Journal #9

After reading about the aftermath of the civil war and the chaos the nation was in at the time reminds me of the turmoil our country is in today. We are over 13 trillion dollars in debt and we are in a political stand still. We have a lack of leadership on the part of the president and we have no idea what direction our country is going in. Just like right after the Civil War. Their leader Lincoln was just assassinated and the ripples of his death could be felt through out the country. Their was also a lot of tension between the south and the north. Everyone wanted to take the country in their own direction and no one could agree on anything. There were accounts of dispute between the president Andrew Johnson and congress. He vetoed the 14th amendment and many other reconstruction laws passed by congress. He was soon impeached but saved by a vote. Which sounds a lot like our politics today. We couldn't even agree on whether to raise the debt ceiling until the very last minute and it's all just political warfare and party lines. No one wanted to look past themselves and ask the question what does America really need? So after reading about the confused and perilous times and I couldn't help but to relate to the times we are in now. We have a lack of leadership, direction, and unity in our nation just like the reconstruction era.