Why do we give rich people millions of dollars to preserve history?

Virginia is committing another $6.1 million this year to protect Civil War battlefields, which is good from a historical-preservation perspective – but maybe not so much when you consider, aren’t we just giving wealthy landowners money to do what should be the right thing?

“America was made in Virginia, and as we approach our nation’s 250th anniversary, it’s more important than ever to protect and share the history that shaped who we are. By safeguarding these battlefields, we keep that story alive for generations to come,” our MAGA governor, Glenn Youngkin, said in a press release put out by his office this week.

Which, I mean, fine, safeguard the battlefields, keep the story alive, that’s all well and good.

It’s not like we seem to have actually learned anything from the story, is one tough part to this.

Way too many people – including in positions of power! – seem to think the cause of the losing side in the Civil War is their heritage.

You know, for example, with their efforts to gut the Voting Rights Act, which it took us literally a hundred years to enact after the Civil War had come to a supposed end.

And then there’s the aspect of, we’re transferring wealth from taxpayers to people with the means to own hundreds of acres of prime real estate, under the guise, as the Youngkin press release tells us, that we “ensure that the properties will be accessible to the public.”

The already wealthy need our money to keep things accessible?

Apparently so.

The Virginia General Assembly and then-Gov. Bob McDonnell created what we call the Virginia Battlefield Preservation Fund back in 2010.

A quick Google search tells us we’ve spent $17.5 million on this to date, which, if that’s accurate, $6.1 million in one year, Year 16, that’s an awful lot in one round.

I’m only lightly busting people’s chops on this. I don’t want to see paradise paved over for more parking lots any more than anybody else does.

But what about, I dunno, doing something substantive with affordable housing to reduce the number of homeless, as opposed to just rounding up folks who are unhoused so that good folks don’t have to be reminded that there, but for the grace of God, go they?

We’re so loathe as a society to give help to people who need it; meanwhile, we celebrate giving millions to the already wealthy when we can pretend that it serves some higher purpose.

2025 Virginia Battlefield Preservation Fund awards

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• The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation will be awarded $1,750,000 – the largest amount distributed to a single project in this grant round – for the fee-simple acquisition of the 130-acre Glass Tract in Frederick County. The property is associated with the Kernstown I Battlefield (1862) and is adjacent to other protected parcels of land.

• A $195,925 grant will be awarded to the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield to fund its acquisition of the Randolph Artillery Tract in Orange County. Comprised of nearly 40 acres, the Randolph Artillery Tract lies completely within the Mine Run Battlefield (1863) and contains a historic cemetery.

• The American Battlefield Trust will be awarded $1,250,000 to acquire more than 150 acres of the Bristoe Station Battlefield (1863) in Prince William County, known as the Hylton Tract. With the VBPF award, the Trust will ensure that the property remains protected and accessible for new educational and interpretive opportunities for the public.

The American Battlefield Trust will also receive:

• $210,000 for the fee-simple acquisition of the 65-acre Alexander Tract in Smyth County, which is located within the Saltville Battlefield (1864), and represents a significant amount of the core area of the battlefield.

• $640,250 for the fee-simple purchase of two properties entirely within the Second Manassas Battlefield (1862) in Prince William County. The Deener Tract and the Nason Tract both adjoin the Manassas National Battlefield Park. 

• $1,455,000 for the fee-simple acquisition of the 20-acre Colonial Williamsburg II Tract in James City County and $312,500 for a fee-simple acquisition of the 2.2-acre Historic Triangle Tract in York County, both of which are located on the Williamsburg Battlefield. The Colonial Williamsburg II Tract is within the boundaries of both the Revolutionary War (1781) and the Civil War (1862) Battles of Williamsburg.

• $377,000 for the fee-simple acquisition of two properties on the Deep Bottom II Battlefield (1864) in Henrico County. The Graham Tract and the Krevonick Tract are valuable additions to a growing corridor of conserved lands in this immediate area.