Digital Sparks // The Civil War edition

A newsletter delivered by TinyLetter.

1. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, VA, 9 April 1865 (150 years ago).
But the war is not over, writes Yale professor of American History David W. Blight in this historical essay. To help frame the magnitude of the conflict, he writes: “if the Civil War were fought in the United States today with its ten-fold greater population, 7.5 million soldiers would die.”

2. Not a Tea Party, a Confederate Party.
Lots of people have compared the Tea Party with the Confederacy based on geography. In this essay, Doug Muder explores questions raised by the Lincoln movie, with an intriguing exploration of “Who really won the Civil War?” #longRead #worthIt

3. The first use of absentee ballots in the U.S. was during the Civil War.
York College (Pennsylvania) highlights the war’s legacy.

4. How Libertarians ought to think about the U.S. Civil War.
I didn’t realize that many libertarians believe the Civil War “represented a betrayal of the U.S. Constitution and of the fundamental principles of American political philosophy.” Long, thought-provoking paper (pdf) from Timothy Sandefur, a libertarian author and adjunct Cato Institute scholar.