When Abraham Lincoln spoke at his inauguration in March 1861, the mood of the nation was somber. It was a freezing day and the sky was grey. Even worse, no one knew how the newly elected president, a novice lawyer, would handle the nation's greatest problem since its birth: the secession of the South. At stake was the United States, its greatness and splendor, now reduced to nothing other than the absurd “disunited States of America”. Americans were in a state of perplexity, and one question remained etched in American minds: “Did the South have the legal right to secede from the Union?” No, the South did not have the legal right to secede from the Union, due to the longevity of the Union, the solidarity between the states, and the threatening implications that secession entails. The South seceded illegally for many reasons. First, the original thirteen colonies, Texas and Mexico, renounced their indigenous and sovereign status to enter the Union, in hopes of receiving the guaranteed benefits that the United States Constitution provides: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. All other states that appealed to Congress for statehood, have no right to even think about the idea of ​​sovereignty, since they never possessed the status and wanted to be part of the glorious Union. Second, the preamble to the U.S. Constitution states that one of the goals of the new nation was “to form a more perfect Union.” The statement “More perfect Union” encapsulates the incessability and perpetuity of the Union and implies the inseparability of its States. Another piece of evidence, clearly found in the United States Constitution, is Article 1, Section 10, which states “No State shall make any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation.” Since the Confederacy… middle of the paper… derailment and, finally, the United States Constitution. However, a more philosophical analysis can be drawn about the Civil War. In essence, the war challenged the idea of ​​whether self-government and democracy prevailed over pandemonium. And in the words of James Buchanan “Our example of more than eighty years would not only be lost, but would be cited as conclusive proof that man is unfit for self-government.” The legacy of the United States of America was in jeopardy, and the Union was on a macrocosmic stage, with spectators seeing whether the pioneering idea of ​​a democratic country would come to an end or be perpetuated through troubled times. The Civil War was a test, and tenuous America indeed overcame it, knowing that more obstacles would inevitably come. But there was hope that success was always possible and that the American dream would be maintained for generations to come.