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The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

Think the US is more polarized than ever? You don't know history

  • Written by Gary W. Gallagher, John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War, Emeritus, University of Virginia
Union dead at Gettysburg, July 1863.National Archives, Timothy H. O'Sullivan photographer

It has become common to say that the United States in 2020 is more divided politically and culturallythan at any other point in our national past.

As a historian who has written and taught about the Civil War era for several decades, I know that current...

Read more: Think the US is more polarized than ever? You don't know history

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