Column: The causes of the Civil War — ominous warning for today?

Historian Michael Holt wrote about the causes of the secession crisis and the subsequent Civil War in his book “The Political Crisis of the 1850s”. Does any of this sound familiar?

1.    One of the political parties rejected the results of a presidential election.

2.    Many people in the country believed that politicians in general were corrupt and useless, so they went outside the political parties. Secession was an anti-party movement.

3.    The two-party system fell apart, with one party representing the North and the other representing the South. Extremists on both sides of the slavery question often came from one-party states or one-party districts within states. Since there was no opposition party, leaders from these areas “played to their base.” They “stood on principle” and avoided compromise.

4.    Religious arguments were important to both abolitionist and pro-slavery groups.

5.    People did not hear or choose to listen to arguments made by their opponents. In one-party districts, only one side of the slavery issue was discussed. In fact, much of the South actively prevented debate on slavery after the 1830s. The media tended to reinforce the dominant position in each area on the conflict over slavery.

6.    There was physical violence within the halls of Congress on two occasions.

7.    Extremists who committed violence, such as John Brown and Preston Brooks, were made into heroes by many people.

8.    People in both the North and South felt that their opponents were a mortal threat to republican government (government limited by laws; government role is protection of equality and freedom for individuals).

9.    People on both sides believed in conspiracy theories.

What are the lessons of the 1850s for today? We have all nine of these characteristics to a greater or lesser extent and that’s frightening. It’s particularly unsettling that one of the political parties rejected the 2020 election results (#1) and that violence entered the halls of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 (#6). In the age of social media, algorithms have replaced gag rules in keeping citizens in their ideological bubbles, preventing them from hearing arguments by people with different views (#5). Polls in the past decade have consistently shown that Democrats see Republicans as a fundamental threat to our republic and vice versa (#8). Religious arguments (#4) over abortion and other social issues are dominant in many areas of the country.

Nevertheless, there are important differences between the 1850s and today. There is good reason for hope that the 2020s will not end in civil war in America. While many people have lost faith in politicians and the political system (#2), the government has functioned with compromises by both parties, as seen in the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the debt ceiling bill, among others. Contrary to #3, the party system in the 2020s is functioning to address some problems. It’s certainly not a well-functioning embodiment of good government, but it is also not the hot mess that government was in the 1850s. If government continues to function on some issues, more people may feel they can make a difference in the way they vote, restoring some faith in the democratic system. Functioning government may diminish the anxiety over a fundamental threat to the republic (#8) and may reduce the tendency to believe in conspiracies (#9).

Unfortunately, violence has been condoned by some people, but there is much less support than there was in the 1850s for the likes of John Brown and Preston Brooks (#7). One-party districts (#3) are an ongoing problem, aggravated by gerrymandering. Yet, some states have adopted rank-choice voting, which pushes candidates towards more moderate positions to pick up larger chunks of the electorate.

We live in a time of uncertainty about the survival of our republic, but it is not as perilous as it was in the 1850s. We can contribute to the longevity of our great experiment in republican government by our participation in government at the local, state, and national levels and by our willingness to solicit and listen to the views of people with different perspectives. We can write editorials decrying the words and deeds of extremists in our own party. We can support structural changes in parties and elections that push candidates to more moderate positions. In a government of the people, by the people, for the people, ordinary people are crucial in preserving that government!

This editorial was originally published in the Salem Evening News on June 28, 2023:

https://www.salemnews.com/opinion/column-the-causes-of-the-civil-war-ominous-warning-for-today/article_3621ffa6-151b-11ee-98d4-fb1e30932733.html