多數美國人對南北戰爭的看法可以從維基百科對林肯總統的評價判斷:林肯領導了南北戰爭。他以此保證了國家統一,廢除了奴隸製,加強了聯邦政府,使經濟得以現代化。
Abraham Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional and political crisis. In so doing he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln