Lincoln Discussion Symposium

Too Good Not To Share...

It seems that once Surratt House became a crime scene in 1865, it has continued to be one! We have become used to the police chasing speeding cars into our parking lot, finding stolen cars abandoned in our parking lot, sitting for hours on surveillance of the neighborhood, handling drug deals and overdoses in our parking lot. However, this morning (even though it was a mild incident), it happened at a most inappropriate time.

We had just unloaded 35 students from the Russian Embassy, and they were getting snacks and climbing on our cannons in the picnic area. Out of the blue, in comes a red car followed immediately by a county police car with lights flashing. They decided to stop right by the Visitors’ Center and block any other cars from coming in off Brandywine Road. Of course, they got the attention of the children.

For the next 15 minutes, four occupants of the car were asked to get out, the car was searched, and our kids walked past the action to get on tour. I had called Park Police, but this incident ended before they arrived. However, while I was beating my head against the wall, I was also laughing!

One of the instructions that the camp leader told me from the very first was that they wanted the children to know what American life was/is like. Well, here was one example… Union troops and authorities (and Confederate spies) all over the place during the Civil War and law-breakers here now. Lincoln said “we cannot escape history,” so there we have it…

P.S. It also seems that Russia may be redacting parts of their history from their educational programs also. Three of the older students (ages 9-12?) wandered into my office, and I tried to converse with them despite the language barrier. I pointed to a statue of Mr. Lincoln and asked who that was. No one knew. I suggested that, 150 years ago, he would have been similar to their Tsar. None of them knew what the word "Tsar" meant...!

I'm not surprised that Russian children that young wouldn't know who Lincoln was or were unfamiliar enough with him (or his image) that they couldn't identify a statue of Lincoln. I don't think American children that young would know who Alexander II was, or for that matter Catherine the Great or Peter the Great. I don't think I'd be able to identify. I don't think I could immediately identify a statue as that of Alexander II.

Still... not knowing what "Tsar" means?

(07-26-2019 04:20 PM)Steve Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not surprised that Russian children that young wouldn't know who Lincoln was or were unfamiliar enough with him (or his image) that they couldn't identify a statue of Lincoln. I don't think American children that young would know who Alexander II was, or for that matter Catherine the Great or Peter the Great. I don't think I'd be able to identify. I don't think I could immediately identify a statue as that of Alexander II.

Still... not knowing what "Tsar" means?

I doubted also that they would know Abraham Lincoln and would have loved to ask a 20-year-old Russian the same question. However, it did surprise me that they did not recognize the word "Tsar," and I even mentioned Nicholas and Alexandra. Still no recognition.

Of course, about ten years ago, I had a class of 20+ sixth graders on tour who did not know who Abraham Lincoln was until I said penny and $5 bill. He then didn't get a name - just "Oh, yea, that dude on money..." That class is now old enough to procreate.

During the Russian Embassy's school visit to Surratt House today, we structured our tours strictly to the way of life in the U.S. Most of the children were not fluent in English, and some understood nothing. Their ages also ranged from about four to twelve, and any attempt to discuss politics, Lincoln, slavery, and the Civil War would have been fruitless. That judgment call was certainly proved by my posting above about the young man who did not know Lincoln and did not know what a Tsar was. Their trip got us thinking, however.

Remember my preaching six degrees of separation while studying history? Well, our visit from the Russian children today spurred a brief discussion among our staff as to whether or not Russia had ever had slavery. I said that the Russian system of serfdom (similar to the old feudal systems of Europe) was a form of slavery, but without racial distinctions. Another staff member sort of pooh-poohed that idea. So I am at home with Google, and my reply to staff involved has been this:

"Our very brief conversation today about whether or not Russia had a slave system got me to digging. They did have slavery for centuries, and Russians became slaves under conquering hordes. There were no racial implications - you too could become a slave.

"Up until freedom came in 1861, the Russian slave system was indeed tied to serfdom, the system that most of feudal Europe had abandoned. And, Russian slaves were not sold; the lord sold the land and they went with it.

"There are lots of articles on Google, but I found this one easier to follow and understand. I also thought it interesting that Russia freed their slaves/serfs just two years before the U.S. -- and had problems readjusting for years afterwards."

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/ema...serfs-1861

BTW: Their defeat and humiliation in the Crimean War of the mid-1850s is pretty much what brought the Czar to realize something had to change. A similar situation with the defeated Confederacy?

Yeah, but if memory serves me correct, Czar Alexander II was assassinated and further reforms were quashed by his successors - Alexander III and Nicholas II who curtailed freedoms, instituted progroms against the Jews, etc. Their repression continued until the people were so fed up with them that the Romanovs were overthrown in a revolution...which ushered in an even more oppressive regime.

(07-26-2019 07:53 PM)Steve Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah, but if memory serves me correct, Czar Alexander II was assassinated and further reforms were quashed by his successors - Alexander III and Nicholas II who curtailed freedoms, instituted progroms against the Jews, etc. Their repression continued until the people were so fed up with them that the Romanovs were overthrown in a revolution...which ushered in an even more oppressive regime.

Quite correct, and that's why I put in that phrase about having "problems readjusting for years afterwards." Change never comes easily. And you just fell into the pattern of six degrees of separation by mentioning Russian assassination and the quashing of reforms (as in Lincoln, Radicals, Johnson, and Reconstruction).