MANASSAS BATTLEFIELD FREE
He was free by age 25 and in 1840 bought some land cheaply, as by that time tobacco had exhausted the soil and plantations were not very profitable in Virginia. James Robinson was probably born a slave on the nearby Landon Carter plantation (of the gigantic slaveowning Robert “King” Carter family). There is some information about the Henry family and the Robinson family who owned the other house, which is no longer standing. The Henry house is still standing and you can walk into it. There were two houses on the original battlefield site. The rest of the museum is about battle strategy, with some weapons and uniforms on display, and a few portraits of generals. The first thing you see is a quote by Thomas Jefferson about slavery: “The spirit of the master is abating, that of the slave rising from the dust, his condition mollifying, the way I hope preparing, under the auspices of heaven, for a total emancipation, and that this is disposed, in the order of events, to be with the consent of the masters, rather than by their extirpation.” You wish, Tom. In the visitor’s center is a small museum. I will give it some credit for attempting to have some information about slavery, though.
You’ve got the fields with cannons, monuments, a visitor’s center, and a few old houses that were there during the battle. The Manassas Battlefield is pretty typical in this regard. But we’re only supposed to honor their bravery and sacrifice, not question the circumstances that led them there. What are we supposed to to there? Walk around and imagine the battle? Pretend to be a soldier? Think about the thousands of men who died here? Half of them wanted to perpetuate slavery (or at least keep the priveleges of whiteness) and the other half were mostly destitute immigrants. I imagine it’s pretty difficult for the people at the NPS (or whoever runs them) to come up with stuff for people to do there. There’s a few large fields, maybe some cannons (little boys love the cannons), some phallic monuments, and probably a bronze general on a horse.
Civil War battlefields, especially, are all about military strategy and honoring soldiers, usually with little or no reference to why the war was fought in the first place: slavery (recommended reading: Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory by David W.
I think the glorification of battlefields is a little disturbing. I’ve always found battlefield sites kind of sad for a few reasons. I visited the Manassas Battlefield Park last Saturday.