[The Federalist] Americans are losing interest in the Civil War‐or at least they are losing interest in learning about it and visiting historic battle sites. The Wall Street Journal reported recently that the country’s "five major Civil War battlefield parks‐Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, Chickamauga/Chattanooga, and Vicksburg‐had a combined 3.1 million visitors in 2018, down from about 10.2 million in 1970." Gettysburg, America’s most famous and hallowed battlefield, drew fewer than a million visitors last year, and just 14 percent of the visitor total in 1970.
In addition to fewer tourists, the number of Civil War re-enactors is also declining. Many are growing old, and younger men are not stepping in to replenish their ranks. As one 68-year-old re-enactor, who recently helped organize a recreation of the Battle of Resaca in Georgia, told the Journal, "The younger generations are not taught to respect history, and they lose interest in it." |