Foreward by John Lott

I listen regularly to Jason Lewis’s radio show because of his cogent, well-prepared insights that you won’t hear anyplace else. For anyone who has heard Jason on his national radio show, listened to him when he substituted for Rush Limbaugh, or read his opinion pieces in places such as the Wall Street Journal, you know what I am talking about. This book is a genuine treat. The book continues Jason’s trademark style by providing a real education, in this case on why “states’ rights” has been so important to America’s success and why the nationalization of decisions threatens American’s freedom. Download Full Excerpt

Chapter 1

Lincoln’s Dilemma or How We Got Here, and Where We’re Headed

It is an obvious understatement to say the Civil War changed America. A nation divided, whose wounds spilled blood and treasure from North to South. The country would never be the same—but not for the reasons most people think. 

While slavery was mercifully conquered, animosities between generations of Americans lingered well into the twentieth century.  More important, the War Between the States, as it came to be known, irretrievably altered the nation’s constitutional framework—and not for the better.  As one political commentator succinctly put it, “The long-term result of the Civil War was to make the federal government an irresistible force. The states were crushed—not only the Southern states, but finally the power of all the states to withstand federal tyranny.” Download Full Excerpt