Arlington National Cemetery- How Rituals Change

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-Julián A. Clivillés Morales

According to the National Park Service, the Arlington National Cemetery, founded in 1866, serves as the resting grounds for over three hundred thousand veterans of every American conflict. Traditionally, every year on Memorial Day, a ceremony is held at Arlington National Cemetery in which either the President or Vice-President place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Using Bellah’s frame of analysis, one can interpret this act of remembrance as the nation’s way of providing an “annual ritual calendar” for the civil religion (Bellah, 11). Through this act of remembrance, the nation gives new meaning to its civil religion, which has existed from the earliest years of the republic. It was and continues to be a collection of “beliefs, symbols, and rituals with respect to sacred things and institutionalized in a collectivity” (8). A national cemetery alongside a day of remembrance honoring the nation’s heroes encapsulates that idea perfectly, helping the nation unite under a new set of ideas.

Interestingly, this idea was not a natural, spontaneous one. For one, being buried in a National Cemetery was not considered an honor, but rather, according to the cemetery’s official website, it “ensured that service members whose families could not afford to bring them home for a funeral were given a proper burial” (Arlington National Cemetery). It was only with the establishment of “Memorial Day” (formerly known as Decoration Day) in 1868 that a national burial began to be seen as an honor. By the late 1870’s, well-respected high-ranking veterans began requesting to be buried there. In other words, through the Civil War, Americans were forced to confront the deepest questions of national meaning, and in this case, what sacrifice meant for the country moving forward.



Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 24, 2022 at 8:32 PM

    I really enjoyed how you gave me another perspective on what people use to remember those who have made an impact on society. I think it is interesting to see how most people agree with this type of remembrance. It also emphasizes that belief of respect especially putting flags in the tombstones. I wonder if there is another way for these individuals to be remembered if there wasn't a cemetery that represented them as a whole. Would that affect how we see ourselves as a united nation?

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