History in Literature

I have never been a history buff, actually that is my husband's area of expertise, but I definitely see the ties between an era of history and the literature written during that time period. Some of the Pods in this semester are heavily historical, due to the genres and the events. For instance, Lincoln wrote The Gettysburg Address in response to that battle of the Civil War. That document came alive for me when I first stood in front of the memorial to commemorate his speech in the cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania when I was 10. I saw it again, twice actually, during 8th grade field trips to Gettysburg and Washington, D. C. when my daughters made those journeys with their classmates and I was a teacher/chaperone. The most recent visit was in the summer of 2011 when my husband, oldest daughter, and her husband spent a week in Pennsylvania, D. C., and Virginia. During the summer visit we decided to take advantage of using a tour guide as we learned more about the battlefield and the Civil War. In fact I highly recommend going that route to anyone visiting that area. We learned so much and visited areas we would have missed otherwise. However, the most poignant moments for me were on a Sunday morning when we visited the cemetery, just the four of us. Sunny skies, a light breeze, and the quiet cemetery with a few folks strolling along the paths, stopping frequently to read monuments and gaze at headstones. Pausing in front of the memorial where Lincoln supposedly stood to address the citizens and soldiers, I could feel the solemnity of the occasion, I could hear the words, and I could feel the importance of his words as they resonated across the countryside. As I read some of your posts in the Discussion Board about memorable speeches, I still think that nothing compares to The Gettysburg Address. What a wonderful, moving speech that changed the course of history! How fitting that it is included in our anthology as we study early American literature.