https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/american-civil-war-the-causes/id1537788786?i=1000567780922 + the rest of that series
Frightening parallel between the American Civil War and America today: you are at a time when all issues divide (almost) evenly on partisan lines.
This leads to a host of problems.
- There’s little room for compromise on any subject, which makes both sides hate each other even more and increases the echo chamber for each side.
- With an echo chamber and such a toxic atmosphere comes different realities and models of the world built on different ground “truths”
- Ditto all of #1 but for everyday people as well
- Comes to a point when the “other side” is your enemy, and them winning the election threatens everything you care about (because it kind of does when both parties are so divided)
Many people view Reconstruction as a failure, but that’s only because of a modern perspective. Many white northerners didn’t really care about racial justice, and were only in it to save the Union and bring back stability. Reconstruction accomplished that.
Interesting: cricket was actually pretty successful in America until civil war camps made it easier to play baseball because it was hard to set up a pitch.
Interesting: Advocates of the “Lost Cause” argue that the war was over states’ rights when Southern states were just as willing to use the power of the federal government over the Northern states when it suited them.