[UnderseaLcpl]

I will contend that the civil war was one of the U.S.'s most useless wars. It was started over a tax. Specifically a tax on imports from Britain. Had the North been constitutionalist this never would have happened.
I would like to add that Abraham Lincoln was not a good president. If he was so good why could he not avoid a war. Furthermore, why did the emancipation proclomation free slaves in the states he had no legal authority over? The two states where he could have freed them (West Virginia and Kentucky) were excluded.
Lastly I posit that the preservation of the Union did more harm then good, as compared to a Union of States. Which would you prefer; your own state's excessive taxation and limited gubernatorial ability, or that with an incompetent federal government passing regulations on top of those you are already beset by?