Mark Dungan- Yorktown

Can the site of the Battle of Yorktown be consider a sacred place? In class, Dr. Redick used the Battle of Gettysburg as an explain of a sacred place. This example got me wondering whether or not Yorktown could be considered sacred. Being from Virginia Beach, I took field trips to Yorktown when I was younger and never really considered it to be a sacred place. After learning about characteristics in Lane's book, I realized that Yorktown meets the for axioms. People come from all across the country to visit and to learn about the history of Yorktown. They ritually take tours throughout the town while learning about what caused Yorktown to become a famous and sacred place in the U.S. Like that of the Battle of Gettysburg, there was a major significance to the Battle of Yorktown. With the surrendering of General Lord Cornwallis, it ultimately led to the end of the Revolutionary War and allowed the U.S. to gain its independence. No one pre-determined that Yorktown was going to be a site of the last major battle which go along with Lane's first axiom. Before the battle, Yorktown was just an ordinary tobacco port and once the war ended, Yorktown was made ritually extraodrinary with visitors coming from far and wide to visit the battlegrounds. Pertaining to Lane's third axiom, "sacred plac can be tred upon without being entered"; patrons can drive through the town without actually entering the battlegrounds.