“Slavery was the cause of the Civil War, not tariffs”
Lincoln repeatedly said that the war was about “Preserving the Union”. But what would he know.
Seven deep south States had left the Union before Lincoln took office. That shifted the balance of power in Congress to the point that an Amendment outlawing slavery would have easily passed.
But Lincoln and the GOP Congress didn’t do that. Slavery remained legal in the loyal States all through the War and for eight months afterward.
The 13th Amendment didn’t pass Congress until 4 years after Lincoln became President, and wasn’t ratified until months after the War had ended and Lincoln had been killed. Abolition had to wait for Democrat VP Andrew Johnson to become President.
Lincoln’s casus belli was the same as what motivated George III to send in the Redcoats 90 years earlier. Neither one was willing to permit “rebel traitors” to leave. The Royal government even issued two emancipation proclamations during the Revolution, further illustrating the parallel.
Good to see you again!