Wednesday, January 05, 2011

A mighty avalanche

Words from Sam Houston as Texas was about to secede during the Civil War. Wow.

"Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives you may win Southern independence, but I doubt it. The North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates. But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche."

I'm rewatching the stunning 1990 Ken Burns documentary. For no real reason except it's really, really great. And perhaps, in this divided time, where we are so set against each other politically, it is good to remember a time when we were even more divided, and yet came together again.

2 comments:

Laura said...

Funny thing - I was just thinking of this documentary this morning, and I have that haunting music running through my mind. I was thinking that it's something I want my kids to see when they are a little older and have a little more understanding of history. It puts such a human face on war.

Heather said...

I just added this to my Netflix queue a few days ago! I visited Gettysburg last week and really want to learn more about the Civil War (high school only teaches so much!). What a coincidence that you'd mention this documentary!