For over one hundred and forty years, generations of American school children have been taught that the United States of America is a consolidated nation-state under a supreme federal government, that secession is unconstitutional and treasonous, and that Abraham Lincoln was a hero who "saved the Union".

None of this is true.

"One Nation, Indivisible?" is a particularly thorough examination of these and other related issues, which, although hardly new, are still quite relevant today. Modern America is undergoing many fundamental changes, some of which have revealed deep cultural and ideological divisions among us, divisions that have some Americans wondering whether this Union should be divided in favor of new confederations of like-minded states. But although the word "secession" is gradually making its way back into the American political lexicon, many Americans still wonder whether states can rightfully secede from the Union. They remember the words of the Declaration of Independence, in which our country's founders declared that governments may be abolished when the people deem it necessary to do so; however, they also remember the words of men like Daniel Webster and Abraham Lincoln, men who proclaimed that the Union is perpetual and indivisible and that "secession" is an un-American term. They are confused by this apparent contradiction in our country's political philosophy, and they wonder which ideal they should embrace.

Thomas Jefferson once proclaimed that the "earth is for the living". By this, he meant that each generation has the right to determine its own destiny. Such was certainly the predominant ideal of the first American generation, an ideal without which there would be no United States of America today; and it is high time that we modern Americans reclaim that first patriotic creed and re-evaluate our history and our institutions for ourselves.

This book examines the arguments of anti-secession men such as Webster and Lincoln, as well as modern arguments against American secession, and evaluates them in light of reason, history, America's founding documents, and the ideals the first Americans expressed concerning what they had achieved. Also examined are some of the various elements that are driving Americans apart from one another today, how states might peacefully secede from the Union, and whether anything can be done to prevent the disintegration of the Union.

The book is divided into four parts, the first three of which examine anti-secession arguments by dividing them into various position statements. Part One: "The Webster-Lincoln Case Against the Compact Theory" examines the question of whether the Constitution of the United States is a compact between sovereign states, or is the charter of a consolidated nation-state. Positions examined in Part One include: "the Union is Older than the States," and "the Constitution is a Union of the People". Part Two: "Lincoln's Case Against Southern Secession," examines Abraham Lincoln's case for going to war against the seceded Southern states in 1861, and includes such positions as: "the Union is Perpetual," "States would require Permission to Leave the Union," "There is no such thing as 'State Sovereignty'," "Secession is Anarchy," and "the South Started It." Part Three: The Modern Case Against Secession," examines modern arguments made against both secession in general and Southern secession in particular, and includes such positions as: "Secession is un-American," "The Constitution was Suspended Under Lincoln," "Lincoln Fought to End Slavery," "the United States is too important in World Affairs to Permit Secession," and "Secession is a Question for the Supreme Court." Part Four: "The Lincoln Legacy and Modern Secession Movements" examines the current forces pulling America's fabric apart and what, if anything, can be done to halt that process. It also addresses the question of whether states could really secede today and, if so, how they might peacefully do this.

President John F. Kennedy once said that the greatest enemy of truth is very often not the lie but the myth. In "One Nation, Indivisible?" the author hopes to demonstrate that much of what is popularly believed concerning secession, the Constitution, the war between North and South, and Abraham Lincoln himself, falls under the category of myth, not truth, and has been perpetuated as America's attempt to reconcile contradictory ideologies and to come to grips with the most destructive and bloody conflict this country has ever known.

The truth can set us free: free to regain our patriotic birthright, free to determine our own destinies. But before we can achieve this freedom, we must first confront the myths of our history and culture and expose them to the light of reason and fact. This takes courage. It is far easier to remain comfortable with tradition than to question and re-evaluate, and thereby potentially discover new and unsettling ripples in once still waters. Those who choose to test the waters can expect to be called any number of derisive things, from 'revisionists' to 'traitors"; but we owe it to those who labored before us, and especially to those who will follow after us, to ensure that the course we follow through history is both steady and sure.

Tomorrow begins today.

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