Made-Up Founding Fathers Quotations: A Free Article You Can Read

George Washington, LOC

My article, "The Illusion of Tradition: Spurious Quotations and the Gun Control Debate," was published in volume 52 of Argumentation and Advocacy. The article's point is that some (certainly not all) gun control opponents quote George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to support radical anti-government views. Some gun control opponents think that the Second Amendment's original purpose was to arm citizens against their own government, which is, of course, not true. Since these people have no evidence to support their opinion, they misquote Washington and Jefferson to say things that they never actually said.


Fake Founding Fathers quotations can be argument-stoppers. You might argue with a modern right-wing speaker, but no one wants to argue with Washington or Jefferson. Thus, made-up or misattributed quotations let gun control opponents support a radical position when they have no real proof.

Thomas Jefferson, LOC

The journal's publisher, Taylor and Francis, has given me 50 free e-prints of the article. So, if you would like to read the article at no charge, just click this link, which will work until the 50 free e-prints are gone:

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/GWMdEEeprswhZZsCx4Un/full 

Also, USC Aiken students and faculty can read the article (and other articles in Argumentation and Advocacy) on Communication and Mass Media Complete, which is one of the Gregg-Graniteville Library's databases. Those special people can click on library.usca.edu and search on the database.

You can also read my earlier post about using quotations in a speech.