(Re)Fighting the Civil War

I had the chance to photograph a Civil War reenactment this weekend. I walked away very conflicted about the experience. The history, majesty and dedication to detail was something. The participants camped and lived and acted in a period correct fashion. While certainly the darkest hour in our nation's history, it must be remembered and studied as the old saying goes - if we fail to study our history, we are doomed to repeat it.

What I found disturbing is that for some, the war still rages and the opinion that President Lincoln was indeed a tyrant was very common among the participants and spectators. So this would suggest that among this group of self proclaimed patriots and Americans, that not all men are created equal and that freedom belongs to only a certain section of the population and that those who disagree are either traitors or simply un-American. This attitude coupled with an astonishing amount of revisionist history regarding our founding was beyond alarming.

I am glad I went and I believe that everyone should attend one of these especially now that we are approaching the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg. The more we know, the better prepared we are for the future and the avoidance of the idolization and romanticization of brutal and failed nation that was The Confederate States of America.