The internet has a lot of talk about another civil war. That is real and horrifying at the same time. Civil wars are the most brutal kinds of fighting. You may not understand it but the American Civil War had more casualties than all of our other wars combined. It literally turned brother against brother. We are engaged in a generally non-violent civil war now. The exceptions of course are the actions of the left as they try to escalate to the point of reprisals from conservatives. Let us hope they don’t get what they want. They are not out to build a better America. They are out to destroy a system that has brought unprecedented prosperity, security and opportunity to the masses. They cannot stand the fact that they cannot be in total control. If they can bring us to their level then they know they have destroyed the unique experiment of the American Republic and transformed us into a police state. Such is the norm for history.
The real issue in 1860 was states rights. The question was, “Do states have a right to make their own rules or does the federal government have ultimate power?” The South tried to reject central control by withdrawing from the Union. Lincoln first tried the peaceful response of ignoring their withdrawal. Then came Fort Sumter and the carnage escalated.
For the South is was always about rejecting centralized control from Washington, D.C. To this day the people below the Mason-Dixon line call it the War of Northern Aggression. This is a rather accurate description. Most of the fighting was done in the South by Northern armies invading.
The war did not blossom over night. It was not a sudden thing. It had been festering for decades over a number of issues. The trigger issues varied. Slavery was one of the hot buttons that went back to the original Constitution. Several Southern states refused to join if slavery was banned. The issue was hotly debated at the Constitutional Convention. The Southerners at that time seemed to understand that slavery needed to end but wanted time to adjust their economies and cultures.
Tarriffs were another source of anger. The North had factories. They wanted the Southerners to buy their products but it was cheaper to import them from England. When the industrial states got enough power they raised tariffs and forced the South to buy American. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Can you say, “Steel”? The nation wanted a railroad to go across the continent. Where did you build it? Did you put it in the north to benefit the industrial states or in the south to advance cotton? There have always been sectional rivalries.
Today the issue will not be states’ rights because things are so mixed. Every state with a large city has a pocket of liberal politics If you look at the different maps of elections with their blue and red you notice that it is not so much a difference in states as a difference between urban and rural. The next civil war may be over the Electoral College which in reality determines whether the big cities run the country or will fly-over country still have a say.
The triggers are many: Abortion, Second Amendment, gay marriage, immigration, health care, taxes, welfare, affirmative action, the list goes on. The problem isn’t even that different people have different opinions. The problem is that there are always groups that want to force their views on everyone. Will the left push hard enough and fast enough to trigger the majority of Americans who just want to be left alone?
I hope I don’t live to find out but my children will certain see how the story unfolds.
homo unius libri
