There is a school of historical thought that sees the Civil War as a final chapter of the American Revolution. The Revolution itself of 1775-1783 settled the issue of independence but not of the practical international implications of independence - i.e., borders, trade and commercial (i.e., fishing, navigation) issues, etc. Nor did the first Revolution settle internal issues of sovereignty, though both the Declaration of Independence and the later Constitution (1787) implied much. The 2nd phase of the Revolution (in this theory) came with the War of 1812, which was a very messy war for all three participants but ultimately forced all three sides to settle the matters between them. With this the Revolution was finally a recognized reality internationally, but still hadn't resolved many internal issues of sovereignty - national, state, regional, or even personal sovereignty. This is where the Civil War came in, resolving - rather violently - these issues. Of course, the way American (English Common) law is set no issues are ever really fully resolved, but the Civil War set the legal and demonstrative precedents for both the government and American society.
I used to ignore this theory as too dogmatic but recent readings in early American, British and Canadian history have turned me back towards it. Still not fully endorsing it, but interested now.