[central_va]

The bloodiest conflict our country ever endured resolved the issues of states’ rights

The Civil War settled nothing regarding states rights. There is(still) nothing in the US Constituion prohibiting state(s) secession. Nothing.

Ever wonder why after the Civil War there was no secession prohibition amandmant added?

[Retain Mike]

That brings up an issue I alluded to in the letter to the editor. Politicians could have settled the issues, but military action could only resolve them. The definitions I found are:

Settle: To determine what is uncertain; to establish; to free from doubt; as, to settle questions or points of law.

Resolve: To arrive at an end by some recognized authority.

If the issues had been settled politically, the outcome would have been a foundation agreed to by all parties and useful for the future. The application of military force, as the supreme recognized authority, caused the parties to arrive at a destination, and the stronger imposed its will on the weaker. The Union never recognized the Confederacy and it never surrendered. Therefore, the mutuality of a settlement was never achieved.

Your last question is one I have not thought about. I’ll speculate that the politicians after the Civil War had the same lack of mental energy and moral determination as those before. I doubt they could see much personal profit from thrashing out secession.