With the history of America's "Civil War" having recently reentered the political spotlight, it has become apparent just what precious little Americans know about their own country's history. Those who wish to truly understand the causes of the War between the States must first endeavor to understand the construction of the United States, that the United States were constituted as a Union of sovereign states. In this context, it is essential to understand that each state then reserved the right to secede from the Union, as articulated in the Declaration of Independence, throughout the Constitutional Conventions, and upon ratification of the Constitution. One must also study the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, the addresses and the statements issued by Lincoln and his administration, the Corwin Amendment, the history of the American Colonization Society, the political and economic implications of the Morrill Tariff and westward expansion, the implic