[cuban leaf]

I see it this way: Before the war we were called “these united states”. The union was like a big brick wall where the states were the bricks and the FedGov was the mortar holding them together.

Thanks to Lincoln, the country is now like a big wall made of mortar with 50 marbles embedded in it.

[Dead Corpse]

Good analogy.

As for slavery, it was already on it's way out at the time of the civil war. Advancements in machinery were already making slave holding too expensive a proposition.

[Happy Rain]

Really, before Lincoln people were patriots of their states or commonwealths and our country was more a United Nations than a United States. The constitution was respected then.
It was “my country right or wrong” in the South and defending their homes from the evil invading hordes of blue barbarians was their patriotic duty.

The issue of black slavery was nothing to the Southern soldier except as an excuse used by foreign invaders to loot, rape and burn their way across his beloved country.

[x]

I see it this way: Before the war we were called “these united states”. The union was like a big brick wall where the states were the bricks and the FedGov was the mortar holding them together. Thanks to Lincoln, the country is now like a big wall made of mortar with 50 marbles embedded in it.

An awful lot has happened since 1789. The frontier was settled. People left farms for the city. Some didn't find jobs. Some didn't like what they got for their work.

Universal suffrage was introduced (depending on what people at any given time meant by "universal). A lot of immigrants arrived. We became the policeman of the world. We got rich. People started to feel entitled.

Laying the responsibility for how things are now on the Civil War or Abraham Lincoln seems a little oversimplified. Maybe you should consider those other changes as well.