Free Republic

The Civil War is about to loom very large in the popular memory. We would do well to be candid about its causes and not allow the distortions of contemporary politics or long-standing myths to cloud our understanding of why the nation fell apart. The coming year will mark the 150th anniversary of the onset of the conflict, which is usually dated to April 12, 1861, when Confederate batteries opened fire at 4:30 a.m. on federal troops occupying Fort Sumter. Union forces surrendered the next day, after 34 hours of shelling.

ABBOTSFORD, Wisconsin - A sign excluding black people from a future Abbotsford, Wisconsin business is enraging some people in the small town. It's a sign generations of people may have never seen, yet Mark Prior says it's his right to discriminate. "If I've got a problem with you it's going to be on the front of my store," says Mark Prior. Prior posted his 'No Negros Allowed' sign after he says he had some problems with black people in the past and needed to make a policy against them. Federal and State law says if the business is open to...