Document Type
Blog Post
Publication Date
9-8-2011
Department 1
Civil War Era Studies
Abstract
Why trust a bunch of dead guys? I know it sounds trite, but it's very important when we begin approaching how we talk about Civil War sites (or any historic site). Oftentimes, the folks who voted the site into existence and decided its primary reason for being are dead and gone. The world has changed radically since they were here. The pieces of legislation they created (at the federal level they're typically called "enabling legislation," at lower levels they have varied other names) were distinct products of their times. The themes and significances they outline are likewise products of their times. [excerpt]
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Rudy, John M., "Holy Writ: Thinking Beyond Enabling Legislation to Modern Relevance" (2011). Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public. 180.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/interpretcw/180
Included in
Cultural History Commons, Public History Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons
Comments
Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public is written by alum and adjunct professor, John Rudy. Each post is his own opinions, musings, discussions, and questions about the Civil War era, public history, historical interpretation, and the future of history. In his own words, it is "a blog talking about how we talk about a war where over 600,000 died, 4 million were freed and a nation forever changed. Meditating on interpretation, both theory and practice, at no charge to you."