When political division in the US was fatal

Think the US is more polarized than ever? You don't know history [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 17 February 2020 [The Conversation]( Academic rigor, journalistic flair [Naomi Schalit] A note from... Naomi Schalit Senior Editor, Politics + Society You hear it every day: America has never been so divided! Political polarization is at a peak! Historian Gary W. Gallagher of the University of Virginia, a scholar of the Civil War, says that’s just not so. In the 19th century, divisions over the institution of slavery resulted in a bloody internecine conflict that sent 3 million men into battle, and killed at least 620,000 of them – the equivalent of approximately 6.5 million dead in the United States of 2020. “To compare anything that has transpired in the past few years to this cataclysmic upheaval represents a spectacular [lack of understanding about American history](,” writes Gallagher. 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Today’s quote ["When Roosevelt shifted the balance of power from Congress to the White House, he created the expectation that an activist president, consumed by affairs of state, would work endlessly in the best interests of the people."]( [A brief history of presidential lethargy]( Stacy A. Cordery Iowa State University [Stacy A. Cordery] [Do you think the public needs trustworthy information? Help us reach more people]( [Follow us on Twitter.]( [Join us on Facebook.]( You’re receiving this newsletter from [The Conversation](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe instantly](. We’ll miss you. 89 South Street - Suite 202 Boston, MA 02111