The confederates didn’t fight over control of the country. they fought to not be part of the expanding union.
If they had won, they wouldn’t of rejoined - so your definition doesn’t fit. They weren’t part of the same country any longer.
If they had won, they wouldn’t of rejoined - so your definition doesn’t fit. They weren’t part of the same country any longer.
It does fit because Lincoln made it fit. It was Lincoln who fought the Civil War to preserve the Union. Sure, if the Union had allowed the Southern States to secede, then there would never have been a war. But there WAS a war, and it was a CIVIL WAR, because the Union (because of Lincoln) refused to allow secession to succeed. The Union fought the war to preserve the Union. It WAS a Civil War.