I could care less about the causes of the Civil War. It’s the effects that are driving us into an oligarchy. Ideologies are ALL just different forms/subsets of an oligarchy. Democracy (mob rule) is merely a transition from a Republic (Rule of Law) to an oligarchy (Rule by a few). Throughout history oligarchies are by far the most prevalent form of government but from time to time radicals rise up and create the ebb and flow of history like tides. The Constitution was unique in history. To protect the individual from government was unheard of but we lost it and now we’re on the outgoing tide.
So how are the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments actually the effects of an event that took place a half-century earlier?