first meets Al Capone is fictionalized; we do not know specifically when they met each other for the first time. It’s not known specifically when and how the first contact was made between Eddie and the authorities, or when Eddie first made his decision to turn on Capone.

Chapter 8: The Saboteurs: In a Time of War, the Laws Are Silent

Most facts used to craft this story were taken from a terrific book by Michael Dobbs, Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America, published by Vintage in 2005.

Other sources used:

Fisher, Louis. Nazi Saboteurs on Trial: A Military Tribunal and American Law. University Press of Kansas, 2005.

Goldsmith, Jack. The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush Administration. Norton, 2009.

Transcript from 260: The Facts Don’t Matter. Originally aired on March 12, 2004. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/260/transcript.

Williams, Nathan. “What Happened to the 8 Germans Tried by a Military Court in World War II?” George Mason University’s History News Network. July 8, 2002. http://hnn.us/articles/431.html.

Most of the dialogue in this chapter was imagined, but the following quotations were taken in whole or in part from the historical record:

“If you fellas are ready to ship out tonight, we will take you. If not, leave now.”: Dobbs, 90.

Most of the dialogue between John Cullen and George Dasch during their Long Island encounter was taken from Dobbs, pp. 92–94.

“I have a lot to talk to you about”: Dobbs, 115–16.

“I know what you are going to tell me. I am quite sure that our intentions are very similar”: Dobbs, 116.

“I want the truth, nothing else—regardless of what it is”: Dobbs, 119.

“I never intended to carry out the orders”: Dobbs, 122.

“Can you spell that, sir”: Dobbs, 125.

“I, Franz Daniel Pastorius”: Dobbs, 126.

“a statement of military as well as political value”: Dobbs, 140.

“Did New York tell you I was on my way?”: Dobbs, 141.

“Got safely into town last night and contacted the responsible parties”: Dobbs, 142.

“I have a long story to tell but I want to tell it my own way”: Dobbs, 143.

“Is there any way you can get in touch”: “This American Life,” WBEZ, March 4, 2004, http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/260/transcript.

“Ammonia! I passed the handkerchief”: Dobbs, 166.

“My mind is all upside down”: Dobbs, 181.

“apprehended all members of the group which landed on Long Island”: Dobbs, 166–67.

“Urinated at 11:40 P.M. Appears a little depressed”: Dobbs, 182.

“I have a very important statement to make”: Dobbs, 193.

“Before the men could begin carrying out their orders”: Dobbs, 194.

“Not enough, Francis. Let’s make real money out of them”: Dobbs, 195.

“Realism calls for a stone wall and a firing squad”: Goldsmith, 51–52.

“Shoot them”: Dobbs, 222.

“Americans want to hear”: Williams, History News Network.

“The Eight Nazi Spies Should Die”: “This American Life.”

“six who I take it are German citizens”: Dobbs, 195.

“the roar of rifles in the hands of a firing squad”: Williams, History News Network.

“Here again it is my inclination”: Dobbs, 195.

“I want one thing clearly understood, Francis”: Dobbs, 196.

“There go the spies”: Dobbs, 209.

“invalid and unconstitutional . . . open in the territory in which we are now located”: Dobbs, 211.

“The commission does not sustain”: Dobbs, 212.

“Not guilty”: Dobbs, 213.

“What should be done with them? Should they be shot or hanged?”: Dobbs, 223.

“The United States and the German Reich are now at war”: Dobbs, 242–43.

“damned scoundrels . . . low-down, ordinary, enemy spies”: Dobbs, 241.

“Yes, sir”: Dobbs, 259.

Letter from Herbie Haupt to his Parents: Dobbs, 250.

“Inter Arma Silent Leges”: Dobbs, 270.

“I certainly hope the military”: Dobbs, 268.

“The opinion was not good literature”: Dobbs, 269.

“an obsessive, compulsive, neurotic personality type”: Dobbs, 270–71.

Notes on specific scenes and characters:

In the Supreme Court courtroom scene, we quote from a memo that Frankfurter wrote to his colleagues. As currently written, it’s clear that Frankfurter is not saying the quote live during the oral argument, but it is ambiguous in our story when Frankfurter actually wrote it. According to the record, he actually wrote it a few months later, as the Court was trying to write the opinion.

Peter Burger actually did send Hoover a Christmas card annually after his release. The scene in December 1971 where Hoover is going through Christmas cards is, however, imagined.

The epilogue tells the story of Yasir Hamdi. We have told the story as if Hamdi and his family were credible sources, although, of course, they had an incentive to whitewash his actions in Afghanistan.

In addition, the Hamdi decision is a complicated and controversial decision, and any interpretation of it is likely to generate disagreement. There is ongoing debate about what the decision means and we used the case merely to prove the point that the saboteurs’ decision continues to influence important cases.

Chapter 9: Who Is Tokyo Rose?

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

Close, Frederick P. Tokyo Rose/An American Patriot: A Dual Biography. Scarecrow Press, 2009.

Duus, Masayo. Tokyo Rose: Orphan of the Pacific. Kodansha America, 1979.

Gunn, Rex B. They Called Her Tokyo Rose. Expanded 2nd ed. Brent Bateman, 2008.

Howe, Russell Warren. The Hunt for “Tokyo Rose.” Madison Books, 1989.

Kawashima, Yasuhide. The Tokyo Rose Case: Treason on Trial. University Press of Kansas, 2013.

“ ‘Tokyo Rose’ Vindicated Before Her Death.” Human Events, September 27, 2006. http://www.humanevents.com/2006/09/27/tokyo-rose-vindicated-before-her-death/.

Most of the dialogue in this chapter was imagined, but the following quotations were taken in whole or in part from the historical record:

“We will show that in one broadcast after the Battle of Leyte Gulf”: Gunn, 189.

“The men often tune in on Radio Tokyo to hear the cultured, accentless English”: Close, 199.

“ ‘homesicky’ . . . This is an Imperial Order . . . The only women we can trust, Iva”: Gunn, 81.

“This is crazy! I can’t do this! I’m no good at it”: Kawashima, 32.

“Until we’ve defeated Japan”: Howe, 26.

“Who is Tokyo Rose? Tokyo Rose delivers”: Close, 199–200.

“Greetings, everybody!”: Gunn, 115.

“No one knows for sure who Tokyo Rose really is”: Close, 200.

“Want to make a deal?”: Kawashima, 38.

“You are Tokyo Rose? . . . I am just one of them”: Duus, 21.

“You worked at Radio Tokyo . . . You announced”: Duus, 21–22.

“she will do”: Duus, 22.

“The one and original Tokyo Rose”: Duus, 22.

“TRAITOR’S PAY: TOKYO ROSE GOT 100 YEN A MONTH . . . $6.60 . . . In an exclusive interview with this correspondent”: Duus, 25.

“Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America, and all the ships at sea!”: Duus, 111.

“Emperor-lovers and friends of the Zaibatsu”: Duus, 117.

“There is insufficient evidence to make out a prima facie case”: Gunn, 168.

“The government witnesses, almost to a man”: Gunn, 169.

“The government’s evidence likewise will show”: Gunn, 169.

“Any other Japanese bring you food besides”: Gunn, 219.

“Did you do anything whatsoever . . . Never”: Duus, 208.

“Has the jury arrived at a verdict? . . . Guilty”: Kawashima, 1.

“Throughout an ordeal that has lasted decades, Iva Toguri”: “Tokyo Rose Vindicated Before Her Death,” Human Events, September 26, 2006, http://www.humanevents.com/2006/09/27/tokyo-rose-vindicated-before-her-death/.

“I’m proud of you, girl. You didn’t change your stripes”: Duus, 130.

Notes on specific scenes and characters:

Some details in the July 4, 1946, scene are imagined, including the exact date. What’s known is that around that time a group of peeping-tom congressmen watched her get out of the shower in prison.

One year before Iva Toguri’s trial, Thomas DeWolfe wrote a memo in which he said that the charges against her should not be brought and could not be proven. However, we do not know for certain that he believed her to be innocent at the time of the trial.

The description of the government’s case against Iva is told from Iva’s point of view. Undoubtedly, if told from the government’s point of view, the case against her would appear stronger. In addition, we say that Harry Brundidge suborned perjury from Mitsushio and Oki. Brundidge did actually go to Japan and suborn perjury from some potential witnesses, but we don’t know whether Mitsushio’s and Oki’s perjury was directly suborned by Brundidge or by someone else.

Chapter 10: The Battle of Athens: Repeated Petitions, Repeated Injuries

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

“The Battle of Athens: 2 August 1946.” http://www.constitution.org/mil/tn/batathen.htm.

“The Battle of Athens, Tennessee.” Guns and Ammo (October 1995): 50–51. http://jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/athens.htm.

Byrum, C. Stephen. The Battle of Athens, Tennessee. Tapestry Press, 1996.

Gibson, Kelly. “Ex-GIs Battle for the Ballot.” VFW Magazine, August 2012.

Martin, Ralph G. The GI War, 1941–1945. Little, Brown, 1967.

Pierce, Charles P. “The Battle of Athens Revisited.” Esquire, December 18, 2012. http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/larry-pratt-gun-owners-action-league-on-battle-of-athens-121812.

Seiber, Lones. “The Battle of Athens.” American Heritage, February/March 1985.

“Tennessee: Battle of the Ballots.” Time, August 12, 1946.

University of Tennessee Knoxville, An Interview with Bill White for the Veteran’s Oral History Project, 2000. Note: Bill White’s oral history was given fifty-four years after the events and some of his recollections are inconsistent with the recollections of others who were present. For these reasons, we do not consider White’s oral history to be entirely reliable, and we consequently were not bound by it.

White, Theodore H. “The Battle of Athens, Tennessee.” Harper’s Monthly (January 1947): 54–60.

Most of the dialogue in this chapter was imagined, but the following quotations were taken in whole or in part from the historical record:

“My God, there ain’t none of them gonna get in here”: Bill White Oral History, 12.

“Jesus is Coming Soon!” and “Prepare to Meet God!”: White, “The Battle of Athens, Tennessee.”

“Got some big huntin’ to do—some big huntin”: Byrum, 121.

“You can’t vote . . . You can’t vote here today!”: Byrum, 129.

“bravest of the brave . . . best of the best”: Bill White Oral History, 39.

“That government, being instituted for the common benefit”: Martin, 490.

“We’re going to have to get some charges up there on the building”: Bill White Oral History, 22.

Notes on specific scenes and characters:

The August 3, 1936, scene is imagined, as are many of the details. We don’t know much about what Bill White’s parents did for a living, but we do know that Bill grew up relatively poor (the part about not having a lot of shoes is from his oral history). We also know he liked westerns, though we don’t know specifically whether he listened to the Lone Ranger.

The December 8, 1941, scene is imagined, though it is based on known facts about the characters present, such as Windy Wise.

The November 16, 1945, scene is imagined but was inspired by the fact that many GIs were beaten up, arrested, and fined. The record is not clear about specific names.

The March 24, 1946, scene is imagined, though it was inspired by the fact that there was a secret meeting before this date that Bill White was not at.

The July 3, 1946, scene is imagined. There were threatening phone calls made, but it’s unclear whether Bill White received one.

Much of the July 4, 1946, scene is imagined. There was a rally that day, but we don’t know whether or not Bill White spoke at it. White’s speech does, however, use some of the epithets that were used by others throughout the campaign to criticize Cantrell’s machine, like “Gestapo thugs.”

In the July 25, 1946, scene, the wording of the letter is imagined. The record merely says there was a letter requesting FBI observers be present on election day.

The conversation in the August 1, 8:20 A.M. scene between Bill White and the delivery man is imagined, though the record is clear that the delivery man had been making a lot of deliveries in recent days as people in the county stocked up on ammo. White’s actions in this scene are also imagined.

In the August 1, 3:00 P.M., scene, several reports say that Wise actually used the n-word (we have him saying “Boy.”)

The dialogue in the August 1, 7:00 P.M., scene is imagined. Some of it was said by White earlier in the day, and the scene imagines him saying it again to the crowd here. It is not clear that White was at this specific gathering.

Many of the details in the August 1, 9:00 P.M., scene are imagined or composited based on several differing accounts.

The August 2, 1:15 A.M., scene, in which Wise and Cantrell debate whether help from the governor is coming, is imagined.

Many of the details and the dialogue in the 2:45 A.M. scene are imagined. There are contradictory versions of exactly what happened with the dynamite.

The August 2, 5:45 A.M., scene is imagined, though the major facts relayed in it are true.

As a general matter, the record of these events in Athens is fairly sparse. The few accounts that do exist often contradict other accounts. The result is that we took some license when telling this story—so long as that license did not contradict a fact we knew to be true.

Chapter 11: The My Lai Massacre: A Light in the Darkness

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

“Biography: Selected Men Involved with My Lai.” PBS.org. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/mylai-biographies/.

Bock, Paula. “The Choices Made: Lessons from My Lai on Drawing the Line.” Pacific Northwest, 2002. http://seattletimes.com/pacificnw/2002/0310/cover.html.

Mackey, Robert. “An Apology for My Lai, Four Decades Later.” New York Times, August 24, 2009. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/an-apology-for-my-lai-four-decades-later/?_r=0.

“Nov 12, 1969: Seymour Hersh Breaks My Lai Story.” History.com. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/seymour-hersh-breaks-my-lai-story.

“Timeline: Charlie Company and the Massacre at My Lai.” PBS.org. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/mylai-massacre/.

“Transcript: Complete Program Transcript: My Lai.” Pbs.org. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/transcript/mylai-transcript/.

Vietnam Magazine. “Interview—Larry Colburn: Why My Lai, Hugh Thompson Matter.” Historynet.com. February 7, 2011. http://www.historynet.com/interview-larry-colburn-why-my-lai-hugh-thompson-matter.htm.

Note: Several key elements of this chapter were imagined in order to tell the My Lai story properly. Tuttle-Woods convalescent home, Morgan Campbell (the old man recounting the events at My Lai), Everly Davison (the security guard), and Julia Geller (the reporter who interviews Campbell about the massacre), are all fictional or composited based on real places or people.

Chapter 12: The Missing 9/11 Terrorist: The Power of Everyday Heroes

Most of the facts used to create this story came from the following sources:

Glick, Lyz, and Dan Zegart. Your Father’s Voice: Reprint ed. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005.

Interrogation Log, Detainee 063, Time, March 3, 2006.

Longman, Jere. Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back: HarperCollins E-Books, January 2010.

Melendez-Perez, Jose. Testimony before National Commission of Terrorist Attacks Upon the People of the United States, January 26, 2004. http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/hearings/hearing7/witness_melendez.htm.

“Mohammed al Qahtani.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_al-Qahtani.

Pauley, Jane. “Lyz Glick’s Courage.” NBC News, August 20, 2002.

Rumsfeld, Donald. Known and Unknown: A Memoir. Sentinel, 2011.

Smerconish, Michael. Instinct: The Man Who Stopped the 20th Hijacker: Lyons Press, 2009.

“Ziad Jarrah.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziad_Jarrah.

Notes on specific scenes and characters:

The conversation that Melendez-Perez has with Qahtani is taken from Melendez-Perez’s testimony: http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/hearings/hearing7/witness_melendez.htm.

The May 11, 2001, scene is imagined. While we know that Qahtani visited the Taliban front lines north of Kabul, we do not know if he was ever in the Panjshir Valley or if Northern Alliance soldiers chased him.

Ziad Jarrah is not known to have been at Orlando International Airport but Mohammed Atta and “another accomplice” were there. Jarrah was living in Fort Lauderdale at the time and was a known associate of Atta and was the leader of the cell Qahtani was assigned to.

The conversations between Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Qahtani are known to have occurred, but we obviously don’t know precisely what was said.

Sergeant Romeo and Lisa Smith are fictional characters. While Qahtani was interrogated at Guantanamo Bay, we do not know who his interrogators were. During these interrogations, Qahtani did provide Kuwaiti’s name (the courier).

The scene with CIA agent Ron intercepting Kuwaiti’s phone call is real, but the record on it is classified so everything has been sterilized, including names.