From all that I have studied over the years, I have found these leading causes of the Civil War:
1) Sensational “news” reported in newspapers and over the wire.
2) Sensational “news” reported via rumors.
3) Slavery
4) Frustration in the South, given a number of its members (Rep’s plus Senators) in the US Congress, not standing up for the South
5) False Pride - Vanities, that affected the perspectives of people of various regions vs people of other regions (different people not thoughtfully considering what it was like to wear the other’s shoes)
6) As time went by, an increasing misrepresentation by Party A re Party B (pick from a number of opponents)
7) My own consideration of the views of members of the board of directors at Northern banks, who were also industrialists and management of Northern industries -— *perhaps* (though I am not yet certain), they were too reluctant to loan money to the South where Southern industry would develop and prosper. Perhaps an opportunity for the South, was thereby missed.
8) Toward the start of the actual fighting, I do know that many in the South, became much more inclined to defend their homes, their territories, and their states.
9) And to some extent, there were enough Religious Revivalists to stimulate and stir the pot, North and South.
10) Adventure . . . until later when the cost quenched it.
11) Survival - given a necessary hardiness to work the land, despite many odds, not easy to convince a body of people to quit
12) An incredible amount of potential for misfortune, and how individuals react to that -— upsetting many, many plans
The south showed little interest in industrializing. And in point of fact, northern bankers loaned vast amounts to the south, just for agriculture and not industry. It's why northern banking interests in New York were so opposed to the war.
The political and economic structure of the south was built on agriculture, and specifically on "King Cotton" and a plantation aristocracy. As Texas Senator Louis Wigfall put it to a British journalist, ""We are an agricultural people; we are a primitive but a civilized people. We have no cities — we don't want them. We have no literature — we don't need any yet. We have no press — we are glad of it.... We want no manufactures: we desire no trading, no mechanical or manufacturing classes. As long as we have our rice, our sugar, our tobacco, and our cotton, we can command wealth to purchase all we want...."