All right Mr cryptic, what powers did the Federal Government have in 1868 that it didn't have in 1860?
Surely you are familiar with the 14th amendment? Do you have any idea how many federal abuses have been since enabled by that?
Tossing religion out of schools, Abortion, Forced Busing, Gay Marriage, All the Affirmative Action policies, Anchor Babies, Destruction of Article II, Gender Issues, and so many other things that are simply too extensive to mention.
The 14th amendment has become the worst abused amendment of the constitution. It has been used to justify the most horrible abuses by FedZilla, especially through the courts, and I would have thought most conservatives were familiar with the phenomena. Virtually every destructive policy we are currently enduring traces back to an abuse of the 14th amendment.
And this doesn't even address the fact that this amendment wasn't passed through the consent of the governed, it was coerced by the use of guns pointed at people's heads. Had it been left to an actual will of the people, it likely never would have been added to the constitution.