Reenactors fire mortars from the Pitt Street Bridge towards Fort Sumter, to commemorate the moment the first shots of the Civil War were fired 150 years ago in Charleston, S.C. on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Alice Keeney)After the Confederate bombardment of Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., 150 years ago last Tuesday, there was no longer any real hope of avoiding perhaps the most tragic event in all of American history. The War Between the States had begun, and it would exact a dreadful toll in blood and treasure before it was over.
That history should be studied and remembered because it can teach us something today as well.
The greatest lesson that all of us should recognize from that era is that although there are lots of differences among the American people, those matters should be debated and resolved by peaceful means and with mutual respect.
Fortunately, our then-divided country has been reunited, though we still have many political challenges.
Unlike some nations, however, we have the opportunity to vote and for our people to go forward peacefully, in agreement and disagreement, through the constitutionally defined processes of law.
That is an ideal all of us should embrace - unanimously and with good will - even when we sharply disagree.