Cultures by their nature cannot be diverse. The America mythos was exceptional in all kinds of innovation (both technology and philosophy) because of the emphasis on speech and individualism, but it still fits within an Overton window (growing up as an Indian in America, you often hear how easily kids "assimilate" into the culture; as opposed to groups like Pakistanis who stay more insular).

This is expressed perfectly in the story of Lincoln. Guy suspend human rights and trials, sentenced the owner of a newspaper to death for publishing articles in favor of separation (he was spared that sentence by a judge after the war), and was generally viewed as a tyrant from Europe. He opposed anything everything about self governance and the constitution.

It's likely the only way America recovered was because Booth shot him. It was before term limits, and had he survived, I think he would have served 4~6 terms similar to Merkel, Harper, Trudeau. Guy wanted to be a king.

In all legal cases, we've moved on to prefer evidence and reasoning over trail by combat, but not when it comes to nations. The winner is always viewed as the morally right, the loser as morally wrong.

It's a direct contradiction to the American Civil War, because all of the values of Americanism: self governance and individual, were shuttered. If you grew up in the South, you were always taught by your parents, "The civil war wasn't about slavery, it was about States Right." This wasn't taught in schools; it was a memory that tries to be kept alive, so children really understand what was taken from them. But today people just view it as a "dog whistle" for white nationalism, pushing the collective memory further into the verboten ether.