Anniversaries

I think it is fair to say that most folks mark their lives in part by marking anniversaries. I think it is also fair to say that anniversaries are important markers of national life -- days that commemorate workers, soldiers, and founders are all important annual events. For whatever reason anniversaries that correspond to some multiple of 5 are given particular importance (5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200 etc. seem to be especially significant).

Over the next 6 years, we will mark two anniversaries divisible by 5. One will, not surprisingly, get plenty of attention -- in fact there are already plans underway across the nation to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The other, however, is a bit more obscure -- how many War of 1812 Bicentennial celebrations are you aware of? Maybe New Orleans is planning something big. Maybe the Oliver H. Perry Society is preparing to celebrate. Perhaps. But, to my knowledge, there are no efforts on the scale of the various Civil War Sesquicentennial Commissions being organized to mark the War of 1812.

Now. Before I take too much credit for pointing out the importance of thinking about 1812, I must admit that I hadn't thought too much about it (why I have no idea -- I mean the name of the war should make it easy to remember how long ago it was -- 2012 - 1812 = 200. Even I can do that math in my head). That is until local historian Sam Elliot mentioned it. Wow, I thought. We have to do something. Tennesseans were awfully important in prosecuting the war. The Cherokee were right in the middle of things. The area around Moccasin Bend was the mustering site for a portion of the Tennessee volunteers who invaded the Creek territory.

There have been conversations among a few historians at the state level about the bicentennial. And there is some movement toward creating a traveling exhibit through the Tennessee State Museum that will explain Tennessee's role in the War of 1812. We at the Chattanooga History Center will certainly be planning some tours and lectures that mark the anniversary.

Beyond raising awareness, however, we need to be thinking about what needs to be interpreted. We must be careful to avoid making the commemoration a celebration of Andrew Jackson and the cotton-balers. We must look at the Cherokee and Creek perspectives -- what losses did they suffer as a result of the war in the old southwest? We must think about expansionism and the social and cultural costs of expansion. We must think about the contest of empire that gave form to the war. While the War of 1812 is often called the 2nd American Revolution or the war that confirmed American Independence we must also think of it from the perspective of the African descended slaves who would be rushed into the lands seized from the Creeks. The War of 1812 was catalyst to the expansion of the cotton frontier -- and led to the explosion of slavery in the Alabama and Mississippi Territories. It also led to the continued expansion of white settlement in the Northwest Territory where slavery had long been illegal. So, while the war did help the United States ensure its sovereignty, it also created the political, social, and economic context for national division.

The next six years present an incredible opportunity to think about the actions and decisions that made the United States an independent nation. The next six years also give us the opportunity to think about the costs of that independence.