At Gettysburg, the war was about whether “government by the people, of the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” To Lincoln, the American Republic of 1776 was in a contest with domestic and foreign dictatorships.
I wonder if southerners felt at all represented in Lincoln’s government “by the people, of the people, and for the people”.
You’re going to like this wonderful government or we’ll kill you.
Liberals would have his name and statues torn down if they could.