Some called it chaos and some called it infighting and some called it embarrassing, but it was none of those things. It was a battle for the right and for the country. It was a beautiful thing to see
Inset image plus original illustration of the Battle of Chickamauga in the Civil War. The illustration is from Harper's Weekly. The picture is captioned, "The Battle of Chickamauga - Thomas's Men Repulsing the Charge of the Rebels.Most of the time historical events must age for quite a while, years even, before we can know they were truly significant. They don’t often generate their own instant meaning. History books are full of old stuff. The further back it happened, the more agreement there is about whether it was important or not. Recent history, being more recent, hasn’t mellowed or gained the perspective required for people to agree on it. It seems that recent history attracts a wider variety of interpretations and is more likely to show the ideological biases of people who write about them.
Historic events are pretty common and often predictable. There’s an historic swearing in ceremony for the president every four years. The State of the Union address is an historic event we see every year. There are historic storms and floods. Usually a member of congress becomes speaker of the House of Representatives in a predictable election at the beginning of each new congress. Every two years, in January, nominations and a vote result in the selection of a speaker.
