lincoln ads day....

[misstia]

from the 1910s....never been to Gettysburg...actually never been to any Civil War sites....have been to Galena Illinois quite a few times though which is where Grant lived and they have a balcony at the hotel draped where Lincoln gave a speech once.....i think, if i recall correctly, something like 8 or 9 Civil War Generals came from Galena.....Galena is a great place to visit---haven't been there in over 20 years and i bet about the only thing that has changed is now you see website addresses....most of the downtown and lots of houses in the city are historic....beautiful place....

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

My family went on vacation to Pennsylvania years ago and visited Gettysburg. What a fantastic site! We stood where the Union troops were hunkered down behind the wall during Pickett's Charge and stared out at the fields. Back then they had statues commemorating all sorts of events during the battle.

We also visited Little Round Top, where the 20th Maine held off constant Rebel attacks and saved the day during the second day of the battle, a key point.

Both times you could feel yourself back in the 19th century and imagine those events. We also saw the site where Lincoln gave the Address.

I've visited a few more Civil War sites and a lot of Revolutionary War sites (turn around here and you'll trip over one). :)

What bugs me is that the 150th anniversaries of important Civil War dates are almost being ignored by the general public. The Civil War buffs and historians know them, but back in the early '60s when it was the 100th anniversaries, it was big news and a cultural touchstone. Even the Peanuts comic strip showed the kids walking around in kepi hats like the Civil War soldiers. TV shows used the theme of the War very often, and books were churning out of the publishing houses on Lincoln and the War. The last Civil War veteran died in 1959.

It's sad how people don't care about history anymore. Even the 100th anniversary of World War I's start didn't get much press this August.

[misstia]

I totally agree with what bugs you. The 150th anniversary of the Civil War and important dates of it were pretty much ignored. This was a DEFINING WAR that affected this country, and kept the union together. This, for some reason, seems to be forgotten. Lincoln still gets press, but it seems not for the man he WAS, but for the man others view him as--and they remove him from the circumstances of his presidency too.

The 100th anniversary of WWI was given a lot of coverage in the UK and in Europe. Here? Barely any. For some reason Europe, and the UK, and even Russia and other countries, place great importance on their HISTORY. They take pride in past events, in past sacrifices. The apathy of many Americans is very discouraging.

People don't seem to understand how important history is. It is more than just learning dates. It is learning the origins of things that still affect us to this day in many instances.

[bradygirl_12]

*nods* History is IMPORTANT! The old saying about not knowing it and being doomed to repeat it is true.

The Civil War shaped events for generations. The mistakes of Reconstruction and subsequent events evolved into the civil rights crisis a hundred years later. Why were African-Americans protesting? Because promises made after the War ended up ignored or discarded. Reconstruction was supposed to 'rehabilitate' the South but gradually the old power structure got back on top and Jim Crow laws were passed, and Separate But 'Equal' salved people's consciences in the rest of the country. Meanwhile generations of blacks lived under crushing oppression.

You can't understand race relations today without knowing your history. It's a constant part of American life. (See Ferguson, Missouri)

Poor Lincoln! If he isn't shilling cars or Presidents' Day sales, he's hunting vampires!

Americans have always been conditioned to look to the future, grab onto the new and shiny, and consider history dull and dusty. Some are proud of their ignorance. The old saying, "That's SO last minute" and people in their 20s saying, "I wasn't around when that happened or that movie/TV show came out" sound PROUD of that fact.

First off, so what? You can't read or watch the movies/shows that came before? I wasn't around during the Civil War but I've read loads of books on the subject, and long before Ken Burns made it momentarily fashionable a few decades ago. That just galls me that Americans feel it's a POSITIVE to know nothing of what came before!

Sorry, /rant. :)