Mark Twain said of the Civil War that it "...uprooted institutions that were centuries old... transformed the social life of half the country, and wrought so profoundly upon the entire national character that the influence cannot be measured short of two or three generations." Twain's description of it as "death-on-the pale-horse-with-hell-following-after" remains the most vivid, the most haunting, the most relevant.On June 1, 1865, Senator Charles Sumner commented on what is now called the 'Gettysburg Address', certainly Lincoln's most famous speech and among his and history's shortest. In his eulogy on the slain Lincoln, he called Lincoln's address at Gettysburg, a "monumental act". It was in that address that Lincoln had said that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." But, according to Sumner, the battle itself was less important than the speech. The Civil War is as alive today as are current headlines. As had been the case, our nation is again divided. In 1863, the divisions were geographical. But the exploitation of labor by privilege was more profoundly divisive.
Most recently, the Civil War was brought to life by filmmaker Ken Burns whose documentary aired on PBS for five consecutive nights in September, 1990. At the time, some forty million viewers watched. It remains one of the most popular programs ever broadcast on PBS."Ashokan Farewell" is a waltz in D Major composed by Jay Ungar in 1982 and later used as the title theme of the Burns miniseries, The Civil War. Unger said the piece resulted from his desire to write a 'Scottish lament'. The most popular arrangement begins with a violin solo later joined by the guitar. Before its use in the PBS Series, 'The Civil War', it was included in the album, "Waltz of the Wind." The musicians included Ungar and his wife, Molly Mason, who gave the tune its name. It has served as a goodnight or farewell waltz at the annual Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps that Ungar and Mason run at the lakefront Ashokan Field Campus of the State University of New York at New Paltz.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.--Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership, Global Issues, Updated: January 02, 2009Subscribe
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3 comments:
The Civil War defined us for what we are, and it aint pretty.
Anonymous said...
The Civil War defined us for what we are, and it aint pretty.
Indeed, you are correct! A 'second' Civil War took place in the 30s when the 'depression' made obvious the very, very deep divisions throughout society. Some essential reading about that era includes, of course, Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath"
There was another revolution in the 60s --a much more complicated effort to resolve a gestalt of numerous divisions --war, bigotry, privilege, individual rights, et al.
One wonders --will the US ever end a perpetual 'Civil War'?
It looks like the Aristocracy of Money is winning the current battle. Grover Norquist is certainly proud of his very successful strategy.
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