“I am studying our Civil War; anybody have any recommendations for reading?”
Yes. Start with the Declaration of Independence.
Four Score and Seven years prior to the civil war, the thirteen slave states seceded from the United Kingdom and formed a confederacy. Their Armies were led by a slave owning general from Virginia.
They declared that independence is an inherent right of a people, given by "the laws of nature and of nature's God", and with that declaration they created a government which four score and seven years later would no longer recognize the principle upon which it's own existence was founded.
Exactly.
And if you want to get away from the depression of our “civil war”, start studying the Founding and the Revolution. It is truly a miracle and much more uplifting.