content: I was taught in school (the place where all my historical falsehoods began)that the civil war was a righteous battle to end slavery. This book gives a different perspective and exposes the federal government as the bully that I have come to know that it is. The constitutional rights of states are thoroughly explored in the states relationship to the federal government. The constitution has flaws in it by giving rights to some people living in the US at that time but not extending rights equally to all human beings. I wish by now that we could have evolved as a country to extend our belief in free rights to all people whether they are citizens or not and whether they are standing on our soil or not but we haven't. This book had some very interesting arguments on constitutional principals as well as examples of abuses of power by the federal government bringing to me a new perspective on the civil war that I was previously unaware of.