{"id":2367,"date":"2019-10-02T09:52:17","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T13:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=2367"},"modified":"2019-10-02T09:52:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T13:52:23","slug":"a-house-divided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/","title":{"rendered":"A House Divided"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”\u00a0\u00a0I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half\u00a0slave\u00a0and half\u00a0free.\u00a0\u00a0I do not expect the Union to be\u00a0dissolved\u00a0— I do not expect the house to\u00a0fall\u00a0— but I\u00a0do\u00a0expect it will cease to be divided.\u00a0It will become\u00a0all\u00a0one thing or\u00a0all\u00a0the other\u00a0\u00a0– Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, \u2013 6\/16\/1858<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

…. If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal.\u201d\u00a0 – Pastor Robert Jeffress,\u00a0\u00a0– (re-tweeted by President Trump, 9\/29\/2019)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A War over Slavery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the 1850\u2019s the United States became irrevocably divided over slavery.  The Southern economy was based on growing cotton.  The problem:  growing cotton drained the soil of nutrients and after decades of growth fields would no longer produce good crops.  To continue to profit from cotton, growers had to move to new ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Southern \u201cmodel\u201d of cotton growing was based on massive amounts of manual labor.  In the 1850\u2019s South, that meant enslaved black people.  So for the South it was simple:  cotton growers needed to expand into new territories, and they needed to take slavery with them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the North there were Abolitionists who demanded that slavery end.  But the vast majority of Northerners weren\u2019t that radical.  They were more interested in slavery staying in the South, and not expanding into the new territories opening up in Kansas, Nebraska, and the rest of the West. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the argument for the majority of the nation wasn\u2019t Slave or Free, but rather expand slavery or not.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Law Takes a Side <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The South maintained a fierce balance of votes in the United States Senate.  That power enabled the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, a law requiring all citizens, including those in the North, to support efforts to capture runaway slaves and return them to their owners.  This forced Northerners to directly participate in slavery, essentially expanding the rights of slavers into the North. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published\u00a0Uncle Tom\u2019s Cabin.\u00a0<\/em>It was\u00a0<\/em>a novel about the conditions of enslaved people, and their frustrated attempts to escape.\u00a0\u00a0Even though it was fiction, the book caught on as a \u201cgospel\u201d description of slave life.\u00a0The South saw it as Abolitionist propaganda (what we would call Fake News today) and multiple \u201cAnti-Tom<\/em>\u201d books were published lauding the \u201cgentle plantation life.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0To the North, that was Fake News as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States was further polarized by the violence in Kansas between Free and Slave forces, and literally hundreds of newspapers espousing their particular side.\u00a0\u00a0Radical Abolitionists took extreme actions, with John Brown attempting to arm the enslaved people.\u00a0\u00a0The US Supreme Court ruled that enslaved people were property, with no civil rights, even in Free states.\u00a0\u00a0There was no room for compromise, and with the election of a “no-expansion” Republican candidate in Lincoln, war became inevitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History Rhymes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It all should sound vaguely familiar to the \u201cTrump World\u201d of today.\u00a0\u00a0A United States Senate and US Supreme Court that stand as bastions of conservative power.\u00a0\u00a0Information published as \u201cnews\u201d but with little relationship to \u201cfacts.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0People picking their \u201cnews\u201d based on their political views, rather than sharing a common basis of knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now, a President placed under impeachment inquiry, actually suggesting that his removal might cause a Civil War.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are a nation divided.  Are we on the brink of a division, a civil war?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red and Blue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A civil war wouldn\u2019t be as simple in 2020 as it was in 1860.  While we are a nation divided, we are not split in convenient geographic patterns.  Free and Slave in 1860 was pretty clear, but Red and Blue today are not.  Ohio is a Red state, but in 2016 almost 44% of the state voted Blue.  Massachusetts is a solid Blue state, but 31% voted Red.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are a nation divided, but we are urban, suburban, exurban and rural rather than North and South.\u00a0\u00a0And, of course, we are a nation divided by race and ethnicity as well.\u00a0\u00a0Part of our current great divide is the \u201cbrowning\u201d of America.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhite people\u201d will no longer be a majority in the next twenty years.\u00a0\u00a0Many of them feel incredibly threatened by that fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reality today is that Donald Trump may be impeached, but unless there is a sea-change in public sentiment, the Senate will never reach a two-thirds vote to remove him.  And even if he were removed, Mike Pence, a perhaps even more conservative Republican, would become President for the short time remaining until the 2021 inauguration.  Would there be a civil war over that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real question is, could the divide created by Donald Trump turn into some form of physical violence?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Much like John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, there likely will be some who determine that if Trump doesn\u2019t remain President, somehow the Constitution was thwarted.\u00a0\u00a0That will be true even if actual Constitutional processes: impeachment and removal, or election, are followed.\u00a0\u00a0But most will recognize the legitimacy of the Constitution. Even if their \u201cnews sources\u201d screams something different, they will stand with the red, white and blue of the United States, not the Red or Blue of ideology.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”\u00a0\u00a0I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half\u00a0slave\u00a0and half\u00a0free.\u00a0\u00a0I do not expect the Union to be\u00a0dissolved\u00a0— I do not expect the house to\u00a0fall\u00a0— but I\u00a0do\u00a0expect it will cease to be divided.\u00a0It will become\u00a0all\u00a0one thing or\u00a0all\u00a0the other\u00a0\u00a0– Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, \u2013 6\/16\/1858 …. If the Democrats are successful in removing … Continue reading “A House Divided”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA House Divided : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The nation is divided. We pick our "facts" like we pick our candidates, we match our news to our ideology. Are we headed to civil war?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A House Divided : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The nation is divided. We pick our "facts" like we pick our candidates, we match our news to our ideology. Are we headed to civil war?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-02T13:52:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-02T13:52:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"headline\":\"A House Divided\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-02T13:52:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-02T13:52:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":930,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/\",\"name\":\"A House Divided : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-02T13:52:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-02T13:52:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"The nation is divided. We pick our \\\"facts\\\" like we pick our candidates, we match our news to our ideology. Are we headed to civil war?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/02\\\/a-house-divided\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A House Divided\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration\",\"description\":\"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\",\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"width\":480,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Marty Dahlman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dahlman.online\",\"https:\\\/\\\/m.facebook.com\\\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/martydahlman\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A House Divided : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","description":"The nation is divided. We pick our \"facts\" like we pick our candidates, we match our news to our ideology. Are we headed to civil war?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A House Divided : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","og_description":"The nation is divided. We pick our \"facts\" like we pick our candidates, we match our news to our ideology. Are we headed to civil war?","og_url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/","og_site_name":"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_author":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_published_time":"2019-10-02T13:52:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-02T13:52:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marty Dahlman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@martydahlman","twitter_site":"@martydahlman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marty Dahlman","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/"},"author":{"name":"Marty Dahlman","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"headline":"A House Divided","datePublished":"2019-10-02T13:52:17+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-02T13:52:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/"},"wordCount":930,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/","name":"A House Divided : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-10-02T13:52:17+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-02T13:52:23+00:00","description":"The nation is divided. We pick our \"facts\" like we pick our candidates, we match our news to our ideology. Are we headed to civil war?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/10\/02\/a-house-divided\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A House Divided"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/","name":"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration","description":"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c","name":"Marty Dahlman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","width":480,"height":640,"caption":"Marty Dahlman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1"},"description":"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dahlman.online","https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","https:\/\/x.com\/martydahlman"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2368,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2367\/revisions\/2368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}