The Civil War at 150: What We Really Should Remember

This Memorial Day holds special significance as the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Americans today remain enthralled with the Civil War, perhaps because of the divided and partisan politics today that resembled that of the 1850s. Does this current phenomenon make the Civil War extra important?

First, let us put to rest a pervasive yet false myth. The War was not about states' rights or caused by it. The war was about slavery. Southerners seceded because they feared for their peculiar institution from the onslaught of Northern industrial capitalism. Northerners too did not want the chattel system to challenge their industries. Before 1860, the South did not secede even when states rights played a big role in the nullification and tariff crises. They only did so when a Republican was elected president and promised to halt slavery's expansion. The myth about states' rights underlying the War only arose after Reconstruction, when Southerners tried to justify secession and of course could no longer use slavery. Let us dispel this myth once and for all, especially in our classrooms.

Second, the Civil War's two fruits are more important than ever today. The War established that America tolerates no classes of citizens. The badges of slavery and racial discrimination were rejected then and still so today. Nonetheless, race remains in our politics and culture. In particular, discrimination against classes of citizens such as gays and homosexuals as well as native-born children of illegal immigrants exist. But the Citizenship and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment plainly prohibits such actions by states. We, especially those in the legal profession, must do more to advance the rights of these disadvantaged persons so that the freedoms that were fought for on the battlefield remain strong in the future.

Moreover, the War taught us that the Union remains above sectional rivalries. Even today, Americans remain patriotic and dedicated to their country. But patriotism means more than attending parades on Memorial Day or singing the anthem at baseball games. Patriotism means talking over our differences and finding a common solutions to America's problems. The caustic rancor on Capitol Hill does not belong. It's time for our leaders and us citizens to have sensible dialogues and listen to one another. We cannot afford another "Civil War" of sorts. While slavery threatened us with moral extinction and almost tore our country apart, let us not allow the national debt and budget crisis to cause our economic extinction. If we work through this ordeal, then those who died for our country from 1861 to 1865, and indeed in all the wars, would be proud.