We HAVE had peaceful transtions of power since the election and overthrow of jefferson davis and the south ... "without violence" but it has not been centuries. . . and our transition of power from England was not peaceful either. BUT, it has been BARELY two centuries... and if "at gunpoint" with hundreds of thousands of dead americans in Circa 1860 is not a civil war, and constitutes a "peaceful election and transition of power..." I will literally eat your hat. Funny all these books I have on the history of the "civil war" are wrong... and YOU are right. It wasn't a Civil War after all. Priceless. Again, the War Between the States was not about a transition of power or a disputed election. It was about the North disagreeing that the South had the right to secede.
A "civil war" occurs when a revolt takes place and one faction attempts to - read closely - overthrow the government by means of force.
As for the original transition of power from England - we weren't a nation then. Obviously, I was talking about since our Constitutional model was forged - sheesh!
I do not disagree that many people died during the War Between the States. However, it has nothing to do with the point I made. You clearly misunderstood my point - which was that, unlike other countries, we haven't had massive violence and bloodshed during elections or the seating of new leaders (ie. transitions of power)
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While the Northern POV is that the Civil War was about the right to secede, the Southern POV was about not wishing to accept the results of an election, and expressing that through secession and the Civil War.