Wow, I didn't realize that this has so much of a response. Certainly it seems that there are alot of Southern and Northern supporters in general.
I would like to bring up a few things that are almost anti-union, although in wide perspective I view the whole 'civil' war as a complete joke. These men had options, and could have built upon comprimise...like previous leaders. Neither side was ideal in MANY respects, but ultimately one side has to dominate the arena.
The reasons for the war in my eyes were [not in order]
1)Cultural difference
2)Undesired economic reforms
3)Long-term political interests
4)Different views on the Constitution
5)Hatred of the leaderships goals
6)The desire to contain slavery's growth from the West
7)The desire for more political power than status-quo
So here's things I passed through, which I found interesting (and a bit anti-union):
note: my perspective is not fully in line with the below.
*'The National Currency Act of 1862 established central banking and fiat currency; massive subsidies were given to railroads, the steamship industry, and hundreds of other rent-seeking businesses; tariffs were increased threefold and remained high for decades; an internal revenue buracracy was created; and the federal government was massively centralized'
*'After the War, the federal government completed its program of ethnic cleansing by killing off most of the Plains Indians and putting the survivors on reservations where" [as Gen. William Sherman said], 'they can be watched'. By 1890 Henry Clay's 'American System' had finally been realized'
*'Federal import tax laws were, in [Sen. John C.] Calhoun's view, class legislation against the South. Heavy taxation on the South raised funds that were spent in the North. This was unfair. Calhoun argued further that high import taxes forced Southerners to pay either excessive prices for Northern goods or excessive taxes... The first rebellion in the South over high import taxes came in 1832. A convention was called in South Carolina to nullify the new federal import duties. The duties were declared unconstitutional, and the governor was authorized to resist any attempt at enforcement by the national government. Andrew Jackson reacted strongly and it looked as if a civil war was in the making. Cool heads prevailed and a compromise was worked out. The tariff (import taxes) was to be reduced over the next few years to levels South Carolina would tolerate. This was the great Compromise of 1833.'
*'Adams claims that slavery was never in danger, pointing out that Lincoln pledged to enforce the fugitive slave law, declared he had no right or intention to interfere with slavery, and supported a new irrevocable constitutional amendment to protect slavery forever'
*'In late March 1861, over a hundred leading commercial importers in New York, and a similar group in Boston, informed the collector of customs that they would not pay duties on imported goods unless these same duties were collected at Southern ports. This was followed by a threat from New York to withdraw from the Union and establish a free-trade zone. Prior to these events, Lincoln's plan was to evacuate Fort Sumter and not precipitate a war, but he now determined to reinforce it rather than suffer prolonged economic disaster in a losing trade war.'
* 'As early as 1862, Confederate diplomats in England were indicating to British authorities that the Confederacy would be willing to abolish slavery in exchange for diplomatic recognition. In late 1864, Jefferson Davis and other Confederate leaders were ready and willing to abolish slavery in order to save the Confederacy, and Confederate diplomats in Europe made an offer to this effect (see Cooper, Jefferson Davis, American, pp. 552-553; see also, Klingaman, Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, p. 113). This shows that Confederate leaders viewed independence as being more important than the continuation of slavery.'Note: They lost this option after losing a major battle early on in the war.
*'95 percent of the south didn't own slaves. They had more free black men, and the black men that were free had more property in the South.'
*Just two weeks before the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter, Secretary of State Seward warned Lincoln in a memorandum that any effort to resupply the fort would provoke a hostile response, and he advised Lincoln to evacuate the facility:
The dispatch of an expedition to supply or reinforce Sumter would provoke an attack and so involve a war at that point. . . . I would instruct Maj. Anderson [the commander of the federal troops at the fort] to retire from Sumter, forthwith. (Memorandum from Seward to Lincoln, "Opinion on Fort Sumter," March 29, 1861)
*Although Lincoln did not confess his part in provoking the Civil War with the cynical honesty of a Bismarck, he did speak certain revealing words. He consoled the commander of the Fort Sumter relief expedition for that officer's failure: "You and I both anticipated that the cause of the country would be advanced by making the attempt to provision Fort Sumter, even if it should fail, and it is no small consolation now to feel that our anticipation is justified by the result." Shortly after the fall of the fort he was quoted by a close personal friend: "The plan succeeded. They attacked Sumter--it fell, and thus, did more service than it otherwise could." Note: It's been suggested that his personal secretaries have acknowledged his intentions on starting a war, but I've yet to read the exact quotes.
*In fact, according to accounts of one of Lincoln's cabinet meetings in which the resupply of Fort Sumter was discussed, Lincoln told his cabinet that if South Carolina's artillery opened fire on the fort or on the resupply ship, "he could blame the Confederacy for starting a war" (Klingaman, Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation, p. 45).
*So, yes, the Confederacy did fire on Fort Sumter. But, the Confederacy did this (1) only after Lincoln's Secretary of State had broken his promise to evacuate the fort, (2) only after the Confederacy had tried for weeks to arrange for the peaceful evacuation of the fort, (3) only after Lincoln had refused to meet with the peace delegation that Jefferson Davis had sent to Washington, (4) only after Lincoln had threatened an invasion if the Confederacy didn't allow the federal government to occupy and maintain federal buildings in Confederate territory (even though the South had offered to pay compensation for them), and (5) only after it became known that Lincoln had sent a ship to resupply the federal troops garrisoned at the fort. It should be mentioned that Lincoln didn't merely send a supply ship to Fort Sumter--he also sent warships. It should also be mentioned that not a single Union soldier was killed in the attack on Fort Sumter, and that the soldiers were permitted to return in peace to the North after they surrendered.
Lincoln stoked a fire in his young soldiers by telling them the South was in illegal rebellion and the union must be saved.
Davis stoked a fire in his young soldiers by telling him the Union soldiers were illegal invaders and must be driven out.
Hmmm...