In seventh grade, with sweaty palms and a racing heart, I had to stand up in class and recite the entire Gettysburg Address from memory. Besides the first few lines, the only other thing I remember from that experience is my certainty that it was a pointless task. It was practically ancient history by then. What exactly was it going to teach me that I really needed to know?
I didn't answer that question until my first year of college. Then, for the first time ever, I understood the importance of history. It isn't about dead people who occasionally did some really cool stuff, and the rest of the time did stuff just so we would have to memorize facts in order to pass our exams. History is about us. Then and now. Yes, it's about where we came from and who we used to be. But, it's also about how we became the country we are today, why we think and act like we do, and what we should never do again so that the really bad parts of history don't ever get a chance at a repeat performance. History is our story, and we haven't written the ending yet.
Recently, I wondered what it would have been like to stand there on November 19, 1863, listening to one of the most important speeches in American history. I imagined breathless silence as President Lincoln began to speak about the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest battle (51,000 casualties) ever waged on American soil. A surge of patriotism, tears, applause. But, that's not what happened. The President wasn't the key speaker for the ceremony dedicating the Soldiers' National Cemetery. His 272-word speech lasted a mere two minutes, not enough time for the photographer to take a single picture. When he finished, many in the crowd had no idea that he had even spoken. Upon returning to his seat, he is said to have remarked to a friend that his speech was a complete failure.
Knowing what we know now, if we could go back in time to that day, not one of us would ignore his speech, we would push our way up close to the platform and listen with rapt attention, trying to commit every word to memory so that we could tell our friends that we were there. That we heard it with our own ears. If we could, we'd bring cameras and cell phones so we could record little movies that would prove it, but if not we would go all the same, just for the experience. Standing there, we would be the only ones who knew that President Lincoln would be assassinated less than two years later and that he would be remembered as one of the most important presidents in the history of our country.
While it's currently impossible for us to hop into a machine and travel back in time, we can make it happen another way. Together we can explore the events and meet the people who helped shape our country and each of us into what and who we are today. You offer suggestions on where you would like to go or who you would like to meet, then I'll go to work, digging up facts, searching for surprises, rumors and oddities. In each posting I'll work hard to make it all real and I'll throw in some links to sites that offer more information in case you're interested.
The Boston Tea Party, the Wright brothers first flights, the March on Washington, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the gold rush. Our opportunities are endless. If you could time travel anywhere in U.S. history, where would you go?
