[BroJoeK]

central_va: "You bastardize the English language here.
The "Union"(USA) was never destroyed and existed, I'd say thrived during 1861 - 1865"

No corruption of language by me, FRiend.
Thanks to Lincoln's leadership the Union quickly responded, adapted & resisted the Confederates' threat.
But Lincoln's opinion in 1861 was the whole thing came down to one state -- Kentucky.
He thought if we lost Kentucky we'd lose the war and with a successful Confederacy then all the factors which DiogenesLamp keeps pointing to would come into play.
The Union would be further reduced, crippled and effectively extinguished.

DiogenesLamp imagines a Union weak in leadership and lacking in enough basic patriotism to have defended itself from an economically powerful, highly motivated & militarily skilled Confederate assault.
In his mind the Union could not resist the powerful Confederate assault without resorting to such unfair, dishonest, illegal and unconstitutional actions as, for examples, the Anaconda Plan and Emancipation Proclamation.

I think that, as always, DiogenesLamp exaggerates, but at least on this one subject, he's exaggerating in the right direction -- Confederates did in fact represent a major existential threat to the United States, certainly the greatest since Yorktown in 1781.

So the Union's response was totally "proportional" to the threat they perceived and that response represented, after only the Revolution itself, the greatest national effort in our history.

central_va: "The only "existential" threat to the remaining states in the USA have was created in the minds of the 21st century re writers of history. i.e. Dummys like you."

So, do you wish us to believe that, what was it, 700,000 soldiers died for nothing?
The real truth is this: in 1865 there were 35 larger battles, costing the lives of about 15,000 soldiers.
Of those, 25 battles (71%) were fought in Union states & territories and just 10 in Confederate states.
Of Confederate soldiers who died in 1861 battles, nearly 60% died in Union states & territories battles.

So that corruption of language you decry is not coming from me, FRiend, in 1861 the Confederacy was absolutely an existential threat to the United States.

[central_va]

So, do you wish us to believe that, what was it, 700,000 soldiers died for nothing?

What I am saying is that it was Mr. Lincolns war - a war of choice. A war of choice like WWI, Korea and Vietnam.

The South was either going to gain its independence or parish, reabsorbed back into the US empire. The USA's 18+ remaining states were going to survive as the USA no matter what the outcome below the Potomac. The "preserve the union" meme was cause celeb in 1861. It seems a bit stupid to me but who am I to say. I think the Copperheads had it about right.

[central_va]

Confederates did in fact represent a major existential threat to the United States,

Ok, post reference from the period where one leader or newspaper editorial, either North or South, espoused that position. One.

[BroJoeK]

Oh, dear, wouldn't you know, a critical typo:

"The real truth is this: in 1865 there were 35 larger battles, costing the lives of about 15,000 soldiers."

Should read "1861.
35 battles in the war's first year, not last.