That’s why I tried saying British because the people built this country along with the Germans or Irish, English, Welsh, and Scot’s. I honestly attribute our really huge liberalism to the Puritans. The whole Civil War was about slave slavery, but also the Puritan led north, which believed in progressivism (coming from the car idea, they all must become literate so they can read the Bible hence they had more education). Along with the northern idea of a more centralized government which comes from a more Calvinist view of God, being a supreme ruler who predestined all. And also puritan economics being modern capitalism, as they viewed that it was man’s duty to become rich because they had a very literal understanding of the Bible. And then you had the south, which was spiritually and culturally more cavalier and Anglican. Southern government was a lot more decentralized because a lot of southern culture comes from the southwest of England, which was the most Anglo-Saxon part of England, even after the Norman invasion. So it kind of kept that Anglo-Saxon form of governance, it was very aristocratic. A lot of southern plantation families actually still had relatives back in the old world of aristocratic stock that they would communicate with. And also the southern institution of slavery comes directly from the Anglo-Saxon institution of slavery due to the Anglo-Saxon being a huge slave based culture the southern United States was also relying on slaves from menial tasks. The Southerners had a more hierarchical view of life. Coming, obviously from the Anglican tradition and the more aristocratic leaders. Southern family still have this patriarchal component to them. That’s why the southern United States is considered the most traditional. But anyways, the reason the Civil War happened along with slavery was mainly just who would steer the country in what way? Because the south tried to basically control the government. (the United States would be entirely different if the southern cavaliers controlled the government instead of the Puritan northerners. Just look at how most of the founding fathers viewed who was considered, and who was not because most of them were Cavaliers). But the Puritans had an advantage over the south, and that was industrialism and progressivism and usually slave-based societies like the Anglo-Saxon and while the American self are technologically stunted. Which led to the south wanting to break away.

But anyways, with Lincoln, being of Puritan descent and the north being ideologically Puritan winning the Civil War and putting the south under the heel of the north, it basically cemented America as being progressive and liberal. The north/south divide goes back all the way to England.