Faith and Civil War

The monument pictured above is dedicated to the memory of John M Smith who was one of the 3,000 Union soldiers that were buried in what was once called Union Soldiers Cemetry. The site, once a former government cemetery during the Civil War, is now an African American cemetery maintained by St. James Baptist Church on Union Cemetery Road. Those Union soldiers buried here were transferred to Beaufort National Cemetery or to their homes after the war. The only indication of the history of this site is the remaining memorial of John Smith who was a transporter in the Quartermaster Department of the Union Army. Today it is hard to imagine that at the height of the war 83 Union Army regiments (approximately 83,000 soldiers) were stationed on this island. Included in this force were three black regiments.

The success of Union forces in the Battle of Port Royal on Nov. 7, 1861, gave the Union control over Hilton Head Island and the Atlantic coastline south to Jacksonville, FL.  It also opened the door to freedom for slaves in the Sea Islands as hundreds of African Americans sought refuge from former masters by fleeing to Union-held territory.  Hilton Head Island initially attracted those slaves left behind on the Island when southern planters fled and subsequently provided a haven to slaves from the surrounding area, including Georgia and Florida.

Runaway slaves found work, shelter, food, and clothing at the Union garrison and by late 1862 nearly 1,000 African Americans lived on the outskirts of the garrison, mostly in barracks.  Tensions grew between them and the Union soldiers and conditions in the barracks were poor.  By March 1863 the town Mitchelville (pictured above) was established and named in honor of the general who authorized its construction and who had died of fever some six weeks after his arrival. Streets were laid out in regular patterns with quarter-acre plots and houses were constructed by the residents with materials supplied by the army.  The town elected its own government and created a body of laws, a church, schools run by missionary teachers, and stores. Residence was restricted to blacks; white visitors needed passes. By October 1864 some 3,000 people lived in Mitchelville; the number dropped to 1,500 after the end of the war in 1865.  By the 1870s the town had dwindled to what has been referred to as a “kinship-based community.”

This is the history of our nation. An honest read of it clearly describes the plight of our African American brothers and sisters living in poverty and mistreated, often resulting in death or running for their lives. But clearly the people of faith during that time were divided over the issue of slavery as was clearly described in President Lincoln’s second inaugural address. Lincoln states “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other.  It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not lest we be judged.  The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully.  The Almighty has His own purposes.” By Lincoln’s own admission the divided position seemed strange for a common faith, but he reasoned God’s purposes would prevail regardless of the divide.

Looking back through the history of our nation this curious divide in the people of faith is not that hard to understand. Slavery was more acceptable when the context included one’s livelihood. The south’s cotton industry was highly dependent on slave labor, thereby making it more acceptable; many reasoned it was helpful to a class of people who needed help. The north certainly prospered from the south’s cotton industry by using its raw materials and manufactured fine products while embracing slavery selectively. But the limited practice of slavery in the north allowed a discontent with the practice to be developed and it was eventually eliminated. In other words, the position of slavery evolved or changed in the north until the divide between north and south became so great that civil war was inevitable. Lincoln described it this way “Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.  And the war came.” 

Winston Churchill once said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” It seems we are approaching a divide in the people of faith in our nation similar to that of Lincoln’s time. People of faith have long been divided over doctrinal issues and we seem to have come to terms with that and can peaceably coexist over those issues. However, people of faith have become divided in many other ways. People of faith are divided over many social issues.  People of faith are for abortion rights; some are for the ban of all abortion rights. People of faith are for gun control; some are for no gun restrictions at all. People of faith are for vaccine mandates; some are against them.  People of faith are divided politically as well.  People of faith live in red states and people of faith live in blue states.  People of faith are conservative, and people of faith are liberal.  People of faith support the Republican party and the Democratic party as well. Each will defend their social and political views based on their interpretation of scripture and their subsequent doctrinal beliefs of their faith.  This statement is not a judgment whether one is correct or incorrect.  This is simply a statement of fact about the division of beliefs.  Each will invoke God’s support in furthering their view in the nation. Similar to Lincoln’s circumstance it seems that God cannot answer both sides of the issue completely, because each side represents complete opposite and opposing positions to the other. Also like the days of Lincoln, there seems to be no compromise with either side. Each side is so dug into its own point of view that there is no ability to see things differently and consider a compromise.

Additionally, similar to Lincoln’s time violence is escalating in our nation to such an extent that one in three now believe it is justified to take violence against the U.S. government [1].  This trend in increased violence is worrisome to many, one of whom is Barbara F. Walter who has spent decades studying, writing, and teaching about “How Civil Wars Start.”  She writes in her book of the same name the following.  “Most Americans cannot imagine another civil war in their country.  They assume our democracy is too resilient, too robust to devolve into conflict.  Or they assume that our country is too wealthy and advanced to turn on itself.  Or they assume that any rebellion would quickly be stamped out by our powerful government, giving the rebels no chance.  They see the Whitmer kidnapping plot, or even the storming of the U.S. Capitol, as isolated incidents.  But this is because they don’t know how civil wars start.” [2] Schoen and Cooperman in their book “America – Unite or Die” state the following “American democracy – the defining characteristic that has made the United States a magnet for immigrants from around the globe, the leader of the free world, and a model for other nations – is under fire as never before and is threatened with possible extinction.”[3]

The remedy for the healing of any divide does not come from the doctrines of our faith, but from the experience of our faith. Doctrinal arguments hardly ever change minds and hearts. Only God’s presence can do that at those intersections of the natural with the supernatural, the place that I believe births faith in us. The answer is not found in the people of faith coming together to reason through our differences. The answer is found in the people of faith coming together and experiencing the presence and the life changing power of God together. Why does that make a difference? Because when God shows up, we are humbled in His presence. When He shows up, we are emptied of all pride. When He shows up, new revelation is imparted to our hearts and minds. When He shows up, all fear is removed, all anger is dissipated, and peace reigns and rules our hearts. It is only when the people of faith are positioned to receive their faith in God in this fashion, that we can really experience our faith as God intends. Once we arrive at that place, watch what can be accomplished through a united people of faith! I believe this is the first step for a divided state to become a truly United States of America. It requires the people of faith to lead the way, but we cannot lead if we are divided.  We must close the divide among the people of faith so we can save our country.

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[1] Washington Post, “Party divides underscore Jan. 6 riots, poll finds”; January 2, 2022by Daniel Balz, Scott Clement, & Emily Guskin

[2] How Civil Wars Start by Barbara F. Water, p.xviii, Crown Publishers, 2022.

[3] America – Unite or Die by Douglas E. Schoen & Carly Cooperman; p.1, Regan Arts, 2021