I prefer to call it “The War of Secession”. And yes, Lincoln did represent a huge expansion of government. But for the issue at hand - freedom, equality, etc. - Lincoln, Fremont, et al were the ones championing it while Democrats opposed it. And to this very day, Democrats continue to oppose freedom and equality.
I agree to an extent about Democrats. My reservation is the following. I question if the federal government's constitutionally limited powers were ever properly taught. If not, then Civil War era Democrats, as well as "Republican" Lincoln, possibly regarded the presidency as a kind of kingship. And if such is the case, then post Civil War Democrats may have targeted winning control of the Oval Office as a means of getting revenge on the North.
Yes, it's a rough theory. The cold war aspect of the Civil War is a challenging jigsaw puzzle.
“Lincoln did represent a huge expansion of federal government.”
Only in the minds of people determined to misunderstand actual history.
In fact, Lincoln merely set out to win the war first provoked, started and formally declared by the Confedacy on the United States.
Yes, in the process many other things happened — i.e. slavery abolished — but those were not Lincoln’s original intentions.
The truth is, Confederates were the aggressors (like the Japanese in 1941) and so must take the blame for consequences of their actions.