The United States House of Representatives has impeached President Donald John Trump. It was not a pretty process, divided almost entirely along party lines.

The disagreements in the House reflect the disagreements among us, the citizens of this great country. There are those, in fact, who say we are more divided than we ever have been. They are wrong.

We are not as divided as we were from 1619 until 1865 when we were non-slaves and slaves, when millions of people were set apart and given no rights, no freedoms, and no hope.

We are not more divided than we were when we were killing one another in a civil war, or than we were when the Jim Crow laws replaced slavery, and groups like the KKK terrorized black Americans.

We are not more divided than we were when millions of the first residents of our nation were killed or driven from their homes.

We are not more divided than we were when half of our people, our women, were denied the right to vote and denied many other rights as well.

We are not more divided than we were in the 1960s and 1970s when buildings were burned, and students were shot, as we fought one another over a foreign war and over civil rights in our own country.

We are far less divided now than we have been many times in our past. We disagree with one another; we are even bitter and angry toward one another, but the real divisions that set apart some of our people and denied them the rights of being American have been dwindling for decades.

We here today are poorly qualified to decide the real meaning of this impeachment. We are too close to the issues, too caught up in years of exposure to the controversies, too invested in the personalities that brought or opposed it, and too loyal to the tribes of which we are a part.

We also are not privy to much of the evidence already pertinent to the impeachment but not revealed, and we are ignorant of added information or new acts that are awaiting their time in the sun.

For now, I am glad the House impeached the President. I hope, unlikely though it may be, that the Senate will remove him from office.

I believe he has acted against his oath of office and violated the Constitution. I believe that he has hidden his offenses from the rightful oversight of Congress.

I know many of the people who read this commentary will disagree. Time will reveal answers that are opaque today, and we should ensure that our disagreements do not divide us.

— Ken Hines is the chairman of the Limestone County Democrats. He can be reached at chair@limestonedemocrats.org.