Why Lincoln Fought the Civil WarYamalama1986 asked me:

"What I am curious to know from you is what do you think the motives were that Lincoln held that resulted in him being willing to wage war to impose centralization as you have stated?"



Here's what I said in response:

Uh...this is really long, and I'm embarrassed that it's not shorter, but, if you really want the full context...here:

This is actually discussed thoroughly in Dilorenzo's book 'The real Lincoln.' The answer to your question can be found at the root of Lincoln's political philosophy: Alexander Hamilton, and his political heir, Henry Clay. There are two major philosophies that have defined American politics, and it's not Left versus Right: it's Jeffersonian Republicanism versus Hamiltonian centralization. Hamilton, just after we won the war, wanted us to go back to the dark ages; he wanted the president to be a lifetime position. He wanted the National Bank. He wanted protectionist tariffs and debt spending for "internal improvement