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Slavery was part of it but not even close to the reason. The real issue was centralized power or States power or local power.

It is actually easy to prove. Lincoln put off the emancipation proclamation and even then, made it effective only in Confederate states. The reason was he knew the soldiers did not see it as freeing slaves.

The fact is they called themselves “Union”, I don’t think I ever heard of them calling themselves the slavery abolishers.

Nor did the Confederates call themselves fighters for slavery. They were fighting for freedom from an all powerful federal government.

Your saying it is nonsense is itself nonsense.

At least some Confederates were clear on what they were fighting for. Perhaps the best general on either side said, “If we aint fightin’ fer slavery then I’d like to know what we are fightin’ fer.”

NB Forrest. You may have heard of him.

I agree it is complicated.

However, slavery was at the root of every single conflict between the sections that eventually accumulated to the point where war broke out. Prior to the breaking of the Union, almost every other national organization split along sectional lines, specifically over the issue of slavery. The origin of the Southern Baptists. In the 1860 election, the Democrat Party, one of the last national institutions, broke over slavery.

I do not claim southerners (mostly) fought to protect slavery. I do claim those southerners, the Fire-Eaters, who schemed and plotted for a generation to cause secession had as their primary goal the extension and expansion of slavery. IMO, they were evil people.

However, once war was underway most southerners fought primarily to defend their homes, quite understandably. I cannot fault them for this. I blame the evil dudes in the previous paragraph.

Most Union men, throughout the war, fought primarily to preserve the Union. A relatively few, mostly from New England, fought intentionally to destroy slavery.

My original post was with regard to those who claim “slavery had nothing to do with the war.” I think they’re full of cr*p. I did not say slavery was the primary issue at stake, especially in the early part of the war, much less the issue for which most men on either side consciously fought. Do you disagree?