Besides slavery, which the 13th Amendment proscribed after the Civil War (at the behest of the Republicans), historians generally agree that there were five other salient reasons for the cause of the first American Civil War. The modifier “first” was intentional, as the reader will soon understand.

From 1855 to 1861, our nation was torn asunder by words and government action that angered many Americans on both sides of the issues. Yes, there was the reprehensible issue of slavery, but that would have been resolved eventually with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. But the festering wounds of division transcended slavery and there was no way to accommodate both sides, short of blood. It was an inevitable and inexorable destination for the nascent nation of the United States of America.

Today, America has passed puberty and has grown into full adulthood; at least you would think we had. But political and social problems have lingered for decades, to the point that reason has been displaced with passion, and the Constitution – the very document that created our Union, seems to be an impediment to some form of new government advocated by many.

Indeed, the very treasures guaranteed by the Constitution, are viewed as mere relics of the 18th Century and a new, more progressive government is required, if there is going to be peace among our shores. The differences today are as deep as they were in 1859, perhaps deeper and even more irreconcilable. As said above, slavery would have died on its own, as indentured servitude would have been rendered obsolete by machinery. But there were still many heated issues on the debate table that survived the Civil War and lamentably, the same issues have today morphed into the same type of irreconcilable issues of the Nineteenth Century. Simply put, it appears man has not evolved enough to enjoy self-government, no matter how he tries to effectuate it.

Today, our government is as divided deeply. A duly-elected president has been under assault since his inauguration. It’s now abundantly clear that forces in the previous administration spied or surveilled his campaign with the goal to destroy his presidency or candidacy thereto. Even after being exonerated for colluding with Russia, President Donald Trump finds himself in the impeachment dock, facing the flimsiest of charges the House of Representatives could contrive. Indeed, the two Articles of Impeachment don’t even allege a ‘High Crime or Misdemeanor” as dictated by the Constitution, nor does it allege “Treason,” required by the Constitution. Instead, rabid forces in the House of Representatives had deigned to re-write or amend the Constitution by alleging the President’s official and authorized actions were impeachable offenses, simply because they, the Democrats say so. Moreover, they feel that these offenses are so serious, the voters should be denied their right to vote on the issue and allow only sixty-seven Americans to decide for them. SIXTY-SEVEN!

As in 1859, is country is too divided to settle this with reason and thought? The United States Senate is now sitting as a jury and they are to judge Donald John Trump’s actions consistent with the Constitution as intended and written, not as imagined by the democrats. Their judgment on this issue will have indelible and lasting consequences in this land. The issues propelling this Senate trial will not go away with the verdict, no matter what the Senate decides. The trenches have been dug, the barbed wire has been strung, the rhetoric is as hot as a cannon barrel, decisions have been made, and boots are dug deep in the muck and mire of conflict.

What can the United States do now? What can happen to make it a more perfect “Union?” What can prevent the war of words to develop into a war of fire?

In their zeal, the democrats have weakened our nation. Our enemies are watching with glee while we tear ourselves apart. And it didn’t have to be this way. Somewhere–somehow, our country took a wrong turn. It forgot about the American blood shed at Manassas, Antietam and Gettysburg. They forgot Flanders, Normandy, the Chosin Reservoir, the Mekong Delta, and Fallujah. Forces among us are only concerned with political wins, at the cost of the entire nation. The United States of America is at a fork in the road and We the People are relying on political internecine wars to guide us into the future. Where’s the leadership?

With their verdict, the United States Senate MUST congeal this country back to one nation. It must not only vote guilty or not guilty. It must send a message to everyone involved in this battle that our country is more important than the political parties ramming heads like two bull elk in rutting season. Taking a vote and walking away won’t heal the deep wounds caused by the House of Representatives. There must be that one moment when someone, somehow steps up and collects the minds of everyone and remind “them” that we have more that unites us than divides us. And if that person fails or falters, then We the People should rise up and take our government back, for it has lost the will to govern by the consent of the governed. Thank you.