Probably 20 years ago I was a kid arguing with my wife's cousin about the "civil war". I was firm in my conviction that it was about slavery. I was firm but ignorant. I knew the guy was way more knowledgeable on the subject. He planted seeds. Probably 10 years later I read The Real Lincoln - What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe by Thomas J. Dilorenzo. That peaked my curiosity and I started reading more about this period of time. And surprise to surprise the government schools leave a lot of important info out of the story in their path to making a believer in the state.

The classic response to criticism of Lincoln is to shout racism or Neo-confederate! Its propaganda programming to call people that are a threat to a narrative names. When we sink to that level we have lost. You may not agree me but at least you shouldn't be ignorant of history if you are gonna blindly trust the "official" story.