Dismissing the Confederate leaderships statements of slavery at the root of the civil war causes is what is irrational.
see post #10 in this thread
I will take the word of a ledger book over any statement by a politician. We are told the North invaded to stop slavery, but they wouldn't even stop it in the North. Furthermore, the North tried to pass a constitutional amendment making slavery permanent, all the while saying they were against slavery.
The money tells the truth. Everyone else is lying.
You need to look at the money, and *ONLY* the money. The war was a war to protect the fortunes of the wealthy and powerful elite of the Northeast who would have been financially devastated by the South taking control of it's own trade and finances.