A screen-print of a photo taken at sunset on the Gettysburg National Battlefield hangs on the wall of my office. It was a gift from the parent who took the photo while we were chaperoning a school class on a three-day field trip. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous, the gray clouds and blue sky above and the green fields and trees below made a perfect portrait. Only the cannons to the right, on the ridge that slopes gently upward on the right side of the picture give a hint that it was taken on a former battlefield.
But that spot on the battlefield is the place where one of the most significant events in American history occurred, a place perhaps more important than Yorktown in that what occurred there led to the preservation of American ideals and freedom beyond what was achieved by the American Revolution. The cluster of trees in the center of the photograph is known as the "copse of trees" marking the "high watermark of the Confederacy. At that place, on July 3, 1863, the Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee made its furthest advance against the Union army lines on the battlefield that marks its furthest penetration into Union territory during the Civil War.
The specific part of the battle in which this event occurred is known as Pickett's Charge. In an attempt to end the battle and open a way for his army to advance towards Harrisburg, Lee ordered General Longstreet to charge the Union line on the top of Cemetery Ridge. Lee hoped to force Lincoln to sue for peace and preserve the Confederacy's existence by threatening or capturing Harrisburg and breaking the Union line at Gettysburg was the key to that. The Union's last stronghold on the battlefield was the line on Cemetery Ridge. The cannon were lined up near the top of the ridge and the soldiers were lying behind the low rock wall about thirty yards in front of the ridge, just below the copse of trees.
The Union line held. At one point, a group of Confederate soldiers succeeded in getting past the wall in an attempt to reach the artillery line and spike or turn the cannons. They reached the small cluster of trees (which was probably much thicker and larger in 1863 than the photo now shows) but that was as far as they got. There is a small plaque at that point noting the location as the high watermark of the Confederacy, representing its furthest advance on the battlefield during the war. From that point forward, Lee and his army was in retreat and the end of the unjust and oppressive institution of slavery in the United States was within sight.
It is not possible to talk about the event being "history" and look at events on the battlefield without understanding why there was a Civil War in the first place. My first tour of the Gettysburg battlefield was led by a retired middle school history teacher who, along with his expertise and knowledge of every movement of the battle, also believed that God's divine presence was there, guiding the decisions that were made and the events that occurred which led to the defeat of the Confederacy and the end of institutional slavery in America.
In a speech now known as the "Cornerstone Address" given by a former Georgia congressman who became Vice President of the Confederate States of America, Alexander Stephens claimed that slavery was a "fundamental and just result of the inferiority of the Negro race." It was this specific "truth", in Stephen's opinion, that cause the sharp contrast in ideology between the United States Constitution and the constitution of the Confederacy and which Stephens used to justify secession and ultimately the attack on the U.S. military at Ft. Sumter leading to war. An exact quote from Stephen's speech makes this very clear. "Our new government foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man." Stephens notes in his speech that belief in this "truth", not some vague diagreement over "states' rights", is what separates the Confederacy from the United States government.
The Confederacy was defeated. It was a rebellion against the United States, not just its government but by extension, its people. Secession, along with the attack on Ft Sumter leading to war, was an act of treason, and the leaders of the Confederacy were duly charged after the war, though the sentences and penalties were very light and extremely forgiving. That alone is more than enough reason to disqualify anyone involved in the leadership and support of the Confederate States of America from being memorialized and honored with statues, monuments, and having buildings, schools, and particularly military bases named after them. Acknowledging history is one thing, honoring those who rebelled, attacked and fought against your own country is something else.
It isn't possible to separate the Confederacy from slavery. Slavery is, by any Biblical standard, the evil exploitation of human beings, a practice that devalues the sanctity of human life and demonstrates a love of money over love for others. The Confederacy, via its constitution and in the words of its Vice President Alexander Stephens, decided to call evil good, and go to war against those who believed otherwise. American perspectives on race weren't settled in the Northern states by any means, but they were solid enough not to give up on preserving the Union even when the military situation got bad. That's why placing statues and monuments to Confederate leaders in public parks and government buildings and flying the Confederate flag is giving honor to the nation's enemies. It's as plain and simple as that.
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