Nonsense. Lincoln preserved what the Constitution created. Washington marched troops into PA (personally rode with them, as did Hamilton) to put down a little rebellion against a whiskey tax. They’d have subjugated the rebel states just as Lincoln did.
You can say nonsense all you want, but it's fantasy on your part. What do you think a Harvard professor might have had in mind in 1869 when wrote, "It is as if I am no longer living in the country in which I was born"?
ML/NJ
Militia of the State of Massachusetts put down Shays Rebellion. So what it your point, that only the states may use force?
Thanks Huck.