Why Gettysburg Matters

Why has Gettysburg always been the Civil War’s most famous battle and how has it shaped American national identity? In this talk, professor of U.S. political history Adam Smith argues that ever since the news of Confederate defeat spread on July 4, 1863, Gettysburg has been imagined as a place of national “rebirth”. In its own way, it has been — and continues to be — as vital to the story of American nationhood as anything that happened in the Revolution.

Members Reception at 5 pm

$10 / $5 for Members

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Host or Publisher The American Civil War Museum