I have a friend who is a Civil War nut and has some sort of certification to do research on the subject at the Smithsonian. I went there with him several years back and it was like having my own personal tour guide. It was a great day, I had a really good time and learned much not taught in school.

But my question has always been, if these states wanted to leave, let 'em go. Why make a big deal out of it? His response was you can't apply twenty first century reasoning to nineteenth century problems. Maybe so.