The American Revolution was far more important to American society and history than The Civil War.

First, allow me to begin by saying that I can clearly see that I have found a worthy opponent. Eick, you are very articulate in your writing and I thank you for taking up my challenge. Let me try and take on your points one by one. First, I would just like to point out that The American Revolution came about for many reasons, not just for want of representation in Parliament. Now, you have said that The Civil War showed us at what costs Americans would go through in order to preserve our basic ideals as set down in the revolution. I would argue that most of our history has been a test of our willingness to preserve what we cherish. There are two wonderful quotes that John Adams once said that I believe demonstrate my point more clearly. He said after signing The Declaration of Independence: "The Revolution is now complete; all that remains now is a war." He also said later in his life and shortly before his death: "What was the revolution? The War? That was no part of the revolution. The revolution was what was in the people's minds. The War was a necessary consequence of the revolution." So what he was essentially saying in these two quotes was that The Revolutionary War or American War of Independence as some people call it was fought for one of the very same reasons that you charge The Civil War was fought for, namely: The PRESERVATION of the ideals of The Revolution. In addition, do you not find certain historical events such as, The Whiskey Rebellion, The War of 1812, the peaceful transfer of power from the Federalists to the Democratic-Republicans, and even George Washington refusing to become king but instead choosing to voluntarily step down from power as major tests of our willingness to hold up the ideals of the revolution? I should also like to point out that toward the end of your argument you stated: "The Civil War shows us that we feel these values [the values of the revolution] are so important that man will turn on his brother before he turns on the Constitution." You are correct with this statement. However, many historians have called The Revolutionary War, especially during the southern campaigns from 1780-1781 as America's FIRST civil war. Why? Well, because in the south many battles fought during the revolutionary war were fought almost entirely by loyalists v.s. patriots, brother against brother. In fact, one of the most famous battles of the south during the Rev. war, the Battle of Kings Mountain, which was fought in North Carolina and which involved over 2,000 men was fought with only one man actually being British; Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Ferguson, the commander of the loyalists. So, as you can see brother against brother was not at all a new thing introduced by the civil war. Benjamin Franklin's own son stopped talking to his father because he detested the idea of American Independence. So the willingness to stand up for these beliefs was just as strong, if not stronger, during the revolutionary war. Finally, let me explain my argument of precedence. I do not mean to say that the revolution was more important simply because it came first. No, I mean to say that it was during that period that the traditions and ideals were created. What would the generation of The Civil War have to fight for if the revolutionaries had not come up with their new ways of geovernemnt and representation? I would like to end by thanking you for debating me. I look forward to reading your response.