Will there be a Civil War in 2013?

Will there be a Civil War in 2013?

There have been many talks and rumors of state’s seceding from the Union ever since the re-election of President Barrack Obama back in November 2012. There were numerous petitions on the White House website stating that the citizens of certain states wanted to secede. Many of these petitions garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures from registered voters. The attention was even made aware by the television media, and newspapers. But does this mean that there will be another American Civil War brewing in 2013?

I think that we first need to look at the 2 main factors for the American Civil War in the first place. Assuming that history repeats itself, one could draw a conclusion that if the same conditions that lead to the original conflict arose another one would be possible, if not immanent. While this article is not written with the intent of creating another Civil War, it is hard to deny that some of the same factors that created the first one may be leading to another one soon.

The common misconception of the American Civil War is that it was fought over slavery. These are easy concepts to teach a grade schooler, and seem to paint a patriotic and heroic stance for the Union’s cause. From another stand point, the Civil War could be viewed as “The Great War of Northern Oppression over the South”. The most important factors leading up to the Civil War were actually Social and Economic factors, plus a difference in belief of the Federal Government’s power over the States themselves.

From a Socio-Economic standpoint, there was a great disparity in the economic wealth of the people in the Northern States versus the Southern States. Most people in the Southern States lived in poorer rural areas on farms, and had a much more antiquated way of life when compared to the Urban Sprawl in the North. This can be compared to the Wealth and Social Influence of the top 2%, or however you classify the wealthy and affluent in our country this day. There is definitely a perceived disparity today amongst these classes.

Now for the biggest kicker, and something that seems to be at the heart of current legislation changes. The debate between Whether States should have their own rights, or whether the Federal Government has the right to pass laws affecting states against their will. Back in 1860, there were states that still felt that they were empowered to decide which Federally enacted laws would apply to their state. The other part of the country (mostly Northern States) felt that the Federal Government should have the right to pass a law, and the states would be required to abide by it. This is happening today in many different instances.

First we have a Federally mandated Health Care Bill that was not overly popular nicknamed Obamacare. Second we have the Federally proposed ban on certain types of firearms, that which should be an ingrained right given to US Citizens by the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Many citizens feel that there should never be any changes to the first 10 Constitutional Amendments, known as the Bill of Rights. We also have states passing laws that contradict Federal Laws, such as Washington State and Colorado passing laws legalizing the recreational use of Marijuana. Such law directly contradicts Federal Laws that all states must enforce regarding drugs and narcotics.

These were the biggest factors that lead to states feeling the need to band together and reject the authority of the Federal Government in Washington D.C. What we got were states that formally submitted their withdrawal from the Union and then they formed the Confederate States of America, it’s own official country and government. For 4 long years, there were two different powers in play. The Northern States, lead by the authority of Washington D.C. lead attacks against the Confederate States and their military. There wasn’t a violent withdraw from the United States like some would assume, the States that formed the Confederate States withdrew politely and politically, but they knew that the Federal Government would not want to allow it. They formed their own army in order to protect themselves from the United States to defend what they thought was their Constitutionally given write to secede from the Union should such differences occur.

The  final nail in the coffin for the American Civil War was the election of President Abraham Lincoln. He won a very hot ticket to become President of the United States, despite most Southerners not supporting his cause. The Southern States who relied on an agricultural economy saw Lincolns proposed politics as being contradictory to what would be best for the South’s livelihood and economic prosperity.

To shed some light on what occurs today, we have rumors that our President wants to promote Generals in the Military who are willing to issue orders to have their troops fire on US Civilians. The President is supposedly ordering the removal and retirement of Generals who refuse to commit to such an ideal. There have been many Civil Wars in the Middle East with the Arab Spring and other uprisings, and maybe the powers that be in the US feel that we are prone to the very same problems. Maybe we are more than prone, maybe we are starring this conflict blindly in the face and don’t even realize it yet.

 Will there be a Civil War 2013?

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