History often Rhymes

A little history lesson, just in time for the election, courtesy of Mark Twain

Back in 1860, the year before the United States began to tear itself to pieces, a group of antislavery activists in Connecticut began a fateful campaign to support Republican Party candidates.  The movement quickly exploded across the country, gaining powerful allies in local newspapers aligned with the newly formed antislavery outfits and eventually adopting the title The Wide Awakes.  The Wide Awakes operated in an era when newspapers didn’t even pretend to be politically objective, and would often resort to outrageous exaggerations to defame the political opponents of their benefactors.   By the time of the divisive 1860 Presidential Election, the Wide Awakes included an astounding 500,000 members.   Following the trends in the cutthroat information environment of 1860, the Wide Awakes also had a dark side: their followers held nighttime rallies with torches to intimidate the offices of Democratic Party supporting newspapers.  By the time Abraham Lincoln, a moderate abolitionist who distanced himself from the radicals in the Republican Party, was elected, a violent crack-up was inevitable.

By January 1861, The Weekly Mississippian, based on anecdotal evidence that African Americans were regular participants at Wide Awake rallies in Boston, wrote that not only was the organization “comprised mainly of negroes” but also were plotting a violent race war against southern whites.  Shortly after The Weekly Mississippian published the words “WIDE AWAKE INVASION ANTICIPATED!!!!”, the Mississippi Legislature passed the Ordinance of Secession, the second state to do so after South Carolina.  By June of that year, nine more Slave States had seceded as well, plunging the 74-year-old republic into a bloody civil war.

When the smoke cleared by 1865, the human and economic toll was massive, particularly for the seceding states.  620,000 soldiers on both sides saw their lives extinguished by battlefield injury or disease, an astonishing 2% of the population.  If one includes all the uncounted tales of permanent physical disability, including the loss of one or more limbs, lifelong emotional trauma even without physical injury, or finally the second order effects on the soldiers’ families, the human toll increases from tragic to catastrophic.  For the south, this human toll was compounded by the economic toll.  Cities such as Richmond, Charleston, Atlanta, and, thanks to General Sherman, the entire state of Georgia were completely destroyed.  During the war, the Confederate economy suffered from massive inflation and basic food shortages thanks to the crippling Union naval blockade.  After the war, the south’s economy, devoid of its slave labor force to pick cotton, did not fully recover until the New Deal of the 1930s. 

In hindsight, we can see that the drastic decision, provoked by a polarized and toxic information environment, of 11 American states to unilaterally cease their membership in Thomas Jefferson’s republic proved devastating beyond comprehension- a mistake that took generations to rectify.   In the world of 2024, where print media seems destined to follow the path of VCRs and Sony Walkmans, the United States sits at a similarly dangerous crossroads. 

This junction exists thanks to an oversaturated, instant-gratification media market churning out fake stories and sensationalized twaddle faster than I can slice a golf ball out of bounds.

Both sides are responsible.  Beyond the usual mudslinging characteristic of a presidential campaign, the tone this year has sunk into portraying this year’s contest as decidedly existential for the future of the United States.  If one were to hear the most extreme attacks, excuse me, WHEN one hears these attacks (since politics has become inescapable these days), one would believe that the opposing party plans to suspend the constitution, establish authoritarian rule, and ultimately destroy the country out of ideological fanaticism or a raw lust for power.  For example, Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has spent the last 9 years dominating news cycle after news cycle, has repeatedly warned that should the Democrats win, we’re not going to have a country anymore.  This dire prediction is certainly a reflection of the Biden Administration’s failures patrolling the southern border.  On the flipside, Vice President Kamala Harris has resorted to the ultimate political attack of desperation- calling her opponent, in this case former president Trump, a Fascist.

In the words of the great American writer and satirist Mark Twain, History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.  In 2024, no one is warning of a mass invasion of Mississippi by the Wide Awake movement nor is anyone holding torchlight rallies outside the offices of newspapers.  However, you have a media ecosystem that openly promotes the most bitter and extreme political attacks.  Take USA Today, a national newspaper that has long shed its once-esteemed political neutrality.  If the opinion headline “Democrats are calling Trump a fascist.  It’s the truth” doesn’t scream uncomfortable parallels with the information environment of 1860, then you are most certainly naïve.  If America doesn’t stop slandering itself, then we need to prepare ourselves for what happened last time lest history rhyme again.

In conclusion, I very much hope that everyone, no matter whom you choose to vote for, makes the mature decision to tune out the attacks and the fearmongering.  I will say it straight- if Kamala Harris wins the election, the country will still exist and the border will have to be controlled no matter who receives more electoral votes.  Likewise, a second Trump presidency will not lead the country down the road of fascism.  Thus, instead of fretting about the supposed evils of your political enemies, it would be wise instead to recall the rhymes of history lest Mark Twain’s prediction come true again.  Rather than diving into post-election political conflict, I would suggest some more positive hobbies- taking walks outdoors, playing golf, or reading a book.  There are so many wonderful activities for a truly happy and positive autumn.