Revisiting the American Civil War
Transcrição
Revisiting the American Civil War
TRAVELOGS | Introduction The war between the states T he United States was not yet 100 years old in 1860 when it elected Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer who opposed slavery, as president. South Carolina and several other Southern, pro-slavery states reacted by leaving the United States of America — “the Union” — to form the Confederate States of America. e Confederacy then demanded that Union troops leave its territory, which included Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. On April 12, 1861, 150 years ago this month, Confederate troops fired on the fort, thus starting the Civil War. From 1861 to 1865, the war between the Union’s 23 states and the Confederacy’s 11 states claimed more than 620,000 lives. e war divided a country whose Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1776 had established the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” omas Jefferson, the Declaration’s main author, would have wept to see his work coming undone. ambulance service [(ÄmbjElEns )s§:vEs] claim lives [)kleIm (laIvz] come undone [)kVm Vn(dVn] commemorative event [kE)memErEtIv I(vent] 2 Spotlight 4|11 Rettungsdienst Todesopfer fordern auseinanderfallen Gedenkfeier, -veranstaltung Freedom for all: President Abraham Lincoln Commemorative events are starting throughout America to mark the anniversary of the start of the Civil War. e state of Maryland, where important battles were fought, is an ideal place to learn about a conflict that changed the country in so many ways. Maryland is immediately south of the Mason-Dixon Line, a border established in the 1760s to settle a dispute among the colonies. In time, the line came to represent a cultural frontier between northern and southern states. When the Civil War started, Maryland was a slave-owning state. Many Marylanders wanted to join the South, yet the state stayed in the Union and fought with the North. Before my two-day trip around Maryland’s historic sites, I had never quite understood why so many Americans were so passionate about the Civil War. e state’s battlefields and busy little towns waited for me to visit them and find out. cozy [(koUzi] Declaration of Independence [)deklEreIS&n Ev )Indi(pendEns] delighted with [di(laItEd] fort [fO:rt] frontier [frVn(tI&r] Fotos: The White House; Library of Congress; Thinkstock (2) Vor 150 Jahren begann der lange, blutige Amerikanische Bürgerkrieg. Aus diesem Anlass unternahm EVE LUCAS in Maryland eine denkwürdige Zeitreise zu den Kriegsschauplätzen von damals. gemütlich (→ p. 8) Unabhängigkeitserklärung entzückt von Festung, Fort Grenze Day one 8 a.m. Yesterday was a blur. I arrived at Dulles Airport, just outside Washington, DC, and drove 45 minutes to the town of Frederick, Maryland. Now, after a good night’s sleep, I can begin to enjoy my surroundings. I am delighted with Frederick’s lovely historic streets and cozy cafés. 9:15 a.m. I meet local history expert Jack Spinnler at the corner of Church and Market Streets outside Kemp Hall. He explains the importance of Frederick. A special session of Maryland’s general assembly took place here in April 1861. e delegates voted against leaving the Union, but decided to hold another vote on the issue in September. Before then, President Lincoln ordered the arrest of so many pro-Confederacy delegates that it was impossible to pass a vote. Maryland remained in the Union. An early ambulance: the dead and injured are driven away 10 a.m. From Kemp Hall, it’s a short walk to Frederick’s National Museum of Civil War Medicine. ere I learn that only a third of Civil War deaths occurred in battle. Most soldiers died of disease and postoperative infections. Museum guide Bob explains that in 1861, anybody who had studied some medicine could call himself a doctor. By 1863, though, doctors were required to pass exams, and regular ambulance services had been established. e war brought progress in medicine, but one statistic stays with me: 55 percent of a surgeon’s work in those days consisted of amputations. A Maryland man flies the state and American flags; right, Fort Sumter, in South Carolina, where the Civil War began on April 12, 1861 general assembly [)dZen&rEl E(sembli] mark [mA:rk] pass a vote [)pÄs E (voUt] passionate about: be ~ [(pÄS&nEt E)baUt] Generalversammlung hier: begehen (→ p. 8) etw. verabschieden voller Begeisterung sein für pursuit of [p&r(su:t Ev] settle [(set&l] surgeon [(s§:dZEn] weep [wi:p] yesterday was a blur [)jest&rdi wVz E (bl§:] Streben nach beilegen Chirurg weinen der gestrige Tag ist einfach an mir vorbeigerauscht 4|11 Spotlight 3