It is the largest land battle ever to be fought in the Western Hemisphere.
What were those dreams? They were dreams of a future with slavery. The Southern distinctiveness, the Southern "way of life," the southern "heritage," its past, its future, its hopes, its dreams, its politics, its culture, its economy, its language, its war for independence, the entire Southern existence, was based on slavery. Goodbye to all that.
It was part of what is called the American "Civil War" or the "War Between the States." Both names imply a "war of rebellion," another of its names. It was not. The southern states seceded and formed their own separate government. The "Confederate States of America" was not the grandiose name of a rebelling band of misfits. An entire region of former contiguous states of the American republic broke loose and formed its own country. The CSA had its own president, legislature, armed forces, flag. It also had its own distinct culture, economy, even linguistic dialect. It had its own history and its own distinct dreams for the future. In 1948 William Faulkner wrote wistfully of this country: "For every Southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it's still not yet two o'clock on that July afternoon in 1863." The war was to last for almost another two years but now Gettysburg is considered "the last best hope" for that dream and Pickett's Charge, of which Faulkner wrote, the "high water mark" of Southern dreams for the future. They fought so valiantly for their dreams.
What were those dreams? They were dreams of a future with slavery. The Southern distinctiveness, the Southern "way of life," the southern "heritage," its past, its future, its hopes, its dreams, its politics, its culture, its economy, its language, its war for independence, the entire Southern existence, was based on slavery. Goodbye to all that.
