Don’t Leave Washington DC Without Seeing These Monuments

By
Ian Morris
-

Washington, DC, which is the capital of the United States and home of the most important government buildings and memorials in the country, is a paradise for tourists who are interested in the history of the U.S.

Visitors to the District of Columbia will find a wide range of things to do, but they should ensure that they spend some time exploring the city’s numerous monuments. Here are the top three that you should definitely put on your list.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Vietnam War is one of the darkest chapters of American history, in which nearly 60,000 troops lost their lives in the armed conflict. The sobering Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a black wall containing the names of every soldier that lost their lives in the conflict and one of the most striking monuments on Earth.

View this post on Instagram

On #ThisDayinHistory 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington after a weeklong national salute to Americans who served in the Vietnam War and a march to its site by thousands of veterans of the conflict. The long-awaited memorial was a simple V-shaped black-granite wall inscribed with the names of the 57,939 Americans who died in the conflict, arranged in order of death, not rank, as was common in other memorials. The designer of the memorial was Maya Lin, a 21-year-old Yale University architecture student who entered a nationwide competition to create a design for the monument. Many were initially opposed to Lin’s winning design, however, a remarkable shift in public opinion occurred in the months after the memorial’s dedication. Veterans and families of the dead walked the black reflective wall, seeking the names of their loved ones killed in the conflict. Once the name was located, visitors often made an etching or left a private offering, from notes and flowers to dog tags and cans of beer. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial soon became one of the most visited memorials in the nation’s capital. #VietnamWar #MayaLin #Memorial #NationalMall

A post shared by HISTORY (@history) on

Lincoln Memorial

The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, is one of the most revered figures in the history of the country. His namesake memorial in the heart of Washington features a marble building containing a larger-than-life statue of a seated Lincoln, who was larger than life himself.

View this post on Instagram

“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually” -James Baldwin. A common thing I see, whenever people talk about the change they wish to see in the US, are people saying “if you don’t like it, then leave.” I could never be able to say I hate this country. This country is filled beautiful things. I refuse to just up and leave, and hope that someone else does the dirty work. I am a child of this country and I refuse to feel unwelcome in my own home. . . . #lincolnmemorial #washingtondc #marchonwashington #35mm #filmphotography #filmisnotdead #gaytravel #travelphotography #blackinamerica #blm #jamesbaldwin

A post shared by 𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚁𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴. (@terrenceamays) on

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. got his own memorial in the nation’s capital in 2011, commemorating one of the people who led the push towards greater rights for black Americans. While it’s relatively new, this powerful tribute to King is a place that you should not skip.