"Protect It, Don't Pave It: Save Battlefields."
By Elise Zevitz
2005
This essay, by high school student, Elise Zevitz, took first place in
the Civil War Preservation Trust National Essay contest. Elise is the
daughter of a member of the Dear Habermas community. We salute her
achievement with pride. jeanne
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
We Americans enjoy many privileges. However, as Eisenhower pointed out,
our privileges are worthless without principles. America is a nation
founded and shaped by many famous principles, and they, along with the
people who fought for them, must never be forgotten. The Civil War was
one of many events in America's unique history that has helped to shape
who we are as a nation. Civil War battlefields must be preserved
because they serve as a reminder of the past, a lesson for the present,
and a hope for the future.
To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be forever a child.
Cicero
A reminder of the past...
Battlefields of the Civil War serve as an important reminder of our
history. To relegate the Civil War to museums only would be the
ultimate form of disrespect to our, as Lincoln put it, "dedication to
the unfinished work which they who fought there have thus far so nobly
advanced." Historical preservation is a cause that every American
should be involved in because if we lose our history, we lose our
identity.
A lesson for the present...
If there was ever a time in the history of this nation that so
desperately needs a lesson in its past, it is now. Shopping malls, fast
food restaurants, and subdivisions may come and go, but the desecration
of a battlefield will surpass a thousand generations. Civil War
battlefields serve as an important lesson for the present. They teach
of patriotism, sacrifice, loyalty, and courage. They teach of liberty,
perseverance, leadership, and devotion. Only on battlefields do we see
men at their very best and very worst. They are where heroes are born
and where legends have fallen. Battlefields are the closest connection
that we today have to the Civil War. How can we begin to appreciate
what we have without knowing how it came to be? We owe it to those who
came before us: those whose blood turned the rivers red, those who left
their farms and shops and families, those families who waited so
anxiously and bravely behind, we owe our deepest debt of gratitude to
the men and women, black and white and everything in between who dared
to dream, who dared to fight, and dared to lay down their lives and
everything they hold dear to them to bear the weight of this great
nation on their shoulders. The immortality of their sacrifices must
never be forgotten.
A hope for the future...
If we do not learn to respect our past, what hope can we hold for the
future? Civil War battlefield preservation plays an important role in
the future of our nation. The message that we hand down through
posterity must be one of utmost honor and gratitude to those who made
the ultimate sacrifice. The dangerous and foolish mistake of repeating
history is always imminent when the lessons of history are lost.
Battlefields are symbolic of the hope for this country that thousands
carried to their graves, hoisted high above them on banners, and
sheltered close to their hearts.
The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
Abraham Lincoln
These great words that were uttered almost a century and a half ago
reflect the tremendous paradox that has occurred. Today the world notes
and remembers these famous words, but with what meaning? Many today can
quote this text, but fail to grasp the significance of those who gave
that "last full measure of devotion." Civil War battlefields are so
important to the legacy of America. These are sacred places that
deserve to preserved and protected. To neglect these battlefields would
not only be disrespectful to those whose blood stained that land, but
to those who are still out there fighting for this nation today.
