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Living through history is not always easy

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Hugo Phan
/
KMUW

In this election year, there's been a lot of conversation about how intense our rhetoric has become and how polarized we seem to be. A survey of Kansas history suggests that this isn't necessarily new.

Consider how intense the situation was during the territorial times when free Staters challenged a pro-slavery territorial government, each considering themselves the lawful and legitimate voice of “the people” of Kansas and the other being illegitimate.

We could explore the colorful and even vicious editorials that raged as towns fought over being the county seat. These tensions usually involved bribery and corruption, sometimes resulted in violence, and today often linger on in simmering high school football rivalries.

Perhaps we could look at the fight between the Populists and the Republicans in the 1890s when each side claimed to have won a series of disputed state house elections and each considered themselves the legitimate victor. This ultimately ended up with the Populists holing themselves up in the state house only to have Republicans literally smash down the door and occupy the house chamber in a state of siege.

When thinking about current events, I am reminded of an article from the Daily Stoic entitled “This Is What Living Through History Looks Like.” It's a good reminder that the anxieties we are experiencing connect us to parts of history that today seem tame but were just as unsettled. As a meme out there says “we’re really living in the most difficult section of someone’s history exam in 2060.”

Jay M. Price is chair of the department of history at Wichita State University, where he also directs the public history program.