One can try to make the case, with some plausibilty, that slavery was not the "cause" of the war. But, slavery was most definitely the impetus for secession. That, IMHO, cannot be denied. The central issue was "property rights" in other human beings, and this "right" was expressly encapsulated in the Confederacy's constitution. As much as I love the South (and Texas), I'm glad the Confederacy lost.
John Stuart Mill, 1861.
"The Northern onslaught upon slavery was no more than a piece of specious humbug designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern states."
Charles Dickens, 1862.
I know, they don't know what they're talking about. Slavery was the ONLY cause of a war fought by brother against brother. Never mind that the Constitution provided for slavery. Never mind that the Emancipation Proclomation freed no slave. Never mind that Lincoln was not a great proponent of the black race.
"If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it be freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some an leaving others alone I would do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union, and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union."
Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley, 22 August 1862.
"It must be admitted, truth compels me to admit...Abraham Lincoln was not, in the fullest sense of the word, either our man or our model. In his interests, in his associations, in his habits of thought, and in his prejudices, he was a white man. He was preeminently the white man's president, entirely devoted to the welfare of white men. He was ready and willing at any time during the last years of his administration to deny, postpone, and sacrifice the rights of humanity in the colored people, to promote the welfare of the white people of his country."
Frederick Douglass, noted African-American leader.
I agree.
One of the things I wonder about, however, is the validity of the argument that states had the right to become part of our republic, and had the right to leave when it no longer suited them, the nullification theory.
I thought Andrew Jackson had the better of this argument when in 1832 he told South Carolina that even if they did secede, he'd conquer them again in the name of the United States. In other words, Jackson's argument wasn't about rights, it was about force, in the era of manifest destiny.
Actually, the direct impetus for secession was the election of Abraham Lincoln.
The central issue was not "property rights", the issue was "states' rights." Slavery was a catalyst to bring the issue to the forefront. I'm torn about whether I'm glad we lost because it set the groundwork for creation of the mammoth federal government that now exists.