Elections have consequences.
The general election of 2014 is coming. Will it be like 1860 or like 1866? 1860 led to war. 1866 led to reform.
I know you didn’t pay attention in your history classes but now you might be old enough to listen. You may be familiar enough with our past that you realize the two dates mentioned bracket the American Civil War. On both dates elections made a difference.
In 1860 the hot button was on slavery. The big issue then, as today, was how much power the federal government had to impose its will on citizens and states. Citizens as individuals could not do much but the states were strong enough to think they could defy Washington and live to tell about it. It turned out they were wrong.
In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected president. It could have been said that he did not have a mandate from the people. Since he only received 39.8% of the popular vote it is hard to claim that the country was behind him. His election was the catalyst that caused the South to secede and led to the Civil War.
The Southern states tried to leave because they felt they had no voice left in the federal government. It was an act of desperation. Understand our political system. In order to pass a new law or change an old law you need a victory in the House of Representative, the Senate and a signature in the White House. The South had not had any influence in the House for years. They had lost the Senate in 1850 when California was admitted as a free state. Their only remaining hope was a president who would use his veto power on slavery bills. Lincoln was against slavery but had repeatedly promised not to try to take it away from the Southern states. They did not believe him and seceded.
The result was a long and bloody war to guarantee that the federal government had the right to tell the states what to do. More people died in the Civil War than in all our other wars combined.
I don’t care how angry you are we don’t want to see that again.
To be continued...
homo unius libri
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