The Civil War brings out strong emotions in the students of history. The issues of equality, independence, agriculture, commerce, religious destiny and national and sectional fervor that so defined that struggle are still being evaluated in our contemporary national conversation. Just as the advocates of a strong central government inevitably came to clash with those bent on a sectional determinism, our current political discourse is dividing us along the lines of those who see government as part of the solution to our cultural crisis and those who view government as a necessary evil that is best in its most limited and restricted form. It is unwise to conjecture as to what side of our current political argument the leaders of the past would have found themselves just as we as moderns cannot fully understand the state of mind held by our fore bearers in their time of crisis. The best we can do is to learn from history what lessons it is willing to impart to us in contemporary times. By looking at the lives, writings and legacies of the heroes of the American Civil War, we can see that many of those leaders were moved by a sense of honor, duty and loyalty which can hopefully be revived in our current times. When men care more about the preservation of what they hold sacred than they do about personal fortune or accolades then we will have better national servants for our leaders. When those leaders desire the greater good for the majority rather than special rights and privileges for an elite minority then we will have a government which better serves the needs of our citizens. When every person contributes through active service to the betterment of the whole we will have a society where everyone is considered both equal and yet unique. May we go forward in the hope that in our diversity there is strength and in our mutual respect there is hope for our nation.
