Civil War Re-examination Years in the Making ... and Doing

A full 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. That election, and its result, set the nation on the course to civil war, changing the fate of the nation in ways that are still being felt and explored.

To commemorate the sesquicentennial, the National Park Service is planning a large series of commemorative events, beginning with a re-enactment of the election and running right through to a re-enactment of the end of the war, five years later.

Re-enactment events are planned for the major battles of the war, including Gettysburg, Antietam, and the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). It's probably not too much of a stretch to anticipate a re-enactment of the Gettysburg Address.

It's not just the battles, however. Shortly after the election re-enactment, the presidential train will get revved up and ready to go, replicating Lincoln's journey from his home state of Illinois to the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Other similar nonviolent events are planned in many states affected by the Civil War. In all, more than 75 different battlefields and historic sites will have events. And that's not covering the various museums and privately operated sites planning events as well.

The District of Columbia tourism bureau will open an exhibit titled "Civil War to Civil Rights." Also getting into the act will be the National Archives, which will open its vaults to allow viewings of rarely seen gems from history, including an original draft of the 13th Amendment (banning slavery) that didn't get past the draft stage.

It's entirely fitting and proper for the NPS, the National Archives, and other entities to take a good, hard look at these momentous events, especially at a time when the nation as its stands now is (or should be) doing a lot of soul-searching over its direction forward. By examining the past, we can divine not only what happened but also what should have happened (depending on your point of view), not only what might have been but also but still could be.

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