Essay - Oct. 2

Historians, such as the notable Frederick Jackson Turner, have put forth the thesis that Americans lack any sense of place.  Crossing borders from state to state is seamless thanks to advancements in transportation, communication, and the relative lack of local politics and economies' ability to hold us back from leaving or entering a new place within our country. The laws of one city or town rarely differ substantially from that of another in the US. It is because of our ability to liberally move around the country and settle where the opportunities seem more in our favor that historians like Turner believe that Americans lack a sense of place.  These historians state that the reason they lack a sense of place is because Americans lack a sense of history and especially history related to a single place, neighborhood, or community. To follow this logic further we could say that this lack of history is in essence due to the fact that we lack a sense of place. While that may be true it is seems to confuse the reasoning to these historians’ thesis by cloaking it in an explanation akin to the age old debate of the chicken and the egg. 

Glassberg does not agree with the statements of these historians. He believes Americans do have a sense of place. Glassberg argues that Americans’ sense of place is more a sense of place from the construct of their individual memory of a physical locality, rather than a physical locality itself.  To simplify this statement Americans are not connected to a physical landmark. Instead they are connected to the memories they have relating to that physical landmark. That connection to a memory of a location is the American sense of place, according to Glassberg. The author’s “Six Axioms” explain his view of the American sense of place even further. Within these points he makes an interesting argument that defines his thesis as to why he believes Americans do posses a sense of place, what it is, and how it has developed. 

Sense of place, combined with its right hand man: sense of history, is the sole reason “Disney America” got routed out of "Old" Virginia. The sense of place and sense of history that many Americans felt for the area in and around Mannassas, Virginia formed the bond that created the coalition that combated the goliath Disney. The connection felt by Civil War historians, Civil War buffs, some of your every-day friendly reenactors, locals, and concerned historically minded citizens from throughout the US to Mannassas Battlefield lead to a united front against Disney’s development of the area. Had Disney America planned to plant itself anywhere else their concept may have worked, but the disturbance and destruction to the site of the first major battle of the Civil War was too much for many to abide. Some of the people that sent money and lent their voices did have a memory of going to Manassas National Battlefield and did have a connected sense of place, but many did not and it was rather their sense of history that caused them to fight to see this area preserved.