a day of shame

on this day in 1861, the civil war commenced with the confederate firing on fort sumter in charleston harbor--- by the war's end, over 600,000 americans had died, more than in both world wars combined --- yet that was what it took to end slavery in this country, and for that the civil war is worth remembering --- secession balls, battlefield re-enactments, and the scv notwithstanding, the 1860s  were not our nation's proudest time --- we were fortunate to have had lincoln at the helm to see us through the "war between the states" --- see the war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the union and confederate armies (over a hundred volumes) now miraculously available online through the munificence of the internets ----