In an addition to an economic issue, it was also a moral issue. This occured both in the South and the North. I have old documents dating back to the early 1800's in the Broad River Area of Georgia where it was put in wills by owners that upon death some slave owners gave the choice of remaining slaves to return to Africa to Liberia. Some were freed, some were given the choice of which relative they wanted to go with (the slave was given the choice, not the relative) and some were treated as just a piece of incidental property.
The War Between the States was basically a clash of cultures and would have sooner or later been fought over something else. Slavery was a major issue, but not the only issue. The idea of the so called Slave State was basically saying as of today, a new state would be admitted to the Union but it had to be either a liberal or conservative state. There were many, many differences.
You have to remember that prior to the War Between the States there was the Whiskey Rebellion which was basically a civil war. It was fought between regions about the ability of the Federal Government to tax whiskey. I think we can all agree that the wrong side won that one.
Slavery was the only issue capable of driving secession. It is a delusion to claim otherwise and totally ignores the views of those who actually led the rebellion. You should pay more attention to them than modern-day apologists. Rhett for example would be most instructive.