Re: Civil War and Slavery, you may already know this, but it is (or was until recently) still being taught as fact in many places that States’ Rights was the actual issue. I grew up in Texas and learned this in 90’s history classes, that “slavery was an oversimplification”, and believed it until 2 or 3 years ago because I had no reason to revisit it. A broken education system is a dangerous thing.

Oh, I absolutely know this. I remember once when I was in junior high that my family went to New Orleans to experience Mardi Gras, and we met up with some friends of my parents, and their kid was about to take a test on Civil War history. Being a history buff, I offered to help them study for the test – and when I asked the question about the cause of the Civil War, the answer was “states’ rights.” And then I made the mistake of asking “states’ rights to what?” Bit of an awkward moment there.