Abraham Lincoln's goal at the start of the Civil War was the preservation of the Union - not the end slavery as some people have recently claimed. Lincoln said that if he could "save the union without freeing a single slave, he would do it."
After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1862 - the purpose was to free slaves only in states who were in a state of rebellion. It was many Southern Democrats who were using the "states' rights" argument against the federal government concerning slavery in the South. Fortunately, Lincoln and the Union decided to stand up for the preservation of the Union and that all people were entitled to their God-given rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Up until the start of the Civil War - the federal government allowed slavery to expand and continue through the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The newly created Republican Party decided that the time had come to begin the end of slavery and Lincoln said in a famous speech that, "A house divided against itself, cannot stand." And Senator Reid claims that Democrats were on the right side of history.
Now it is the Democrats in Congress - hijacked by a Progressive wing of that party that has expanded the powers of the federal government. They passed a health care reform package that mandates the American people own health insurance and makes the IRS enforce that law. Now many states - led by Republican governors, are claiming "states' rights," in order to claim the law is unconstitutional. The states are using the 10th Amendment in order to protect the states and ultimately the people from an overbearing federal government that is above the people.
Before the Civil War, it was the federal government curtailing the power of the states who were denying everyone of their God-given rights. Today it is the states trying to curtail the federal government who is trying to deny those same rights. However, in the end, it is the people who must decide who shall be our representatives in all levels of the government.
When it comes to revisionist history - we only need to look at Wilson Progressives who have done more than their fair share of revising history. History books do not mention how the Founding Fathers relied on faith in God as the basis for our Republic. History books do not mention that the clause "Separation of Church and State" is not in the Constitution. Instead, it was Jefferson that told the Danbury Baptists that the federal government cannot establish or fund a state-sanctioned church. People have spun Jefferson to mean that government institutions cannot include faith in daily functions.
Last, but not least, Wilson Progressives have deleted the Depression of 1920, something that this government is heading toward if our liberty is not restored. Remember the words of Thomas Jefferson, "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty."
