The Nature of Public Unrest
Families, neighbors, and towns divided by political and economic tumult, people turning to violence over compromise, and several congressional attempts to avoid wielding arms - sound like the year 1861? The American Civil War? Sure, but not the first one, at least according to the definition espoused by several historical authors, George Will for one. The American Revolutionary War led to tens of thousands of British Loyalists uprooted from their American colonial homes to Quebec, Nova Scotia, Spanish Florida, or Britain. Attempts to persuade George III to lower or remove taxes fell on indignant ears.
Migration and land redistribution are a by-product of war, and logistics often determine its outcome, as it also did during the War Between the States from 1861-65. Do characteristics of previous wars among people determined to separate from real or perceived tyranny mean that the U.S. headed for a third? The answer lies within.
One of the aspirations found in the Preamble to the Constitution is insurance of “domestic Tranquility.” Pause to consider what is necessary to realize that goal in your personal life, then attempt to scale that worldwide. Throughout the history of the world, a narrative of tremendous accomplishment and compassion — decidedly countered by as many or more vile actions — leads notable philosophers to conclude: Man is basically evil. During the Revolutionary War, rebellious Patriots sought out colonial British tax collectors and to some, poured heated pine tar on their naked bodies, and then rolled them in chicken feathers, adding insult to injury by parading the interlopers through town. Combatants were as likely or more to be stabbed to death with a bayonet than killed by buck and ball from erratic musket fire.
As for the more commonly known Civil War, by the summer of 1861, when 11 Southern states broke from the remaining Union’s 23, historian James McPherson writes that many soldiers, on both sides, were motivated by rage against the tyranny of the enemy government; rebel soldiers loathed pompous Northern politicians promoting high tariffs that harmed cotton profits, while Southern aristocrats insulted deep-seated patriotism of Union soldiers. Many Southern ministers stepped to the pulpit defending the practice of slavery using biblical references, catering to powerful plantation owners. Wrathful Northerner William Lloyd Garrison in 1844 demanded abolitionist-leaning states secede from those approving human bondage.
McPherson and others agree that millions entered the various battlefields seeking honor for their respective geographic regions, but freedom from slavery, or a guarantee of rights were not forefront on the minds of the millions who fought, over 600,00 of whom died. Minié balls and cannon fire led to around one-third of the battlefield deaths, some caused when wounded soldiers contracted gangrene or sepsis following crude amputations, rarely preceded by anesthesia. The other two-thirds died due to disease; war drains resources, soldiers and civilians suffer accordingly.
Today’s conflicts mirror those of history books in many ways, but modern ability to mass communicate quickly, convulsively, along with challenges that a global perspective present, have raised expectations of freedom, liberty, and the ever-expanding pursuit of happiness beyond societal competence. Our passions and desires seem infinite, leading us to inevitable injustices and inequities. How do we resolve these when we perpetually lose faith in our leadership?
Grand images of Utopia disappoint because we choose differing realities; the history of this nation has never really been about John Winthrop’s city on a hill, it’s been about survival, and most notably, attempting democracy at a level never experienced before by any sovereignty. Continue the fight, whatever your mission, you are entitled and guaranteed your well-earned opinion. But before calling for carnage and destruction, note that our natural constitution, based on the reflex to survive, is best suited to compromise and compassion. Those qualities line the path toward light, and enhance our ability to positively address perennial discontent.