A Nation Divided

Recently the sense of a great divide within our nation appears to be getting more defined and wider. As a student of history I would compare this to the mid to late 1850s. I can even relate it to the 1770s. In the 18th century the chasm was carved out of the desire not to be ruled by a monarch thousands of miles away. American colonist believed they had the right and destiny to govern themselves. Well, the reasons were more economical than political. England demanded Taxes and Tariffs on American Trade, England maintained a significant trade imbalance with the colonies and England desired to limit the westward expansion of the colonies. England had valid reasons for excesses. First, the American colonist was the least taxed of all English citizens and second westward expansion required military protection and it was costly to maintain a standing army within the colonies. In order to achieve economic expansion the colonies required political independence. We are as much a nation founded on capitalism as Judea-Christian doctrine. Not every American was in favor of independence. We read much about the fight between colonial rebel and the English tyranny; however we seldom read of the American Colonist against American Colonist. This chasm can be generalize is saying that their is one group of Americans in favor of political and economic independence and another against it. The matter was settled by the treaty of Paris.

In the 1850s the situation was slightly more complicated. Americans once again divided themselves into two distinct groups. Those that believed in a strong federal government that could dictate to the state governments and those that believed the states were sovereign and the federal government was only responsible for those powers specifically granted in the U.S. Constitution. This divide manifested itself around the institution of slavery which is unfortunate since slavery played a relatively small role in the actual divergence of beliefs. Slavery was a dying institution and was slowly being destroyed under its own weight. More importantly, it was becoming economically untenable. This chasm of beliefs eventually led to bloodshed and a large portion of our nation being crushed under a brutal and unjust occupation.

Today we find almost the same gulf. Our nation is dividing itself into two distinct camps. Those that believe the government should have access and control of all aspects of our lives to ensure we are properly taken care of and those that believe government it's own appointed limits should keep. Sound very similar to the previous chasms of belief. I also see a parallel to the 1850s controversy of how to hand slavery to the controversy today on how to deal with the immigration problem. Sometimes it frightens me.

Obviously I have too much time on my hands