At the various Gettysburg sites, I was reminded about how deeply and how long the nation had been divided on the issue of slavery. It was a conflict that was brewing for decades; many politicians and leaders simply tried to postpone a definitive decision until they were out of office. I was also reminded that in addition to the issue of slavery, the matter of States' rights was also at stake. It must have been an agonizing decision for Abraham Lincoln to decide to go to war in order to preserve the union but in retrospect, it was the right call. Gettysburg exemplified the painful losses of the Civil War (11,000 deaths, 51,000 total casualties) and is the location of President Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address ("Four score and seven years ago").
Gettysburg -- atop Little Round Top
In Amish Country, we stayed at Fassitt house, an 1845 home which served as a stop along the Underground Railroad (32 documented runaway slaves stayed there between 1845 and 1862). I had forgotten that harboring runaway slaves was against the law even in the pro-abolition North and those who did so put themselves and their property at risk. Our girls stayed in the Freedom Room, whose closet still has the original trap door and hiding space intended for runaway slaves in case of emergencies.
We enjoyed driving around the gorgeous farmland and seeing the Amish families sharing in meals and volleyball games, as well as their horse and buggy carts. We watched an incredible sunset and then were delighted by thousands of fireflies putting on a fireworks show of their own at dusk.
Sunset in Amish Country
On Monday, July 6, we drove into Philadelphia, the one-time capital of the Unites States and the leading intellectual and cultural center of the Colonial era. We visited the Liberty bell and the Visitor Center, took a carriage ride, ate cheesesteak sandwiches (well, some of us did), enjoyed "Once Upon a Nation" street performers, and went on a tour of Independence Hall. I also learned (in no uncertain terms) that the Superbowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, though located in Pennsylvania, are not much appreciated in Philly.
Cheesesteak baby!
My favorite stop of the day was at Independence Hall (the building pictured on the back of a $100 bill), where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated, shaped, and signed/ratified. Those who signed the Declaration of Independence essentially were signing their own death warrants if the revolution against the British failed. I appreciated being reminded about the significant debates regarding how to shape the fledgling U.S. government -- how to provide a government that sought to prevent a "tyranny of the majority" and to create checks and balances through the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. I don't think I had ever realized how independent the various states originally were (more like a confederation of sovereign nations) and how vigorously the tension between federal powers and state powers was debated. I found myself admiring the thought and the give and take that went into creating the founding documents of the United States.
Look Familiar? Philadelphia's Independence Hall
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