Civil war. From its cause to its purpose to the details of 100 battles, we argue. We cant even agree on its name. To rephrase variously depending on the perspective of the namer, the war of northern aggression the war between the states, the war of the rebellion which was once the official u. S. Government name for it the war for independence, the second american revolution, the war for emancipation, and probably two or three dozen more. In no other time do we have a historical memory so carefully considered, so consciously shaped and manipulated as a civil war. No other event in our lifetime has active constituent groups that patrol the intellectual universe trying to ensure that americans see this event in a particular way or from a particular perspective. Today, i would like to engage in a bit of a discussion, engage you in a bit of a discussion posing you some questions, answer a few, but i have no idea what the answers are. All of it is to provoke some thought and some considerati