That was the title of a piece by Michigander Bruce Catton in American Heritage published 49 years ago this very month. A copy is here: Download Catton article
Forget what, exactly? Something like "it once and forever expanded the dimensions of American freedom." How so?
27,489,561 was the total 'white' population in 1860
3,953,760 was the total 'slave' population
In other words, over 10% of the US population was enslaved.
That number of slaves exceeds the 2009 total population in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. That's 23 of the 50 states, plus DC. Does that put in perspective the enormity of what was at stake?
Catton again: "Somewhere in these centennial observances there must be a time for sober reflection; for contemplation of the fact that freedom is a magnificent possession and an undying responsibility; for rededication to the ideal that came to its first flowering in battle smoke and agony. The centennial is not to be approached lightly. It means either nothing at all—or everything."
So, let it be that the sesquicentennial observance in Michigan is a time to reflect on the fact that the freedom of all Americans was at stake in this bloodiest of all American wars, and that all who participate in the observance have an undying responsibility to the past, the present, and the future of the ideal of freedom that is the hallmark of our Nation.
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