Our Fragile Democracy

"And do we feel as we imagined we should a year ago? We thought if peace was at hand, how joyful we all should be. And surely it is at hand, and we are all very glad, but how different is reality from anticipation. There is a throb of joy in everybody's heart. There must be. There is in mine, but it does not seem hardly what I imagined it would a year ago, if ever Jefferson Davis should be confined in one of our prisons."

~ Ruth Jenkins, May 28, 1865 (The Drumbeats of War, Tales of the Sea, Book 2)

The idea of a civil war in the United States seemed unthinkable at first. Our nation was new, resting on a fragile democracy built on ideas that pushed against the iron grip of monarchs and dictators. We were free... or were we?

A growing resistance to the practice of slavery percolated among the populace. Meanwhile, proposals emerged to expand slavery into the Western Territories. Abolitionists secreted enslaved workers into "free" states through a nearly invisible network of everyday people who were outraged by the abomination of human bondage.

Articles of secession tore us apart as seven Southern states formed a confederacy to fight for their "right" to own, control and punish their fellow humans. While slavery found its stronghold in Southern states, slaves could be found in the homes and businesses of Northern states as well.

"When I arrived in New York and had stayed there a short time, I found out that the city was divided, or nearly so, into two separate opinions. I allude to the White population, the one half were the abolitionists or the slave's protector. The other consisted of a party that sympathized with the slave dealers or owners, so that portion of the inhabitants had a great aversion towards coloured people. No matter whether poor or rich, they took a malicious delight in showing their aversion in many petty instances, as I have both seen and experienced."

~ Thomas White, who self-emancipated from slavery at the age of 15, sometime between 1831 and 1841, assisted by abolitionists. (The Drumbeats of War, Tales of the Sea, Book 2)

The Drumbeats of War, the second volume in my Tales of the Sea series, presents the reality of the bloodiest war in our country's history through the eyes of real people who witnessed it first hand. Their voices echo through time, reminding us that the fabric which binds us together is of our own making and only as strong as our principles. While great leaders fought on the chessboard of politics in the Civil War, common people died on battlefields and risked their lives for people they didn't know, believing that every human being has a right to freedom.

Figures vary now on the death toll. Initially, it was thought 620,000 men, or 2% of the American population, died in the Civil War. Revised figures, accounting for death by disease, push that number north of 700,000.

"The suffering you cannot imagine, what the sick and wounded suffered through that long weary night. Wet to the skin and nowhere to sleep but the deep mud and in the drenching rain... The Regiment came out here 1 year ago 1,000 strong, and now we can't muster 300 men for duty."

~Josiah C. Fish, July 5, 1863, near Hagarstown, Maryland

We find ourselves now at a pivot point in history. Listen to the echoes of the past, not so long ago.

We, the common people, must serve as the moral compass for our nation. We, the common people, will pay the price if we don't.

The two books in the Tales of the Sea series, The Journey Begins and The Drumbeats of War, are available in print, ebook and audiobook versions. Request them from your local bookstore or library, or purchase them online.

I welcome the opportunity to visit your book club, library, museum, sailing organization, or historical association to provide a free presentation. Email me at cynthia@cynthiaelder.com.

With prayers for peace and better days ahead,

Cynthia Elder