East Trip Part 2: Mount Vernon, Smithsonians, Capitol Hill, Arlington Cemetery, DC Monuments and Memorials, Ford's Theatre

              On the banks of the mighty Potomac lies the mansion and grounds of Mount Vernon. Across the river lies a preserved Fort Scattaway—preserved simply because George Washington liked looking at it. The history of George Washington reveals the greatness of our first American President. A couple good quotes of General Washington, “The love of my country will be the ruling influence of my conduct… (One should observe) the rules of civility and decent behavior in company and conversation… I walk on untrodden ground. All my conduct will be precedent.” And from Martha, “The greater part of our happiness deals with our disposition, not circumstance.” Washington distributed Thomas Paine’s Common Sense to his soldiers. At Mount Vernon they hosted over 600 distinguished visitors after his Presidency. He had less educational opportunities then his siblings because of family financial crisis when that time came for him (didn’t get to go to Oxford). Slaves were buried all over his estate in unmarked graves. Next to his tomb lies a memorial to those slaves. He saw destiny taking him through his trials and only complained for his wife’s suffering, not his own. He used ambition, connections, and strength of character to have a remarkable life.

            The Air and Space Musuem in DC was overwhelming. Here are some quick notes: Charles Lindberg didn’t have a front window on the Spirit of Saint Louis…so that gas wouldn’t burn him if he crashed. Vin Fiz revolutionized advertising by being painted on bottom. The Wright Brothers made bikes and kites as a living before randomly aspiring to air flight. If the Hubble Telescope was in Japan and the earth was made flat then it could see “In God We Trust” on a penny in the USA. I touched a moon rock and will not be a moon conspiracy guy.

            The American National History Museum has a replica of the Nauvoo Temple’s sunshine ornament. The Mormon migration and story is an extremely underrated American story. Said Jefferson of slavery, “We have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.”

            E Pluribus Unom, Out of Many…One. The Capitol was a great opportunity to see the combination of history, the present, and the future. When Capitol was originally built they made a crypt which sat in the center of DC and split it into four quadrants. They hoped to move George Washington’s body into it (because of his refusal to be a dictator). Its empty--maybe put Obama in there—now. The rotunda was painted to symbolically represent God overlooking modern technology. No I-Phones are up there, it was painted in like the 1880’s or something.

            Arlington Cemetery has 27 funerals a week, 400,000 graves of men, whom not all died in combat, but who wanted to rest overlooking our nation’s capital. John F. Kennedy and his wife were buried there, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” It is on the site of Robert E Lee’s family’s plantation. The discipline of the soldiers guarding the tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a gift to the honor of the unknown.

            Washington DC monuments: The US Army commemorated Washington’s refusal to be a king in 1884 by building the Washington monument. The WWII Memorial honors those men who whether by choice or coercion courageously fought in the name of their country, “Even against the greatest odds there is something in the human spirit, a magic blend of skill, faith, and valor that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory.” The Lincoln Memorial is a temple of reflection and commitment.  Lincoln’s second inaugural address was themed on respect to the South and proclamation of a higher law, “Don’t judge, just do right, and let God do right.” The memorial’s murals are of unity and emancipation. From the Gettysburg Address, I feel this appropriate to many settings, “The brave men (and women) living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.” There is a lot of tribute to Martin Luther King, said he, “Dark must be driven out by light. Hate cannot drive out hate, it has to be love.” A little seen monument commemorates George Mason who didn’t attend the constitutional conventions because there were no provisions for the halting of importation of slaves.

            Thomas Jefferson was a scientist who particularly was interested in the practical benefits of new discovery and application. He never feared new inventions or improvements but loved following truth and reason. He emphasized a free government needs an educated people, from the common to the wealthy (in defense of pell grants?). “Knowledge is power… knowledge is happiness.” Referred to himself as a barbarous ancestor and said that he didn’t want rapid change of the constitution but that as new truths were discovered (and new opinions formed as a result), then the laws should change. Freedom to practice or not practice religion, “All men are free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.” “There shall be no tyranny over the mind of man.”

            We just missed the tour of Ford’s Theatre but we did learn some good stuff at the home across the street where Lincoln actually died. Booth thought he would be cheered for killing Lincoln because he was defending the Constitution. HE figured he be like Brutus to Caesar. There are no living descendants of Lincoln. Six people were hung as result of one death, several attempts, and other conspiracies… maybe even Lincoln would agree that was too much. Lincoln said, “As I would not be a slave, I would not be a master.” Hollow mockery was made at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922 when it was said “All may worship at this shrine”… the crowd was segregated by color.

Part 1: Recounting visits to Appomattox Courthouse, Jamestown, Richmond, and Williamsburg

Stephen Covey calls them “Quadrant 2” activities. I call them--crap we want to do at one point but which we let slip away by first doing the stuff we don’t want to do--but which society obligates (obliges? English is rusty, bare-with) us to do. After graduating from Initial Entry Training for the US Army, I spent two weeks this summer touring up the east coast with family. It was a historical fire hydrant and I need to display that I learned a thing or two from the trip (maybe to calm the cognitive dissonance in my brain trying to convince myself that I spent way too much money in the process). I have several notes and possible directions to go with this account but ultimately I am going to spend an hour of my Sunday night and call it good for forever, on this entry (Note: One hour is not enough, stay tuned to next week’s part 2, 3 or however many hour long sessions it takes, sorry long). Covey’s Quadrant 2 is defined as those activities which we deem important, but which are not urgent to get done. Well here you go Mr. Covey, I’m getting it done.

The trip interestingly started towards the end of our chronological journey, 1865 and at the site of the last defining battle of the Civil War. Appomattox Court House is a lesser known historic site but was powerful in capturing the depth of the Civil War. As I learned about the march of the some 60,000 strong in Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia (Vah-gin-ya), I reflected on the long ruck marches at Basic Training and didn’t blame the some 30,000 men who fell out before reaching the ultimate destination of Greensboro, NC. They were weary, famished, and longing for home. When Grant’s leapfrogging Union Army happened upon Lee near the small cluster of homes at Appomattox, the stage was set for a Confederate surrender. With passion our tour guide spoke of General Robert E. Lee. It was Palm Sunday when Lee and his horse Traveller (of whom was said to walk as if a king were upon his back) strode towards the meeting with Grant. Lee was wearing his best attire and far superseded Grant in the finer things of life. Said Lee, “I surrender to Lincoln’s goodness, not Grants Army.” In the meeting was a Union leader of Native decent, Ely Parker. Lee said, “Glad there is at least one real American here.” Parker cordially responded, “We are all Americans.” Among the two sides soldiers there was a sense of mutual respect and a relief that the long war was closing. In two days 28,000 paroles were printed and the rebel soldiers returned home.

I consider Virginia to be very different from what we westerners call “the south”, or “out east”. Virginia is a nation of its own. As I drove the green and heavily wooded freeway towards the capital Richmond, I felt a sense of pride. Not a pride which I was necessarily apart of but one which ran deep into the history of this nation. In Richmond we drove Monument Avenue and stopped to admire the grandiose statues saluting Lee, Jefferson, Stuart, Stonewall, and Jefferson Davis; legends of the South. A little insight was given into what they fought for from a quote by President Davis, “Not because we hate the north, or for our pecuniary benefit, but because of our inherited rights and the rights of our children.” Can we wholly judge a people who were conditioned a particular way from their youth, who had a social standard engrained into them even before they were accountable to their own choices?

The pride of Jefferson Davis, George Washington, and a large majority of our countries historical figures began in Jamestown Settlement. It was the first successful settlement in the New World and a place worthy to make one proud to be a Virginian. Much of the history of Jamestown was kept by a conceded, womanizer, who was a chronic embellisher—John Smith. But, many of his accounts are verified. The Virginia Company was a chartered expedition with the commission to locate land usable for a port city at the mouth of a river with access to the “other sea”. In 1607 it started with 104 men and boys, who were of the gentlemen type and not farmers. Many indentured servants came to the settlement and worked four to seven years for their masters back in England before earning their freedom in the new land. The settlement survived the winter, disease, a year without women, Indian attacks, drought, and Nathaniel Bacon. In 1699 the capital was moved to nearby Williamsburg. It was in Jamestown that the first slave laws were written, the bicameral legislature established, and the roots of a new country began. Oh and of course the Powatan Indian princess Pocahontas converted to Christianty, married John Rolfe, moved to England, sang about the colors of the wind, yada yada.

Paid 40 bucks to step back in time and visit Williamsburg. I felt like I was in 17^th century England and even developed a bit of an English accent. Great leaders like George Mason and Patrick Henry led in this hub of Virginian development. It was here that the notions of government giving people rights and the law dictating reason, logic, and conscience—were struck down and replaced with bills of rights and republican leadership. Here the necessity of slaves was developed with booming economic opportunities and the ambition of English backed entrepreneurs. One of the great perplexities of slavery developed as creditors in England backed the financial operations of English colonists and in the endgame of things, was the actual owners of the slaves. A slave owner in Virginia could not just release a slave any more then he could turn a horse free, for that asset was owned in England. By “bits and measures” slavery was established and toward the turn of the 18^th the notion of most people was that by bits and measures it would be taken away. Interesting to note the culture of the time, Catholics were not treated well in the Anglican dominated region. Anyone who paid tribute to a “foreign prince”, was questionable in their allegiance. For a period of time Catholics were denied the right to bear arms, for a time before a majority began to realize they didn’t want to pay tribute to the foreign prince of their own.