What Would They Think

Wisconsin Civil War Heroes

Remember Why They Fought

I read with great interest a recent piece in this paper by Linda McAlpine about an exhibit of photos of Wisconsin citizens who served in the Union Army during the Civil War that will be coming soon to Washington County’s Historical Society Museum. 

Evidently, over 90,000 Wisconsin soldiers fought to preserve our nation from being torn asunder by those who promoted the evils of slavery and believed that the rights of individual states to control what happened within their respective borders took precedence over federal laws to the contrary. The slave holders and states’ rights proponents lost that epic struggle on the battlefield and had to accept federal superiority as a precondition for re-entry into the Union. That victory cemented our current federal/state governmental hierarchy.

Many in the Southern states and recently in other states, including Wisconsin, continue asserting beliefs that states should not have to follow federal mandates with which they disagree. Anglo-Saxon racial superiority over those with other skin tones has once again reared up to justify rejection of the more inclusive society we have become since the Civil War.  Wisconsin politics has been consumed by divisive rhetoric along those very lines. 

I wonder what those brave Wisconsin men in blue uniforms who fought to preserve our nation state would think if they saw Confederate flags flying from pick-up trucks and painted on the sides of rural barns on their home grounds. Surely, they did not fight and die to see this come to pass. 

Another driver of the states’ rights and supremacy of individual freedom train is an extreme form of Christian fundamentalism that has taken over our political discourse. “Religious Freedom” has become an accepted justification for rejecting federal laws requiring equal treatment of women, the gay and transgendered, brown and yellow skinned immigrants, contraceptive insurance coverage and universal healthcare itself. “Religious Freedom” has morphed under such fundamentalist teachings. It used to mean that you were free to worship as you see fit. It now means my religious beliefs trump the laws with which I disagree.  

The Wisconsin men who went to war to reunify our country certainly never envisioned Wisconsin and the country being torn apart once again. 

What we are witnessing in this election season is a re-incarnation of the Union Army of the Civil War as Wisconsin men and, yes, women join together to reassert the fundamental beliefs that were reaffirmed by the Union victory those many decades ago. 

We are one state in one country, united by the common shared values and beliefs enshrined in the Constitution. We are all equal and have the right to enjoy the prosperity our shared work produces. We are blessed with untold resources that require wise conservation and preservation so that future generations can share in our national bounty. We take care of one another because together we can and will accomplish much more than any one of us can do individually. We share responsibility to protect the Republic and to make it stronger through unified, purposeful actions designed to promote the common good. We do not leave any one behind. The fallen and weak are just as important as the strongest among us and can contribute to the common good if only allowed the opportunity. We welcome all those, as we have since our founding, who come here to make a better life for themselves and their families.

To achieve these lofty ideals, we must learn once more to work together to find solutions to our common problems. We need to rely upon science to provide a foundation for what we do and how we do it. Religious beliefs must be honored for those who have them with freedom to believe what they believe, but not with the ability to impose those beliefs on others. 

We are on a threshold of once more rejecting attempts to divide this great country into increasing numbers of warring factions or allowing the chaos to envelop our wonderful State and make the struggles of those brave Wisconsin soldiers who left home to protect our nation a wasted effort.