Civil War 1861- 1865, “A Fire Never Extinguished”

Geo and I attended a two-day Vermont Humanities Conference about the Civil War. Afterwards, he asked if I could sum up what I learned in one sentence. I said, “The Civil War that happened 150 years ago still has an impact – all these years later - on our modern-day lives and on current events.” It was like a four-year earthquake that forever changed the landscape of our history.

The United States was born out of a revolution in 1776; it was born-again after the Civil War. Before the war, it was said, “the United States are…” After the war, we now say “the United States is…”

Reasons for engaging in the war were varied. People had different views about it at the time, as well as in following generations. 

One basic way of looking at it is that the southern states did not want the federal government imposing the abolition of slavery on their way of life. This would destroy their economy and the plantation system. To safeguard their way of life, they would secede. The northern states initially went to war to protect the integrity of the Union. 

The southerners fought to protect what they felt were legitimate states’ rights. Underlying it all was slavery. The Civil War became the war to emancipate the slaves. It was a long, exhausting, bloody war that formally ended when Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox.

The slaves were freed. The Union prevailed. So why does the Civil War still have a hold on us today?

Amazingly, one in three Americans can trace their ancestry back to someone from the Civil War period. There’s a sense of the Civil War being “in the family.”

The war was epic in scope of loss of life, heroism, and the conflict between good and evil. Northerners and southerners alike believed God was immanently on their side. It’s a true “story” that draws us in as we try to more clearly understand who we are and what our values are as a nation.

There was a major shift to federal authority and initiatives during the war and years following. Today there still is on-going tension regarding the extent of states’ rights vs. “Big Government.”

The United States first faced head-on the issues of slavery, race, and civil rights during this time. Following the war, Lincoln stated in the Gettysburg Address, that our nation was "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." In the present day racial prejudice still exists. Since the emancipation of the slaves, the struggle for civil rights for all continues. 

And those were just a few of the themes that were presented about the meaning of the Civil War.

It was an outstanding conference.