I just finally watched the Ken Burns documentary, “The Civil War”. I think I was out of the country the first time it ran. I remember hearing rave reviews, but I didn’t see how 12 or so hours on a war could hold one’s attention.
Boy, was I wrong. It is probably the best documentary I’ve ever seen. It really adds perspective to the nation. To think — it happened less than 100 years before I was born. That’s not very long ago.
A comment made almost at the very end sticks in my mind: Before the war they would say, “The United States are..” After the war they said “The United States is…”. We went from a loose confederation of separate “states” (which in those days was almost synonymous with “country”) to a single united entity.
Before the war you might argue that the association was freely entered into, and should be open to freely depart from. Lincoln disagreed, and forced the issue. If he had allowed the South to split off, later there might have been other disagreements and fractures, and we would have ended up as many small countries. It was forcing the union that brought our current greatness.
The theme song keeps playing in my head.
This was the documentary which started my interest in genealogy. It was first shown in 1980, I think. That’s when I fell in love with Patrick Swayze, and I could never watch him in anything else and enjoy it. It still is clear in my mind; I wish they would show it again. Did you buy the series?
Comment by Mom — June 23, 2010 @ 11:41 pm
I don’t remember that Patrick Swayze was in it at all. Do you think he was one of the voices?
I didn’t buy it — I streamed it from Netflix.
Comment by Daryl — June 24, 2010 @ 9:23 am
You’ve piqued my interest. I might have to give it a try after I finish Dexter. I love Civil War era. (Gone With the Wind, and all that, you know. 🙂 )
Comment by Donna — June 24, 2010 @ 6:50 pm
Mom might be thinking of the miniseries “North and South”.
Comment by Donna — June 24, 2010 @ 6:51 pm
Right, Donna! In fact, now that I think of it, I remember nothing about the Civil War series, and that’s odd because I love that time period. We had so many relatives involved, and it was so close to home. Give me a wee synopsis.
Comment by Mom — June 25, 2010 @ 10:45 am
Mom — you want a synopsis:
The southern states decided they wanted to secede from the union. The northern states said they couldn’t. There was a long war which the north finally won.
🙂
Comment by Daryl — June 25, 2010 @ 12:10 pm
What a great story! I wonder if it really happened.
Comment by Mom — June 25, 2010 @ 3:05 pm
I don’t think it really happened. It was just a conspiracy theory to get more votes for Obama!
Comment by Dale — July 3, 2010 @ 9:43 am
Thank you, Dale. I knew there was a logical reason for the whole thing. Yours shows very clear reasoning!
Comment by Mom — July 5, 2010 @ 12:39 am