The larger our governments, the greater the competition for their spoils therefore our divisions.

There simply is so much at stake today. As a result, our governments that benefit so many, employ so many, and tax so widely in short our governments that pick so many winners and losers are understandably subject to an intense competition for their control. So writes author Thomas Del Beccaro in this fascinating study of the history of political unity and division in the US, from the Revolution to the adoption of the Constitution, the Civil War through Reconstruction, The...