I just finished watching an amazing PBS documentary, “American Experience | Reconstruction: The Second Civil War” via Netflix.
The PBS website which accompanies and extends this documentary is superb. Watching this really makes me want to retract my statement from today’s keynote address, that we are living in the most uncertain times of human history. That may not be true. We may be living in the era of most rapid change, and one of the most exciting eras because of the potential of web-enabled communication, but I don’t think our current era compares to the post-Civil War era in terms of uncertainty.
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Comments
2 responses to “The 2nd US Civil War”
It’s funny. Your comment reminds me of a time last year when, as we were studying the election, a student asked me “Is this the most divided America has ever been?” My answer was, “Of course not – think the Civil War.” The more time I spend studying history, the more I realize there is little unique about our time period.
I think technology and the pace of change / speed of life are definers for our present age. But there have certainly been times of greater uncertainty. I remember studying about Reconstruction a little in school, but this video really drove home how turbulent and uncertain the times were then. It’s definitely good to study history to have a better perspective on the challenges as well as opportunities we have!