Someone already posted this on another Lincoln thread, but I'm stealing it anyway lol. It was a good point.
We are not one country today due to abolishing slavery but rather due to the fact that a firm and costly precedent has been established by Lincoln that attempts to separate by any section will be suppressed. I am also of the belief that this has produced undesirable consequences, particularly in that liberal regions of our country (new england and the northeast for example) have been able at times to exercise control of the U.S. Government and enact policies that were not desired by the more conservative regions of the country.
Thanks for posting that but it leaves me especially unnerved and unconvinced.