Civil War Memorial Research Paper

“One week,” Julia wrote in her journal, “it’s been one week since I’ve seen another human being.” Prior to the wars and conflicts that ripped her life to shreds, Julia had kept her journal as a log of her thoughts. Now the journal was the only thing keeping her sane. Julia tried to cling to anything that could remind her of the normalcy she used to know, but the journal was the only thing that truly still felt safe.

There are many monuments in the world and they are all built to honor someone or something that was done by that person. For example, after the Maine Lobsterman was built, the fake bronze statue returned to Maine and spent several decades being moved from city hall to museum to museum. No one seemed to want the man and his lobster. The issue at hand is if the monuments being built are memorializing the person or moment created accurately. Monuments capture legacy and preserve the individual's actions throughout history. Specifically, monuments should consider purpose, location, and size in their creation.

The Civil War has caused the whole U.S to change their views on slavery and African Americans. One of the key issues in the Civil War, was not slavery as a whole, but which states would be free or slave states. In Northern states, slavery was illegal, and in the Southern states, slavery was legal. Many Americans questioned the morals of slavery, and the war would show this. The Reconstruction era brought many political, economical, and social changes for African-Americans.

The first action by the winner of a battle is to remove the flag of the loser, a sign of victory. A war against racism has been raging in America for nearly two hundred years. Many battles were fought in the courts and on the streets of southern cities in the 1950s and 60s. Although a new America emerged out of the birth pangs of the Civil Rights Movement, the victors did not remove the battle flags. This oversight must be remedied, The Confederate flag must never fly over any official building in the United States of America.

When a country loses a battle, their flag is lowered and no longer flies over government buildings. In America a war against racism has been raging for many years. Although the war against racism may continue in the hearts of men for eternity, the battle against legal prejudice acts has been won. A new America emerged out of the birth pangs of the Civil Rights Movement, a seventy five year battle is over. The Confederate flag must never fly over any official building in the United States of America.

In Charleston, South Carolina during June of 2015, nine African-American church goers were murdered by a Caucasian young man, in what is now being called the Charleston Church Shooting. This murder has put new heat under an ongoing controversy over the Confederate flag, its symbolism, and brought debate over the flag to the forefront nationwide. In South Carolina, the House debate over removal of the flag from a Confederate monument at the Capitol Building picked up importance when pictures of the killer, posing with a Confederate flag, surfaced on the internet. The debate grew further in popularity nationwide, when Bree Newsom decided to scale the flag pole at the monument and remove the Confederate flag herself. Between the photos on the

The confederate flag shouldn’t be taken down, but, if taken down shouldn’t be forgotten in the South.First of all, the confederate flag represents the history of South Carolina and the past and present . Second of all, even if the flag is taken down, the flag should be placed in a museum and the people of South Carolina should vote.Lastly, some people see the confederate flag has a racist flag, but, on the other side people think it represents the civil war and the people that died during that time. Some people believe, that the confederate flag represents racism, however, you could say that the flag represents the civil war and the people that died during that time.

The answer is complex. Historians such as Kevin Levin, proposes this question to the public through his website and attempts, through public comment and interaction, to address the topic. The website, Civil War Memory, allows the public to converse with Levin and hatch out some of the major issues surrounding the topic. Levin discusses in his post, “Why do we preserve so much Civil War Battlefield land?” about how this topic has a social action factor (Levin, 2015). The identity, integrity, and human relationship with these sites go beyond the memory and interpretation, but complied leaves a quality, the “preservation of a preservation”, that it unique to Civil War sites (Linenthal, 1993: 89). There were various circumstances surrounding the foundation of the American Civil, however, one of the major issues concerning President Abraham Lincoln was that of preservation; preserving liberty and preserving the Union. With the ‘south’ succeeding from the Union and the Confederate States of American becoming an aggressive government opposition, the preservation of the nation was of utter concern. In a special session to Congress in 1861, President Lincoln spoke in reference to the war, saying, “so viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the war power of the Government; and so to resist force, employed for its destruction,

In the United States, there is roughly 700 confederate monuments. They are spread out over 31 states and the District of Columbia. Most of these statues were built between 1890 and 1950, approximately 25 years after the Civil War, which ended in 1865. Although there were commemorative markers or memorials that mourned solders who had died. These earlier markers tended to be placed in cemeteries, while the monuments of today were placed at city squares and in front of state buildings. There are various opinions as to why the monuments were constructed. They tended to glorify leaders of the Confederacy like General Lee, Jackson, and former president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis. The monument was originally intended to teach values to people,

One if by land, two if by Sea. In 1775, a man by the name of Paul Revere was instructed to use lanterns as a signal as to how the British troops were advancing. This is one of the most famous incidents in our great country’s history. The Revolutionary War was the beginning of a great and long history to come. I have always been fascinated with our history and while learning, I have come to appreciate it much more. There were many events in our pre-Civil War history that have been interesting to me, but when picking out a few that really got my interest I have to go with something relatable to my life now. War has been the most fascinating to me and being a prior military member, and a veteran of the Iraq war myself, battles from the Revolutionary

Vietnam Memorial - Honoring the men and women who served inVietnam War, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial chronologically lists the names of more than 58,000 Americans who gave their lives in service to their country.

Tourism has a big impact on all memorials. When the 9/11 memorial opened it had a record of 50 million tourists each year. Can you believe that on September 10, 2001 no one visited the World Trade Center except the employes? The following year they had over nine million visitors. People still honor 9/11 today. The memorial has big light beams shine only on 9/11 and a bunch of people come visit and watch. They still have donation to keep the memorial open. The Red Cross raised over $564 million and donated it to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Memorials almost always have tourism they change how a lot of things happen.

“He died early the next day at the Petersen House across the street. The theater, still active, has been restored to its wartime appearance (Civil War Traveler, 2016).” We also visited Smithsonian National Museum of American History, which included important artifacts from the Civil War. “‘The Price of Freedom: Americans at War’ exhibit at the museum included the chairs and table used by General Grant and Lee at Appomattox, Lincoln’s top hat, the stump of a tree shot to pieces at Spotsylvania, General Philip Sheridan’s horse Winchester (stuffed), part of the armor plating from the CSS Virginia, and items belonging to General William T. Sherman, General George McClellan and Colonel J.S. Mosby (Civil War Traveler, 2016, paragraph 6)” My favorite trip experience/tour/site we went to that connected to the Civil War was the Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery is the “final resting place for many of our nation’s greatest heroes, including more than 300,000 veterans of every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan. Since its founding in 1866, Arlington National Cemetery has provided a solemn place to reflect upon the sacrifices made by the men and women of the United States Armed Forces in the name of our country (Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia, n.d.).” In brief, all these museums and sites helped enlighten me on the topic of the Civil War. The visual displays and exhibitions with artifacts from the Civil War made it easier to grasp the numerous facts that otherwise might not interest me as

To the fellow American people, I recognize that the Confederate monuments are a symbol for those who made valiant sacrifices for what they strongly believed in: freedom. The Civil War consisted of men who fought bravely in the battle field and now a hundred years later we honor those who lost their lives. After the memorable war, Confederate monuments were built in honor of those who died in service and they were constructed across not only southern states but northern states as well. In addition, monuments were also built to represent the Union. I acknowledge that many southerners respect their heritage and they deserve the right to do so as stated in the Constitution of the United States.

The Civil War was a clouded era where judgement was ill evolved, however, it was a cultural turning point in the history of our nation. Our nation hasn’t always been the cultural mixing pot it is now, to get to this point there were many things that had to be taken into consideration, and we need to keep that in mind throughout history so we can be knowledgeable of how we got to where we are today. In the past months, there has been a big spark in the debate of confederate monuments and if they should be removed or be able to stay. I argue that confederate monuments should be preserved to be honest about our nation’s past.