Similarities Between the Periods of 1860 and 2012, Part 4

Today and the historical period preceding the War for Southern Independence  share a similar tumultuous political climate with new parties and movements gaining power.  The 1850s saw the demise of the Whig party (which was formed as an economically conservative (espousing industrialization and trade protectionism) and politically conservative (espousing legislative powers over the Executive branch) party) as the abolitionists split to form the Republican party.  Today, fiscal, economic and social conservatives have embraced the Tea Party platform espousing limited government and tax reform.  This group as well as the centrist independents have promoted the idea of a viable third party.  The modern Libertarian party could probably be regarded as purists in regards to limited federal government as contrasted with the modern Republican and Democrat parties which seem to disagree only on the degree to which overspending and additional regulation and ever expanding federal control should be implemented on the citizenry.  A Gallop poll in early 2011 found 52 percent of the respondents said neither Republican nor Democrat political party adequately represents the American people and that a third party is needed; of this 52 percent, 68 percent identified themselves as independents.   

In 1860, the election of Lincoln caused the rapid secession of the Southern States who feared ever increasing economic serfdom to the North and intrusion on their personal Constitutional liberties as Lincoln believed the federal government to be supreme to the States.  The May/June issue of the Confederate Veteran magazine has a good article entitled “Lincoln, Federal Supremacy, and the Death of States’ Rights” stating, “Today we witness the re-emergence of conservative political voices demanding the return to a limited Federal government, a return to a Federal government that respects the limitations imposed by the Constitution.”  The article goes on to maintain that the hesitancy by those in the mainstream media and Washington today to acknowledge that the War Between the States was not fought solely on the issue of slavery is because to do so would validate the South’s Cause as a defense of State’s Rights which would demonize their idol Lincoln and would contradict their faith and reliance in the big all-controlling federal government which they have helped create and which they wish to control themselves.   “Real States Rights (espoused by the framers including Thomas Jefferson) died at Appomattox (and) federal supremacy emerged as America’s new and unconstitutional form of government (and) today an all-powerful centralized federal government is the sole judge of its power. We the people of the once sovereign states are mere subjects who exercise our “rights” at the pleasure of our masters in Washington, DC. The fear of federal supremacy is the reason our Southern ancestors wore the gray in the War for Southern Independence.”  In 2012, what might be the result of the coming elections with the division and polarization of the country so evident driven by the ever expanding intrusion of the progressive agenda?