I didn’t intend to indicate that all southerners were onboard with secession, and I don’t think I said anything to lead to that conclusion.
As far as relative division, when 6,000,000-plus Americans have died in organized fighting between factions, I might believe we’re more divided than we’ve ever been.
How many volunteers have died in the wars since WWII? Were all of them politically aligned with a single ideology?
Neither were the ones who fought and died in the Civil War. Most were not FOR slavery or secession as much as they were AGAINST a federal government making laws that were specifically targeting Southern states' self government.
In the South, most fought out of a sense of duty and loyalty to their homes, not for politics or other issues.
It's not called "The War of Northern Aggression" for nothing. It was also called "The Great Rebellion," hence the names Rebel and Johnny Rebel used to refer to the Confederate soldiers.
Most people on all sides just wanted to live their lives and were not involved in politics at any level.
Nowadays, it's rare to find someone who doesn't at least parrot the talking points of whichever side of an issue they follow. To me, the minds and opinions of people today are much more divided politically than the 6M dead from the Civil War.
"Divided Nation" is not a game you win by having the most casualties. It's a point in time defined by the number of people unwilling to compromise their beliefs, opinions and ideologies versus those on the opposite side of those ideas.
The outcome of the war determined which side would prevail, but 11 states out of 34 does not constitute a divided nation as much as 81 million people supposedly voting for a corrupt fossil versus 74 million. 155 million voters represents many more people's opposing views than 6 million who may have died for reasons other than national policies.