Well, to many of us, the wrong side won the War of the Rebellion (aka the Civil War, aka the War Between the States, etc.). A bunch of southern states wanted to seceed, which my reading of the founding documents said was clearly an option if sentiment was strong enough in that direction.

Even President Lincoln agreed that it was the right of the South to seceed......

Constitutional scholars of course debate this, and I've seen arguments that the documents eventually agreed to in 1789-90 in some ways undercut this "right" to seceed. I think this to be untrue, and that the signers of the Declaration and of the Constitution would be surprised to learn that they were signing a one-way, unreversible, no way out document, binding their communities to be part of the United States of America forever, even if their populace clearly wants out.

The Federalist Papers made it quite clear that the States were to remain "independant". The Federal government was *not* designed for it's own self preservation, but to preserve the collective rights of the States. We wound up with our form of government today out of pure ignorance of the populace. When was the last time a jury exercised it's right to *not* convict on the basis of a wrongful law? When was the last time someone questioned the validity of our central bank, the Federal Reserve, even though it so clearly violates the Consitution? Why doesn't the NRA use the historic representation of the Second Amendment instead of trying to have us believe we are some sort of militia? (In a literal translation of the amendment into today's English, it would read: Since we don't trust the military because it could be used against the American people, but we realize that having a trained military is important for the successful defence of the States, we will make sure that no one can take the guns of the populace so they may defend themselves from the aformentioned military.) Why does ANYONE believe that there is a seperation of church and state? Why is foreign aid allowed to continue when it is not allowed by the Constitution? (I could go on and on.....) Ignorance of our history and our real *inalienable* rights has given us the Government which so many fear today.