Confederate. The states were protected by the constitution but the central government wanted more power over the states. Originally the states were offered an 'opt out' deal when joining the union, much like today with the United Nation's Agenda 21, but we all know what happens when you try to 'opt out' of centralized control.
Bottom line is there was always going to be a war, for the central government to get as big as it is today it could not do that with states coming and going, it needed to bind them and control them thus removing any threat to it's control.