War or unity? 

I've been a student of our American Civil War since I was 10 years old. I first delved into that conflict in Mr. Greer's fifth grade class in 1965, when the nation observed the centennial of Lee's surrender at Appomattox, effectively ending the war. That summer, our family visited Gettysburg National Battlefield in Pennsylvania. I vividly remember standing on Cemetery Hill at the very spot where Pickett's Charge failed to break the Union center on the third day of that dreadful 1863 battle—widely regarded as the "high-water mark of the Confederacy." The war that had started at Fort Sumter in April 1861 would grind on for another two years, until the surrender of rebel armies in the spring of 1865.

For most of the last two decades, I've taught history at Allan Hancock College, and I showed scenes of that decisive moment from the 1994 movie Gettysburg to each of my classes that covered the Civil War.

I've also been watching with growing dismay as our nation has become dangerously polarized, to the point where many observers are issuing stern warnings of an impending "second civil war."

I hesitate to compare any Civil War battle with the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but as a loyal American, I took special offense as that angry mob paraded the Confederate battle flag under the dome of our Capitol. Over the entire four years of the Civil War, Confederate flags had never entered the capital; but on that day last year, the banner of Southern insurrection insulted our seat of government.

Could the violence on Jan. 6 be another Fort Sumter, the opening battle in a new civil war? Or is it more accurately compared to Pickett's Charge, the high-water mark of this appalling wave of national hostility and right-wing extremism? If it's Fort Sumter déja vu, ever more violent forces of insurrection threaten new levels of unrelenting domestic terrorism.

One scholar of the Civil War has warned that the nation now faces a threat even more dangerous to our democracy than Fort Sumter. Heather Cox Richardson asserts that the intent of the Jan. 6 rioters—to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and overturn the results of the election—was far more serious than the secession by 11 Southern states in 1860-61. The South did not seek to reverse Lincoln's election and retain the presidency, even though the Illinois lawyer had won with less than 40 percent of the popular vote. Instead, they simply chose to withdraw altogether from the nation to sustain their "peculiar institution" of slavery.

What threatens our democracy now is the constant drumbeat of doubts about the very legitimacy of the institutions that have served us so well for so long. Winston Churchill has noted that "democracy is the worst possible form of government—except for any other form of government," and few among us would or should dispute that conclusion. Yet more and more Americans are finding their votes frustrated by high-tech gerrymandering, court-ordered limits to enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, and voter suppression measures designed to inhibit voting by minorities or younger voters.

How can we challenge the narrative of an impending "second civil war"? Can we recover the sense of national unity and common purpose that has distinguished our democracy for almost 250 years? Can we assure that Jan. 6 was, at worst, a "high-water mark" of extremism?

We can begin by continuing to prosecute those responsible for Jan. 6. Already, more than 840 individuals face criminal charges and more than 180 have been convicted, with jail or prison time for at least 80. Now it is up to Attorney General Merrick Garland to indict the major ringleaders of the riot, especially the circus master himself, Donald Trump. A trial, conviction, and punishment of the former president would go far toward extinguishing the incendiary threat that he still poses from Mar-a-Lago.

And finally, we can all take steps to educate ourselves and our communities about the continuing threat of right-wing extremism and domestic terrorism, whether it's from the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, or any local self-styled "militia" groups. We can challenge the conspiratorial ideology of the "3 percenters," who believe that an armed resistance must remove "tyrannical" government and call openly for violent revolution. We can support organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center or People for the American Way, whose founder Norman Lear turned 100 years old in July.

Time will tell whether Jan. 6 was "Fort Sumter" or the "high-water mark," but we'll know more when we see the results of this year's election—and even better, the 2024 election. I'm hoping that by that time, we might be celebrating another Appomattox: The total defeat of right-wing extremism, the salvation of American democracy, and the return to some semblance of national unity. Δ

John Ashbaugh has been engaged in local politics since arriving in SLO County in 1977. Write a response for publication by emailing [email protected].