Shelby Foote Quote

Before the war, it was said 'the United States are' - grammatically it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And after the war it was always 'the United States is', as we say today without being self-conscious at all. And that sums up what the war accomplished. It made us an 'is'.

Interviewed in the documentary series The Civil War, 1990

Before the war, it was said 'the United States are' - grammatically it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And...

Before the war, it was said 'the United States are' - grammatically it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And...

Before the war, it was said 'the United States are' - grammatically it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And...

Before the war, it was said 'the United States are' - grammatically it was spoken that way and thought of as a collection of independent states. And...