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A persistent bias in looking at history is that from our perspective here in the future, we know how the story ends. 1/
So it's tempting to look at past conflicts (e.g., the Civil War) with equanimity, as the price to be paid for achieving a good result. 2/
But for people at the time, who didn't know how it turned out, it looked like the end of the world (and in many cases, for them it was). 3/
You can look at abolitionists who proposed gradual measures against slavery and denounce them as compromisers, or... 4/
...grasp from their perspective the seeming impossibility of changing the minds of those for whom slavery was an entrenched interest. 5/
You can scoff at attempts to compromise to avoid war, or you can see it from the perspective of those who actually had to fight it. 6/
The grimly amusing part is that we're getting a lot of moralism about the Civil War right now from people who are usually "anti-war." 7/7
Every time I read about the Civil War, I am so grateful that no problem we face right now is one tenth as dangerous and intractable.
