Spielberg's Lincoln

[Liz Rosenthal]

For me, the Gettysburg Address defines what the Civil War was about. First, it was about whether it was possible to preserve something very rare, if nonexistent, in the world at the time, a democratic form of government. Particularly important to Lincoln, and something that hasn't been discussed much by anybody, was the fact that, if the U.S. fell apart, the lesson for the rest of the world would be that democracy doesn't work. The implication would be that humanity would continue to toil under tyranny, with little hope for anything better. (Fortunately, we are now but one of dozens of nations, if not more, governed under democratic principles.)

Equally important in the Gettysburg Address was the establishment of a "new birth of freedom," meaning the end of slavery, and the need for those surviving the dead of Gettysburg (and, by implication, the dead of the entire war) to continue the work of realizing true liberty. Lincoln did not view American liberty as something that had already been finalized, with nothing more to do. It was a work in progress. And it still is.

(02-20-2013 08:22 AM)Gene C Wrote:  

(02-19-2013 07:02 PM)Liz Rosenthal Wrote:  I'm not descended from slaves, but *I* resent the fact that the U.S., touted as a beacon of light to the world, started out with 250 years of slavery and 100 years of Jim Crow, something that only ended during my childhood, while the aftereffects linger on.

If we just "move on," and choose to "forget" the shameful aspects of our history, two things will happen:
**We won't be able to adequately address the lingering effects of, in this case, slavery;
**We will act ignorantly of our history and make similar mistakes again.

I agree with your "just move on and choose to forget" comments, but if we were not a "beacon of light to the world", the Gettysburg address would be meaningless, and we would not have the imigration problem we have had for over 30 years.