I know of no books that would directly answer your questions. I could recommend Gary Gallagher's very well researched book, "The Union War," which shows how important preserving the Union, created by the Framers, was to antebellum Americans, many even in the South. Understanding the importance of Union to antebellum Americans can be helpful in your quest.
In a similar sense, I can recommend Elizabeth R. Varon's work, "Disunion: The Coming of the American Civil War 1789-1859." Again, she shows how the concept of Union was so strong and the idea of Disunion so frightening that many, North and South would threaten Disunion as a political tool to obtain what they desired.
A bit different, I could recommend Richard Brookhiser's book, "Founders' Son: A life of Abraham Lincoln" which is an interesting argument that Lincoln emerged as the true inheritor of the Founding Fathers mantle, carrying their vision forward through the 19th century.
You have picked yourself a very debatable issue to consider; whether the war "nationalized" the United States. Many certainly argue that it did. I believe that it did in certain respects, however, it is also clear that the Framers and most Americans considered the "consolidation of our Union" to be, as George Washington, as President of the Constitutional Convention, put it in his September 17, 1787 letter to the President of Congress accompanying the Constitution, "the greatest interest of every true American."
Very interesting topic.
Bringing the