This year marked the 150th anniversary of what David Von Drehle calls the most perilous year in our country’s history. As 1862 dawned, Von Drehle writes in his marvelous book Rise to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year, America was at death’s door. The federal government appeared overwhelmed. The Treasury Department was broke. The War Department was a corrupt shambles. The Union’s top general, George McClellan, was gravely ill. And Lincoln was viewed as weak and overmatched by events. “It is in the highest Degree likely that the North will not be able to subdue the South,” the British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, counseled his Foreign Office.
By the end of the year, the tide had turned. The South had been dealt major battlefield losses. The Union had developed a military strategy that would eventually prevail. “The twelve tumultuous months of 1862 were the hinge of American history,” according to Von Drehle, “the decisive moment at which the unsustainable compromises of the founding generations were ripped up in favor of a blueprint for a much stronger nation.” And it was the year in which Lincoln rose to greatness.
Rise to Greatness takes us through 1862 month by month. It’s a marvelous and gripping story, compellingly and beautifully written. And this is how the book concludes:
The first day of 1863 did not mark the end of the war, or even the beginning of the end. That would come later in the year, when Grant drove the Rebels out of Vicksburg and Chattanooga on his way to replacing Halleck as general in chief. But the close of 1862 — to borrow from Winston Churchill — brought the nation to the end of the beginning. And like the Shakespearean dramas that spoke so powerfully to the genius of Abraham Lincoln, the events of the final scenes were fated by the decisions, actions, omissions, flukes, failures, and successes of the early drama. When that fateful year began, a shattered land looked backward at a dream that seemed forever lost. When a new year arrived, the way forward was perceptible, an upward climb into a challenging but brilliant future.
As another new year arrives–a century and a half after the end of the beginning of the Civil War–it is a good time to reflect on the extraordinary journey America has traveled, the terrible “original sin” of slavery the United States had to overcome, and how close things came to unraveling. It’s also a good time to recall just how fortunate we were that, at the most arduous moment in our history, America produced its greatest president, an individual whose intellectual, political, and rhetorical gifts converged in a way unmatched in all our history.
Even with all the political nonsense we see unfolding before our eyes today, call us blessed.
Wow, another great post Mr. Wehner. n nNow I have to purchase that book.
Why? Please tell me why? Why do so many intelligent responsible people do things that are not rational, contrary to clear evidence, and that ignore history? n nWhy do people fight so hard to increase taxes, when we all know from clear historical evidence, that increasing taxes decreases government revenue? Why did New York put a 100% tax on welfare recipients who earned extra income, only to later eliminate this nonsense? n nWhy to we fight so hard for gun-free zones and such, when evidence is clear that most gun killings are in gun-free zones? n nWhy do people on television speak in ways preventing clear thinking and rational analysis? If someone does not agree with an opinion, he or she will get very emotional, sometimes cutting off another speaker. We all know that rational thinking requires calm discussion. Why do we tolerate emotional rationality? Why? n nWhy do so many people, here and abroad, struggle to get more government control of businesses, when we all know, from logic and evidence, that more government control means poor business results and suffering to society? Why? n nWhy do we emphasize the will of the majority when America is not a democracy? In our country the majority cannot do as they wish if this interferes with minority rights. We are a republic. Why does the majority clamor for higher taxes when this interferes with the rights of the minority to keep their private money? Taxes that are not fair, such as taxes on money that has already been taxed, is a violation of minority rights. Why do we Americans accept this? n nWhy are Americans not aware of dangers to our country? In the early 19th century, people were angry at slave owners who sold men to one group, and the wives to other groups, breaking up families. People became very, very angry at this evil. The result was the horrible Civil War and terrible Reconstruction. Today, people are very angry at the government spending money it does not have. People are very, very angry at this evil, even though they voted for representatives who support this evil. Why are we not afraid of another outburst as happened in the 19th century? n nDon't we understand what type of people we Americans are, who will try to live with evil until they realize they must fight the evil? 19th century Americans failed to learn from the experience of the Revolutionary War, that we cannot tolerate evil. This failure lead to the Civil War, with the result of millions dead and injured, and widespread poverty. This is how we Americans are. n nWhy cannot we 21st century Americans learn from our history, that if our institutions fail us, we will fight? We will fight for the rights of our minorities, such as Americans who pay taxes who wish to keep their property. Why can't we learn from the experience of Americans who refused to pay tribute to the Arabs in Tripoli, with the result of the Barbary War? Why cannot we see that we Americans will fight not to pay tribute to the federal government in order to continue growing our country?
The people who can't learn these lessons tend to want success without risk, to have the appurtenances of a prosperous, comfortable life (multiple cars, annual exotic holidays, big-screen TVs, iPods, iPhones, iWhatevers) that were formally confined to those successful risk takers of high income but which are now easily within the reach of those who work hard and are prudent with their finances, and thus desired and expected by those of lesser means and/or work ethic and/or financial prudence who see these nice things and want them NOW. n nAnd the Dems cater to these people. The "poor" now have cell phones and computers, and were encouraged to buy houses beyond their means, and yet are still "poor" and in need of programs and "entitlements" in order to subsidize their "consumer poor" lifestyles. All of this is incompatible with reality, and so requires delusions about how wealth is actually created, and concordant magical thinking about how to rob the productive to pay the Dems' various constituencies yet without becoming another Greece, while relegating things like self-reliance, self-defense, national defense and prudent foreign policy against enemies, along with the very architecture of a Constitutional republic, to the periphery of understanding. These "old white man things" thus become expendable compared with the priority requirement to extract government "revenue' from the fruits of other people's labors. n nTo govern is to choose, and the Dems want everyone to believe that choosing punitive taxation, redistribution and leading from behind are all safe, cheap and easy choices. In reality, as you've outlined, they are none of those things.
As a born and raised Southerner; I don't see what was so great about the year 1862. (I'm just joking! It was just a joke! A little humor never hurt anything. (laughter.)
Peter Wehner does not say why January 1, 1863 was so special. It was because that is when Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation took effect.
By the way, "born and raised Southerner," why did the Confederacy fight so hard to maintain slavery?