What If the Civil War Sesquicentennial Began Where It Ended
kevinmlevin.substack.com
This year we mark the 160th anniversary of the events in 1863 during the American Civil War. You probably haven’t thought much about that anniversary, but if you are reading this post it is likely that you have thought a great deal about the legacy of the Civil War over the past few years.
The past was put together by a different set of rules than those that shape the present. The ways American society looks at itself have changed, not always but usually for the better. This means, to me, that at something like a national park service site the past should be presented in accordance with the values, customs, traditions, and life ways of the people whose presence on the landscape you are documenting. Where those values, customs, and traditions and life ways have changed I think it is important to point that out as part of interpreting the site.
Or has the nation been marking the sesquicentennial of Reconstruction without even knowing it?
The past was put together by a different set of rules than those that shape the present. The ways American society looks at itself have changed, not always but usually for the better. This means, to me, that at something like a national park service site the past should be presented in accordance with the values, customs, traditions, and life ways of the people whose presence on the landscape you are documenting. Where those values, customs, and traditions and life ways have changed I think it is important to point that out as part of interpreting the site.