150th Anniversary of the Civil War

[JoeRedskin]

Today is the 150th anniversary of the first shots of the Civil War. First and foremost, I would invite all here to remember and consider the hundreds of thousands of Americans who died during the War. Whether Union or Confederate, these people were our forebears and paid the ultimate price for the future we now enjoy. Today, we live in a nation shaped by and purchased with the blood of those Americans who died in our great national struggle.

Removed from us by many generations, it is often easy to forget the incredible carnage we, as a nation, suffered as a result of the War or the transformational effect the War had on the US. Specifically, and in addition to the abolition of slavery (though not its effects), the North's victory ended the federalistic system as envisioned by the founders. After the War, the autonomy of States was significantly eroded and the Federal Govt. has consistently increased in power. [Culminating (I believe) in the Depression era application of the Commerce Clause that allowed the Federal Govt. to regulate actions taking place entirely in one state if that action may have ramifications on how business is in other States.]

In many ways, the outcome of the War defined the nation we are today. In many ways we still fight some of the ideaological battles presented by the opposing forces which brought on the War.

My questions to all is this: Do you ever think of the Civil War and its effects? or is it simply to distant historically for you ever to contemplate except as an occasional trivia point?

Also, a recent CNN poll indicated that 42% of those polled believed slavery was not the main cause of the War ( http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/im...4/11/rel6b.pdf ). Does any here would agree with that statement?

[FYI - To me, denying that slavery was the proximate cause of the War is simply wrong - but for slavery, the State's rights proponents would have reached some compromise on all other State rights' issues and probably preserved more of the federalism originally envisioned by the founders. The preservation of slavery is what drove the South to secede which in turn (along with firing on Sumter) forced the North (specifically Lincoln's) hand to resort to arms to preserve the union.]