Joe Biden’s election victory is as controversial as Abraham Lincoln’s victory in 1860 once was. This is just one of the factors marking the first conflict on US soil in a century and a half
The Associated Press has drawn attention to the way the pre-war rhetoric has moved beyond the far-right fringe. As conservative demonstrators stormed the Capitol, even prominent American politicians started talking about civil war, rejecting any calls to tone down their rhetoric.
Against this backdrop, even the Republican Party has resigned the head of its office in Santa Cruz County, Wisconsin. This came after the politician refused to remove a social media post calling for “preparing for war”. The new chairman of the Michigan Republican state office has been noted for her support of an internet movement by conservatives actively discussing the possibility of a civil war.
“War has begun. Citizens take up arms!”, Phil Reynolds, a member of the Republican Party’s central committee in Santa Clara County, California, wrote in turn.
Not long ago, such aggressive rhetoric was reserved for extremists and “supporters of white supremacy,” the AP wrote. After Minneapolis cops killed black repeat offender George Floyd, authorities and corporations staged a demonstrative campaign against “racially insensitive brands.” In particular, as we know, the US has declared war on monuments to Confederate figures. As if in response to this policy, those storming the Capitol raised a Confederate banner in Washington and even erected a gallows outside Congress.
Democrats blame Donald Trump for this escalation and the unprecedented division of the nation. He is accused of abusing power, authoritarianism and radicalising his supporters. The Associated Press, for its part, points out that the sign of the civil war is not Trump’s policies at all, but Joe Biden’s controversial election victory.
Nina Silber, co-chair of the Society of Civil War Historians drew parallels between the difficult elections of 2020 and 1860, when huge numbers of Americans refused to accept the vote. And while there is no such overt preparation for hostilities now, white American resentment unites the two eras, the expert points out.
“During the Civil War it took the form of white people from the South angry at the idea of the federal government interfering with their right to own black slaves,” Silber continues. – ‘Today, I think it takes the form of white people believing that blacks are getting benefits or special treatment at their expense.”
As in the 19th century, harsh rhetoric and imagery are used by both sides of the confrontation to label opponents, historian George Rable points out.
“I think both then and now we should worry about the unintended consequences of excessive rhetoric and emotion,” he said. – Secessionists back then hardly expected such a bloody civil war, and their opponents often underestimated the depth of secessionist sentiment in a number of states. “