14. Betsy Ross’s true contributions outweigh the myth of her creating the first American flag
The story of Betsy Ross creating the first American flag containing the Stars and Stripes appeared in 1870, in an account written by her grandson. It is almost certainly a myth, no contemporaneous evidence supports the story. The debate over the subject is unfortunate. It masks the true contributions made by Ross during the Revolutionary War. Widowed early in the war, Betsy worked making tents, blankets, uniforms, and naval flags for the Pennsylvania Navy. She also worked making paper cartridges, stuffed with gunpowder, for the Continental Army. During the course of the Revolutionary War, she married and again became widowed in 1782.
Betsy remained in Philadelphia during the British occupation of the city. Like many other residents, she was forced to quarter British troops in her house and workspaces, which certainly ended, at least temporarily, any manufacture of goods destined for the Continental Army. After the war, she remained in Philadelphia as an upholsterer, making linens, bedcovers, window blinds, and other goods, with several of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention among her customers. Nonetheless, her presence among the Founding Mothers of the United States is based on the false story of her making (and some say designing) the American flag of stars representing states in a blue field, and alternating stripes of red and white.