New Yorker magazine's Conservative History of the US

American seamstress Betsy Ross showing the first design of the American flag to George Washington in Philadelphia. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

As observers of US political rhetoric will have noted, invoking the will of the "Founding Fathers" to back up every argument from State rights to which Justin Beiber song is better, has become de rigueur on Capitol Hill. It's no surprise then, that a few...er...questionable historical references occasionally slip out.

Did Paul Revere ride to warn the British "that they weren't going to be taking away our arms", as Sarah Palin claimed? Was the Jamestown colony the first socialist venture? And did African Americans fight in the Civil war to keep themselves enslaved? (thanks for that, Ray McBerry).

Confused Europeans will find the timeline in this week's New Yorker magazine most helpful. Read and enjoy. It's what the Founding Fathers would have wanted.