After six more years of work — including the transfer of 100,000 Civil War artifacts and photographs from the Museum of the Confederacy — the American Civil War Museum was ready. From beginning to end, the war is framed as a defining conflict for American democracy, a struggle for freedom whose outcome had world-historical implications. And to emphasize this point, the galleries do not end with surrender and reconciliation; they end with Reconstruction and its aftermath. There are just too many myths about the Civil War — too much unreflective memory — for that not to be the case. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

Source: New York Times May 16, 2019 19:52 UTC