Sigh..how to persuade those that it was of states rights, is a useless endeavor.
The slavery issue was only brought about by the continuous efforts of the anti-slavery lobby itself in the political forum.
Abe Lincoln, himself, did not consider it an issue, until forced into a corner to be re-elected.
And may we never forget that when the draft was instituted by the Union, there were riots in Manhattan where free negroes were killed in protest.
Sorry, but to yall who consider slavery to be the main issue of the Civil War....you are foolishly mistaken.
Lincoln did consider slavery an issue in the Civil War. On June 16, 1858, before the war, Lincoln declared that the issue of slavery would not be resolved until the nation was all slave or all free, "A house divided against itself cannot stand". While he may have not taken a stance on the right or wrong of slavey, he did realize that it was an issue. To say otherwise is revisionist tripe that is common on these threads.
Also, these riots were mainly conducted by Irish immigrants that were upset that the blacks would take their jobs when they went to war. It was not a pro-slavery riot. More revisionist tripe.
From the Northern point, slavery was not the issue. From the southern point, slavery was.
Horse feathers. Just read the Declarations of Secession, which are readily available on-line, and they'll tell you all about what "states rights" really meant to the south.
You will note that THE REASON provided for secession was slavery. Slavery! While the North may have fought for a variety of reasons, the Southern states were clear on the point. They seceded, and fought, for the "states' rights" to keep slaves.
You will also note that secession was merely the culmination of a long series of sectional crises, which were also ALL ABOUT SLAVERY. The battle lines were drawn almost immediately after the nation began. By 1820 the two sections had to hammer out the Missouri Compromise. The Compromise of 1850 occurred because the South realized that the MO compromise only permitted slavery in the desert states -- and that controversy almost ended up in a Civil War. And the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854, which did end up in a war over slavery, was again a result of the South wanting to expand slavery.
Finally, upon Lincoln's election, the South saw that the institution of slavery was finished. And so they seceded before Lincoln could take office. (A cowardly act.)
So don't give us that state's rights stuff. The only state's right the south admitted to caring about was slavery, and they were willing to fight a war over it.