What is the significance of civil war commemoration

Choosing that location helped the public avoid dwelling on the cause of secession or the bitter debates over the expansion of slavery that took place throughout the s.

It was easier to imagine that soldiers on both sides had simply fallen from the sky and onto the battlefield. In contrast, in , a number of historical institutions -- including the Virginia Historical Society and National Park Service -- sponsored a wide range of commemorative events to mark the th anniversary of John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry.

The events, which took place in Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia, included museum exhibits, symposia, walking tours, and even a reenactment of Brown's execution. Starting the sesquicentennial by commenorating Brown's raid opened the way for a careful consideration of slavery's place within the national dialogue.

That same year, the Virginia Sesquicentennial Commission held the first of its yearly Signature Conferences at the University of Richmond. The event featured some of the nation's top Civil War scholars, who were given the task of transporting roughly 2, attendees back to the tumultuous year of to discuss the state of the nation. A great deal of attention was paid to the effects that Brown's failed raid had on the growing sectional rift over the future of slavery in the United States.

The NAACP announced intentions to protest the event, and the most extreme voices from each organization began battling it out night after night. While news reports suggested a narrative of racial tension, in the end, the private affair took place without incident while a small group of protesters rallied outside.

In short, it was a non-story. Far more substantive were the events marking the occasion throughout the state by private and public historical institutions.

The Fort Sumter-Fort Moultrie Historical Trust, for example, held a symposium at the Citadel, which brought a panel of historians together to discuss the actions of South Carolina. The National Park Service also sponsored a number of events that addressed the reasons behind the state's secession from the Union just weeks after the election of Lincoln. Travel throughout the South and what one quickly realizes is that this is not your father's or grandfather's Civil War commemoration.

All of the presentations reflect the latest scholarship and a willingness to deal with the tough questions of the war. You will find similar exhibits in every major urban center in the South and even in smaller communities.

It's impossible to imagine this just a few decades ago. McDonnell was probably hoping to seal up support from a certain constituency, but what he faced instead was an angry backlash that reminded McDonnell that he was the governor of all Virginians. The message was clear: You cannot issue a Civil War proclamation in Virginia in that fails to acknowledge the presence and sacrifice of its black population.

Not only did McDonnell retract the proclamation, but he went on to issue what turned out to be an incredibly thoughtful statement that now sets aside April as Civil War History in Virginia Month. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, what is worth mentioning, once again, is that such a controversy is impossible to imagine just a few decades ago.

Finally, last month President Obama signed an executive order designating Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Virginia, as a national monument.

This very limited examination of Northern Civil War monuments in central Massachusetts reveals three very different approaches to the question of slavery and how it was remembered within the context of the war.

By emphasizing the preservation of the Union and ignoring the issue of slavery, most Northern monuments helped engrave an obscured memory of the war in both the landscape and minds of the nation. This deliberate erasure also hindered the ongoing struggle for racial equality in the United States. In fact, studies that spotlight the shortcomings of Northern Civil War monuments will likely reveal as much——if not more——about the Civil War and its aftermath as those that focus entirely on their notorious Lost Cause counterparts.

Piper, Garfield, Printer, , ; J. Ellis Co. Stoddard, Charles A. Hazzard, Diane M. Hazard Monument. Barry is currently working on a manuscript that explores the struggle of African Americans to reclaim their history, public image, and identity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Is it your purpose to endorse the replacement of all Civil War monuments [North and South] with slavery related themes? That was just achy product. Darren, I think you miss the obvious point. It was a war to avenge an attack on the Union by the Confederates at Sumter, and to prevent further seizures of federal possessions in the territories.

By the time of the 25th anniversary of the war, the veterans of blue and gray were beginning the long process of reconciliation. In , survivors of Confederate Maj. George E. There was no question in their mind that the wrong side won the war. Reunification was a dominant theme in the 50th anniversary observances of According to historian Joan Zenzen, author of the book Battling for Manassas —about the preservation of the battlefield—a host of luminaries were on hand for the Peace Jubilee, including President William Howard Taft, who gave the keynote address to an estimated crowd of 10, people.

Two years later, an even grander expression of that statement was demonstrated when 55, veterans joined hands at Gettysburg. In , the 75th anniversary of the war, we see the first example of a new phenomenon: The Civil War reenactment, as the Battle of Bull Run was refought on the actual site, although not by enthusiasts studiously attired in period garb, but 1, U.

The 75th anniversary was held in the midst of the Great Depression—and the forces of the New Deal were marshaled on the Manassas battlefield, as well.