Figure 1 – The raising of the Confederate flag over Fort Sumter on April 14, 1861. From the LOC and in the public domain.

Today is April 14th.  Today and tomorrow I’d like to talk about images that represent polar extremes.  Todays are a pair separated in time by four years.  The years are 1861 and 1865.  Today I’m posting two pictures from the United States Library of Congress: one taken on April 14, 1861 and the other taken on April 14, 1865.  On April 14, 1861 after the bombardment by confederate forces of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor and its subsequent evacuation by Major Robert Anderson and his Union troops, the Confederates raised their flag over the fort (Figure 1).  On April 14, 1865, Brigadier General Anderson returned to Fort Sumter for the raising of Old Glory over the fort.  Also present on that day was Harriet Beecher Stowe (Figure 2).

The contrast or similarity of these two historic images speaks to the symbolism of flags and to the aspiration of men and women with conflicting ideas.  History is ultimately a cauldron, and war its most unpredictable brew.  Wars like the American Civil War are so terrible that you would think that we would do everything possible to avoid them.  Yet in our imperfections we tumble irrevocably towards them.  This particular war, really the second phase of the American Revolution, was truly born of unresolved conflicts of the eighteenth century. Ultimately, we are driven forward by the ideas of the times and these images can only in a very small way give us a glimpse what was in the minds of Americans during those years.

Figure 2- The raising of Old Glory over Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865. From the US LOC and in the public domain.