We now have the same Democratic party that supported slavery 150 years ago.
When the Democratic party supported slavery, the Democrats could not understand why so many people objected to slavery and the expansion of slavery.
The failure was so great that it created the Republican party.... very much like the current Democratic failure to understand the government out of control has created the Tea Party.
What the Democrats failed to understand, this time, like slavery, is why anybody would object to a government who’s employees are controlled by unions and a government with budgets and taxes that never stop growing.
There is an another parallel that is important; the union pension issue will continue to grow if ignored, just as slavery became more of an issue as new states were formed
This time around we have a bitter nation, with brother against brother but not a Civil War.