I make no arguments that Lincoln didn’t seriously overstep his authority, once the war started, or that his administration saw a growth of federal power that was anything but benign.
But the war was fought because there was a radical faction in the South that was bound and determined to spread slavery by any means possible. Lincoln wasn’t responsible for Bloody Kansas, his election was a response to it.
I was under the impression that slavery was dying out. I may be wrong on that.