churchill said the further back yoook, the further forward you are li lkelyn tou . be humble in evaluation leaders of the past to understand them in their time. this context helps us recognize why our forebearers were flawed. how those flaws were remedied and how we can avoid similar flaws today. but that lens we use to understand is different than the gaze we reserve for what we revere. once of lessons of the civil war is that it was possible to do the right thing then but the moral standards of today. abolitionists opposed slavery because it was a moral and human wrong, contrary to the principles of the nation founded on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. those who fought slivery pushed the country to be better when it was opposed by custom, habit, and eventually bullets. that example is worthy of rev represents because we face similar choices today. how to keep faith with standards and morals when it is easier to cothe other thing, when the system encourages you to do the other thing. it requires character, self-sacrifice and wisdom. it's not easy, but