Years and years ago way back when I was somewhere between the ages of 10-15 my parents, sister, 2 great aunts, and I went on a vacation. We planned to go to Gettysburg, look at the museum, and drive around the battlefield. After that, we were heading towards Virginia. I was excited about the battlefield because I love history, but more importantly President Abraham Lincoln is my absolute favorite president and I wanted to see where he stood and where he did the Gettysburg address.
After my husband and I got married we talked about going back to Gettysburg for a family vacation. Well, it took us 26 years, but we finally took that vacation. Two weeks ago on our way to North Carolina we took a day to spend time in Gettysburg. My husband, our daughter, and I drove around the battlefield. We took a good look at all the different statues and the canons. It wasn’t until this second trip to Gettysburg and seeing from high above this battlefield’s vastness that I realized what a huge battle it really was. Yes, all I could see was field after field. But then I started thinking back to July of 1863 and I started to imagine all of the soldiers from both the North and the South. Then I started to imagine the battle that was going on during the Civil War. The war that had a nation divided over slavery and President Abraham Lincoln who wanted to end slavery.
It was a battlefield that killed so many boys and men. Gettysburg was pretty much the battle to end all battles between the north and the south. I guess you could say it was the beginning of the end. Those fields are still filled with pieces of the past. Pieces from whatever those soldiers may have been carrying or even sadder possibly the soldiers themselves. In a way, I suppose you could say the fields of Gettysburg are a resting place for the men who died to end slavery. The battlefield is a great reminder, or should I say it should be a great reminder to ALL Americans of what those soldiers did for us, for slavery. And at the end of that battle, President Abraham Lincoln gave what would become his famous speech The Gettysburg Address.
If you live in America I would highly suggest you take a trip to Gettysburg and visit this great battlefield and maybe remember those soldiers both in the north and south who gave their lives to end slavery. It did take another 2 years for President Lincoln to get the 13th amendment passed and end slavery, but at least he did get it done and I’m glad he did. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why he’s my favorite President.
Kathleen Smith is an indie author, blogger and she has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner. You can read or listen about her life in Brooklyn and Upstate NY. You can also either read or listen to her personal story of how she and her husband kept their marriage together through 3 miscarriages in Miscarriages My Story