April 12, 1861
Today is the 150th anniversary of Confederate troops firing on Fort Sumter off the coast of South Carolina. It sparked the beginning of the Civil War, a conflagration that tore the country apart, literally brother-against-brother, father-against-son, mother-against-daughter. Families were torn apart, taking generations to heal, and the issue of race continues to affect us to this day.
During the early 1960s, the Civil War Centennial was widely celebrated. I remember years later picking up books of early Peanuts cartoons, and it was chic for Charlie Brown and the gang to wear the soldier caps and refer to the Centennial. The dominant Western genre of the time on TV delivered a plethora of Civil War stories, and it had been only in 1959 that the last Civil War veteran had died.
I don’t know if people will be observing the 150th anniversary as closely, because frankly, history in America is not well-respected. The future is king, and the old expression, “That’s SO five minutes ago!” gives you an idea of the American mindset when it comes to history.
Maybe it’s a little different for people in the older parts of the country, where the old Revolutionary and Civil War battlegrounds are still there to see and visit, and relics like Fenway Park in Boston approach its 100th anniversary as a viable ballpark, not to mention Paul Revere’s house and the Old North Church. ;)
The Civil War did not have the most American casualties (World War II takes that dubious honor), but in proportion to the amount of soldiers serving, the percentages were staggering. It didn’t help that the weapons of the War were increasingly modern, with the Gatling gun and cannons that could bring down cities and forts with more firepower than ever. The state of medicine was primitive and filled with quackery, and the method for saving a mangled arm or leg was to cut it off, the surgeons’ tent flanked by a pile of bloody limbs while the sawing continued to the sounds of screams, because there was no anaesthetic, just whisky, available for the patients. Soldiers died from bullets and disease, and many got hooked on morphine that were administered by clueless doctors.
The practice of towns and villages putting together companies to send to the War meant that if a company was wiped out, then the town’s young men were gone, too. Every small town and big city had a Civil War monument in the years after the War.
The Civil War is the great American folktale, stories of heroism and blood our national story. The greatest American President served during this time, a man destined for this time and place, and who is one of the giants of our history. The infamous ‘What-If?’ factor usually swirls around the Civil War: What if the South had won the War? The literacy rate was surprisingly high, better than we have today. Soldiers read newspapers and wrote letters home, and wrote in journals that detailed battles and life in camp. We have numerous primary sources that were uncensored to give us a picture of people dedicated to holding the Union together while others were just as determined to break away from it. And always, the issue of slavery was there.
So it’s been a long time, but it’s an event worthy of thought and contemplation.
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During the early 1960s, the Civil War Centennial was widely celebrated. I remember years later picking up books of early Peanuts cartoons, and it was chic for Charlie Brown and the gang to wear the soldier caps and refer to the Centennial. The dominant Western genre of the time on TV delivered a plethora of Civil War stories, and it had been only in 1959 that the last Civil War veteran had died.
I don’t know if people will be observing the 150th anniversary as closely, because frankly, history in America is not well-respected. The future is king, and the old expression, “That’s SO five minutes ago!” gives you an idea of the American mindset when it comes to history.
Maybe it’s a little different for people in the older parts of the country, where the old Revolutionary and Civil War battlegrounds are still there to see and visit, and relics like Fenway Park in Boston approach its 100th anniversary as a viable ballpark, not to mention Paul Revere’s house and the Old North Church. ;)
The Civil War did not have the most American casualties (World War II takes that dubious honor), but in proportion to the amount of soldiers serving, the percentages were staggering. It didn’t help that the weapons of the War were increasingly modern, with the Gatling gun and cannons that could bring down cities and forts with more firepower than ever. The state of medicine was primitive and filled with quackery, and the method for saving a mangled arm or leg was to cut it off, the surgeons’ tent flanked by a pile of bloody limbs while the sawing continued to the sounds of screams, because there was no anaesthetic, just whisky, available for the patients. Soldiers died from bullets and disease, and many got hooked on morphine that were administered by clueless doctors.
The practice of towns and villages putting together companies to send to the War meant that if a company was wiped out, then the town’s young men were gone, too. Every small town and big city had a Civil War monument in the years after the War.
The Civil War is the great American folktale, stories of heroism and blood our national story. The greatest American President served during this time, a man destined for this time and place, and who is one of the giants of our history. The infamous ‘What-If?’ factor usually swirls around the Civil War: What if the South had won the War? The literacy rate was surprisingly high, better than we have today. Soldiers read newspapers and wrote letters home, and wrote in journals that detailed battles and life in camp. We have numerous primary sources that were uncensored to give us a picture of people dedicated to holding the Union together while others were just as determined to break away from it. And always, the issue of slavery was there.
So it’s been a long time, but it’s an event worthy of thought and contemplation.
WebCounter.com