[Aurelius]

"How can people today condemn people in this country waging war (jihad) against the government today while praising those who in the 1860s killed 400,000 U.S. troops?"

The soldiers in the latter case were defending their country against an invading foreign army. Seems a considerable difference to me.

[Grand Old Partisan]

The United States is my country, your country, and the country of every American then and now. Incidentally, in addition to the 200,000 southern blacks who fought for the U.S. flag, so did 100,000 southern whites. They somehow do not get mentioned in history books because, now and then, most history books are and were written by Democrats. There were 35 regiments of white southerners in the U.S. army during the 1860s -- such as the 10th U.S. Tennessee Infantry, the 2nd U.S. Florida Cavalry, and General Sherman's personal escort during his march to the sea, the 1st U.S. Alabama Cavalry.