GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Statues and monuments to Confederate generals and soldiers have been the target of angry crowds in recent weeks as symbols of slavery and racism with many no longer standing.
There are dozens of statues and monuments to Confederate figures at Gettysburg National Military Park, but park officials said they were not erected as a way to honor the South’s cause. They were put up as a history lesson to be learned, according to our partners at TribLive.com.
On Seminary Ridge alone there are 13 statues to Confederate leaders, including Gen. Robert E. Lee sitting on his horse. Hundreds of plaques, monuments and markers lie around the park.
“The battlefield is one huge classroom,” acting public affairs officers Jason Martz told Triblive.com. “You can have a textbook in a classroom. But the battlefield makes that textbook come alive.”
He said its the job of the National Park Service to portray an accurate account of what happened at Gettysburg - and that means the good, bad and ugly.
“Our job is to tell the story of what happened here, the Union and the Confederates,” Martz told WHP-TV.
According to WHP-TV, all of the monuments at Gettysburg were approved by Congress and would have to go through an elaborate process before being removed.
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