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| Americans' Loss Of Interest In Civil War Battlefields Is Part Of A Disturbing Trend |
| 2019-05-30 |
| [The Federalist] Americans are losing interest in the Civil War‐or at least they are losing interest in learning about it and visiting historic battle sites. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that the country’s "five major Civil War battlefield parks‐Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, Chickamauga/Chattanooga, and Vicksburg‐had a combined 3.1 million visitors in 2018, down from about 10.2 million in 1970." Gettysburg, America’s most famous and hallowed battlefield, drew fewer than a million visitors last year, and just 14 percent of the visitor total in 1970. In addition to fewer tourists, the number of Civil War re-enactors is also declining. Many are growing old, and younger men are not stepping in to replenish their ranks. As one 68-year-old re-enactor, who recently helped organize a recreation of the Battle of Resaca in Georgia, told the Journal, "The younger generations are not taught to respect history, and they lose interest in it." |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #16 I was in a commercial for the National Park Service 20- years ago. It was filmed at the Burnside Bridge at Sharpsburg. I was a Confederate on the hill firing at the Union soldiers trying to cross the bridge. Erie it was. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2019-05-30 19:53 |
| #15 Good point, Skid. I propose some lawsuits. If Revolutionary and Civil War battlegrounds are icky, I want the exact same treatment for "ecological monuments." Pave over Old Faithful and watch some people say "Oh, wait..." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-05-30 16:26 |
| #14 How do you find the battlefields with all of the statues missing? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2019-05-30 15:51 |
| #13 I remember when I visited Bunker Hill. Not the same war, I know, but I didn't think much about it until I got there. Same with the USS Arizona. Didn't think much about it until I was looking down on that sunken battleship with the knowledge that some of those sailors are still there. It makes you think. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2019-05-30 15:31 |
| #12 I spent the day at Antietam a couple years ago and it gave me pause to think. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-05-30 14:42 |
| #11 I doubt that the.Civil War gets anywhere near the in depth attention it once got in schools. Plus going to the battlefield as a vacation idea when the country is tormented by raging identity politics is hardly a fun idea anymore. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2019-05-30 13:59 |
| #10 possibly people today see the divisions in the country and they don't want to think about Civil War, 'cause it's possible a Bloody Kansas can break out at any time? |
| Posted by: Clerelet Ulolutch9882 2019-05-30 13:30 |
| #9 Ref #8: Remember when a white male Republican President signed the Emancipation Proclamation and a whole lot of northern white men died to make it stick? All to free blacks from slavery? How can affirmative action, entitlement, victimization, and the push for financial reparations be sustained if we are constantly reminded of the previous cost ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2019-05-30 11:44 |
| #8 Remember when a white male Republican President signed the Emancipation Proclamation and a whole lot of northern white men died to make it stick? All to free blacks from slavery? Good times, good times... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-05-30 11:39 |
| #7 I think part of the loss of reenactors is the cost. A pistol I bought in 1992 for $60.00- brand new is now $275. The rifle I bout for $325 is now $1,000. It goes on from there. Also there has been a growing movement to ban reenactments because Confederates BAD. RACISM! GUNS! VIOLENCE! |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2019-05-30 11:22 |
| #6 The percentage of citizens whose ancestors lived through the Civil War is much smaller than in 1970. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2019-05-30 10:48 |
| #5 Yeah, once you get to Kennesaw Mountain it's good but I hate 75 almost as bad as 400 |
| Posted by: Beavis 2019-05-30 10:40 |
| #4 besoeker, you are absolutely right. i live within a mile of 75 and will not touch it any time of day. |
| Posted by: chris 2019-05-30 10:12 |
| #3 What shocked me at Manassas was the close proximity of the two lines of cannons. In my youth, I could've thrown a baseball between the two lines. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2019-05-30 09:57 |
| #2 If the youth of today don't learn the lessons of the Civil War, history is likely to repeat itself. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2019-05-30 09:32 |
| #1 Declining interest in Chickamauga/Chattanooga are pretty easily explained. You have to use I-75 to get there. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2019-05-30 09:22 |