Campaigns can represent a different type of civil war

My Thoughts

By Dr. Bill Atwood

(Updated: Wednesday, April 09, 2008, 6:53 PM)

It has been 143 years since the battles and the war ended in a small town with an odd name. On the morning of April 9, 1865 Generals Lee and Grant met at Appomattox Court House and signed the documents ending the war that divided not only the nation, but families as well.

The American Civil War pitted brothers against brothers not only on one side or the other, but there were many instances where brothers actually fought against each other in the same battles.

The war started out as most wars do; with a great deal of excitement and positive energy as each side took up arms with thoughts of a quick end to the hostilities and the triumph over the other side. The South figured the entire war would be over in a few days or maybe a few months, but those who loved Dixie never figured on losing many days to the effort.

The Yankees from the North figured it would be an easy victory as they were being sent to fight troops fighting for a government so recently formed.

Abe Lincoln was lost as he had just taken office as president when the Southern forces fired upon Fort Sumter and the battles began.

When the end was in sight and the South was suffering the losses of men, as well as the way of life enjoyed by the Southern aristocrats who owned the plantations, people began to think of just how the Confederate States would be treated after the war had ended.

Lincoln had spoken in earlier speeches of the concept of "with malice toward none and charity for all." This would be his mantra. The South surrendered on April 9 and even most of those residents of the North were surprised that Lincoln had pulled off the victory. At last the people could breathe a sigh of relief. Abe had been through a great deal of political torment when many questioned his ability to lead during his years in the White House. We tend to show greater degrees of respect to former presidents than we show to incumbent presidents. Lincoln had also suffered in his personal life when one of his children died while he and his family were in the executive mansion. His First Lady, Mary, never quite got over the loss of her baby and after the other tragedies in her life ended up suffering a great deal of depression.

As people began to celebrate the end of the war and it seemed that people could go back to more pleasant endeavors, the president and his wife decided to take in a play at the local theater. Ford's Theater was presenting a comedy, "Our American Cousin," and it seemed like a great plan for an evening.

Just five short days after the surrender, the Lincolns stepped into the presidential box above the stage and after being applauded by those in attendance sat back to enjoy an evening of merriment.

John Wilkes Booth and the his co-conspirators had other ideas and the plans were set in motion. The plot was to kill the major leaders of the administration, including key cabinet secretaries and to allow the South to rise again.

The president was shot and died the next morning on the April 15 and essentially became the last casualty of the Civil War. The South would have reasons to be concerned with their post war treatment as Andrew Johnson was not a Lincoln and they did not know his attitudes toward reconstruction.

History has shown many examples of horrible treatments that have occurred against those who had fought against the Union and many individuals made a great deal of money by exploiting the suffering of the residents of the now defeated Confederacy.

The term Civil War has an interesting tone to it. In the historic sense a Civil War is a war within a nation between warring factions of the same country. Being civil to one another implies treating people with respect and a sense of dignity.

Political campaigns can represent a different type of civil war with a nation such as ours. In the upcoming election one party is trying to wrest control of the government from the other party, in a sense, an "overthrow" of the government. Candidates will challenge the other points of view and will offer their platform for how they think the nation should be led for the next four years.

The important factor to remember is that it is not a civil war, but an election. This is a time to argue and challenge, but it is only a war of ideas and ideology.

At this time every four years many other people who live outside of the United States watch as we go through the election cycle and choose our leadership. The process is odd and has its share of twists and turns, but eventually we end up with an individual who takes the oath of office and then we all rally around that person, roll up our sleeves and get to work.

We will watch as the two Democrats continue to slug it out and the Republicans can relax for a little while as their candidate can prepare for the General Election in November. People need not panic, as the history of American politics is a history of this sort of partisan bickering.

Bi-partisanship rarely occurs, and it usually happens over items considered "non-events." Ever since the American Revolution there has always been an opposition to every war this nation has fought. In every election since our founding there have been candidates calling the opposition names and telling lies about each other. That is the nature of elections in a democracy.

Just keep it civil.