Once again I’m inspired by Heather Cox Richardson and her daily work collecting and reporting facts to us in her letters. An ethical, historian/reporter is a very valuable commodity in a democracy. Facts matter…our whole system of checks and balances is based on finding the truth…on living lives of justice as much as possible. Our “rulebook” has evolved over the years to more honestly and accurately reflect our Founders intentions and statements….”We the people…”, “all men created equal…”that then became “create a more perfect union…” in 1864 during the dedication of a cemetery to our war dead.
It took our bloodiest war…an internal conflict to settle the big question of freedom…are slaves really less than white folks and were they created to serve white folks ? The answer paid for in blood, over and over again was NO….a really big NO. If you believe God was on the side of the winners….then God has spoken…very clearly.
As long as that war was mainly about re-uniting the USA or making it 2 countries, the North wasn’t doing too well. The South had the upper hand on the battlefield. After Lincoln wrote the draft Emancipation things changed. Lee lost his order and Little Mac moved faster than normal with that intel. He was able to bring Lee to battle sooner and at a place not to Lee’s advantage. The result of the bloodiest day in our history at Antietam was the release of the draft Emancipation…which changed everything…for all time.
I believe in co-creation. That we all co-create everything. Nothing happens in a vacuum. There is history, there is understanding, intent…etc…it all comes together at certain times and moments. At Antietam two powerful armies crashed and bashed their way across cornfields, through a sunken road and over a stone bridge, killing and wounding more of their “countrymen” than ever before or since in one day. A self inflicted killing spree….started because some states leaders feared that the newly elected Lincoln would change their lives by altering their ownership of human property. They needed to form their own country…a more perfect country to them…a more right country than the Founders…they knew the real truth in 1861. Africans were put on earth by God to serve them….and they were doing them a favor to take care of them and teach them about Jesus. At Antietam, that logic came apart in a hellish bloodbath. Lincoln used his pen…and if you believe in God’s will, changed the course of the USA via the co-creations on that battlefield.
At about the time Lincoln was preparing to announce to the world his intention to free slaves (not all of them…but enough to change the course of our history) master photographer Alexander Gardner was crossing South Mountain on the National Pike in his darkroom wagon, funded by his producer and mentor Mathew Brady. He started documenting what he encountered on South Mountain. His eye and lens captured more death and destruction than ever seen by Americans. The display of those images in NY shook the nation….as they should have. They became famous icons frequently reprinted and displayed today. Gardner’s art and photo journalism lives on.
Next week we are going to gather on South Mountain at a place known as Gathland, where “Gath” built a large stone arch to his journalism comrades, the “Bohemian Brigade” from the Civil War. A few years ago our then Gov. Hogan declared June 28 to be “Freedom of the Press” day in Maryland. It was established to honor 5 journalists in Annapolis who were murdered for doing their jobs.
A group of us who have been involved with the Annual Illumination at Antietam of 23,110 candles set across acres of that battlefield, decided to create an Illumination of 250 candles at the War Correspondents Arch to honor all of the American journalists who have lost their lives reporting facts and bringing us the truth every day since before we were a nation.
Please join us if you can for this Illumination, in this historic place…a battlefield from our great Civil War…and a place dedicated to truth and facts. I’ll report more details later as we get closer.