[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

slavery was the Southern Fire Eaters' excuse, not their real reason for advocating secession.

Pretty much. Just like anti-slavery feelings weren't the real reason that most Northerners kept pushing the slavery issue. W. C. Fowler (author of The Sectional Controversy published in 1864) noted an incident when he met an old friend who was at that time a prominent Northern member of congress. The congressman was leaving a heated meeting regarding abolition and other sectional issues. Fowler asked why they were encouraging abolitionist petitions. The Congressman replied: "The real reason is that the South will not let us have a tariff, and we touch them where they will feel it."

For more on the economic factor in the war, see my post 355 to PeaRidge. :-)

[DiogenesLamp]

"The real reason is that the South will not let us have a tariff, and we touch them where they will feel it."

Tax and spend liberal from the New England area?

Who ever heard of such a thing?