What the civil war time-period means to me.
Ella Johnson
“The people were superstitious. They believed in dreams, signs, and omens. They would not begin a journey on Friday. If a dog crossed a hunter’s path when he started out in the morning, the hunter would have an unsuccessful day unless he at once hooked together his two little fingers and pulled until the the dog was out of sight. If a bird alighted in a window or a dog was heard baying at certain hours of the day, it was regarded as a sure sign that death or some other form of calamity would visit the household. Potatoes and other vegetables yielding their fruit under ground must be planted in the period when the moon was not full; but those bearing their fruit above ground must be planted in the full of the moon.” -Wilbur F. Gordy
The 1800’s, specifically in the civil war area, was a time where people were good. Yet people were confused. There was much talk of religion and righteousness back then. People were aware of it. Yet people were not quite sure exactly how to implement those things. They believed in slavery. They believed the United States should not allow secession. Perhaps the most blessed thing about this generation, was their ability to remain simple. Not so much simple in clothes or in laws, but simple in heart and mind. Because there was much confusion, these people could only rely on a humble bible, or a simple conscience. They had a desire for truth.
Today with our technology, our heaters, microwaves, lawn mowers and tractors, our agnostics and atheists, we don’t care. We don’t desire anything. We only lust after it. We only do things because we must. Everything window is so clear, we don’t know what window to look through. So we don’t look through any. It’s funny how confusion leads you to assuredness, and assuredness leads you to confusion.
Abraham Lincoln was simple in writing, simple in speech, and simple in attitude. Lincoln gives me hope. Hope that simple people, sometimes sad people, and ordinary people, can save a country. I love Abraham Lincoln. I love his courage, that gives me courage. I love his honesty, which gives me honesty. I love the simple way his life was explained, on old smelly pages, that make the grey life seem so very worth it. Not wonderful or splendid, or fun or extravagant. But so very worth it. Lincoln’s life was hard, and not in the way our lives are hard. The only joy he found was in reading the bible next to the fire at night. To understand the life of Abraham Lincoln you need only take a look at his picture, and there you can see all of the sorrow, intellect, humility, fortitude, and integrity. I know Abraham Lincoln is a man of God.
Though it’s nice to think everybody back then was like Lincoln, I think it’s safe to assume they were not. Many knew the truth, yet didn’t live it. People who knew slavery was wrong, yet never ceased to exercise it. It’s the one’s who sought out truth and found it, feasted upon it, who died with peace blanketed over their face. The people who were willing to be be arrested for their beliefs, the ones who would be beaten to death because of owning a bible, people who sincerely went to war and sang America the Beautiful with ardor. These people are no worse than Abraham Lincoln. Their lives are simple, and sometimes not recognized, yet they bring tears to your eyes because they were so very worth it. They are what the civil war time-period means to me.
