Well, considering that the documents themselves allowed for slavery (and counted slaves as 1/5 of a person or some such -- it's been a long time since high school history, mind), I would say that there was hypocrisy in the structure.

The Civil War... I dislike war on principle. For the most part, I think that wars are selfish and pointless beasts. I think that they're very rarely just and necessary and even when the war is, many of the acts committed during it won't be.