Memorial Day: Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died.
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 31 in 2010). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the Civil War), it was expanded after World War I.
History
Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Sharpsburg, Maryland, located near Antietam Battlefield; Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Petersburg, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days.
According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first memorial day was observed by formerly enslaved black people at the Washington Race Course (today the location of Hampton Park) in Charleston, South Carolina. The race course had been used as a temporary Confederate prison camp in 1865 as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who died there. Immediately after the cessation of hostilities, formerly enslaved people exhumed the bodies from the mass grave and reinterred them properly with individual graves. They built a fence around the graveyard with an entry arch and declared it a Union graveyard. The work was completed in only ten days. On May 1, 1865, the Charleston newspaper reported that a crowd of up to ten thousand, mainly black residents, including 2800 children, processed to the location for included sermons, singing, and a picnic
...
Guia de Conversacion: El Lider USA le da la bienvenida a tus pensamientos, historias e información relacionada a este articulo. Por favor mantegase dentro del tema y sea respetuosos con los demas miembros.(Se el primero en dejar un comentario)
Total Comentarios: Mostrando 10 Comentarios por Página Página 1 de
Resumen: Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 31 in 2010). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service.
Guia de Conversacion: El Lider USA le da la bienvenida a tus pensamientos, historias e información relacionada a este articulo. Por favor mantegase dentro del tema y sea respetuosos con los demas miembros.(Se el primero en dejar un comentario)
rss
