Our Viewpoint

As we witness Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter movements, the removal and destruction of monuments honoring persons who played a weighty role in U.S. history, removal of flags that display the Confederate battle emblem and civil rights protests, events in American history seem to be reoccurring. The divide felt throughout American society is a reassuring reminder that history indeed repeats itself. Although the proceedings are different, the messages are the same.

As we come upon the Fourth of July holiday weekend, celebrating the independence America achieved from Great Britain’s rule, there is another anniversary to be recognized that occurred from July 1 to July 3, 1863. The Battle of Gettysburg has historically established itself as one of the most influential interactions in the entirety of the American Civil War, according to many historians.

“What led to the outbreak of the bloodiest conflict in the history of North America?” asked PBS.org, referencing the Civil War. They responded to their own question that “it was the economics of slavery and political control over that system that was central to the conflict.” They also claim a states’ rights to rule and govern themselves overriding federal laws as a key contributing factor.

Although the main reason for the outbreak continues to be heavily debated, according to Slavery and the Civil War, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, “Today, most professional historians agree with Stephens that slavery and the status of African Americans were at the heart of the crisis that plunged the U.S. into a civil war from 1861 to 1865.” Alexander H. Stephens served as vice president of the Confederate States of America. His referred to writing, which depicted what the Confederate reasoning was for conflict leading to the Civil War, was published in the Savannah Republican on March 21, 1861.

The Battle of Gettysburg, the deadliest battle in U.S. history claimed roughly 51,000 lives as Confederate General Robert E. Lee succumbed to Union pressures lead by General George G. Meade, historical records indicate. History.com states, “On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate Robert E. Lee’s last attempt at breaking the Union line ends in disastrous failure, bringing the most decisive battle of the American Civil War to an end.”

Noting the battles’ existence this year seems noteworthy. According to data collected by WBUR, Boston’s National Public Radio News Station, roughly 4,000 cities and towns worldwide have held Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter civil rights protests since May 25, 2020 - the day George Floyd, a Black man, died while being arrested by Minneapolis police officers who held a knee to Floyd’s neck. The protests mirror multiple civil rights movements that took place in the late 1940s through 1960s asking for basic human equality in many aspects of social justice; including overall racial, education, military, voting and employment equality, as well as equal pay, fair housing, and women’s rights.

The Battle of Gettysburg changed America. Now, over a century and half later, the country continues to progress and seeks continued change by fighting similar battles, again, seeking equality.

“Fourscore 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.

“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.” – Republican President Abraham Lincoln, spoke on November 19, 1863 laying the foundation of the infamous Gettysburg Address, summoning the Declaration of Independence’s right to human equality.