On this day in 1861 — The Civil War begins. How far have we really come ?
160 years ago today on April 12th , organized domestic terrorists stormed the United States military base at Fort Sumter , South Carolina firing on their own countryman and beginning the Civil War. Their aim was to prevent legal federal interference in ending the backbone of the American economy, the institution of slavery. Many believed the insurrection would be quelled in a matter of weeks, however it went on to cost hundreds of thousands of lives and nearly ended the young country altogether.
I am not a formal historian or biographical scientist, and in many ways 1861 seems just outside the grasp of my mind’s ability to picture how daily life was lived in this period. However when adding in contextual data, people and places to help our imagination focus , we can see with shocking clarity just how short of a time has passed since this act of treason tore our nation north to south and east to west over the cause of slavery.
Think of sitting on your grandparent’s lap as a child, feeling the love and warmth of their embrace. The scent of a grandmother’s perfume, the firm hands of a grandfather who may have served in Korea or WWII. If you were born in the 70s’ 80s or 90s, it is likely they were born in the 1920’s or 30’s. Using a thought as simple and yet memorable as touch allows us to climb down the ladder into our nation’s past with physical understanding. It is quite possible that our Grandparents, and most certainly our Great Grandparents, sat on the laps of those who lived during and perhaps even fought in the Civil War. Those americans lived in a time where slavery and the closeness of it’s near permanence in this country effected each adn every day of thier life. Through this lens we can realize we are remembering today a reality that is just a few generations and in some cases just one degree of separation from where we sit today.
To sharpen the context, consider that the last known woman to arrive enslaved Matilda McCrear died in her home in Selma Alabama in 1940. The men who enslaved and trafficked her as a small child that landed in Mobile, Alabama in 1860 and sold her illegally into the legal trade, a loophole as confusing as it is disgusting. Although the transatlantic trade had been formally ended in 1808 it did not stop the thirst for profit as large ships regularly dropped off the commercial rosters and set sail from Boston and Charleston to the African coast. Martin Luther King Sr., father of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , was born in 1899 and preached regularly on the lessons he learned as a young man as the son of illiterate sharecroppers and the grandson of slaves. He passed away as recently as 1984. Actor Danny Glover testified at the 2019 Congressional hearing for HR40 on Reparations that his great grandparents also lived enslaved before and during the Civil War.
Although it led to Emancipation , we must not fail to remember that Union forces did not begin The Civil War and did not start an offensive to liberate the enslaved. I do believe that many Grand Army of the Republic forces fought and died to rid the country of slavey and fascism, however freedom was granted to the enslaved as an effort to win the war. Cathy Williams, like many formerly enslaved took up arms herself against those who had held families capitve for generations. Aside from what could have been in 1865 and what should have happened since failed Reconstruction, it is important on this day to remember that in moments of national strife and of political division, that this reality and pain is brought back to the surface.
The Civil War and American slavery is not an event that should be spoken of in the ancient context. We often imagine ourselves as a good actor had we been alive in important moments of history, however we should consider our participation in the present day. Confederate battle flags that disgraced our nation then from 1861 — 1865, flew more proudly and were planted deeper into the heart of democracy in January of 2021 then they had ever been during the Civil War itself. Truth telling from local text books, regional dialogue and federal action on reconciliation for the legacy effects of slavery are a meaningful pathway forward as we remember this most unfortunate day.
