Sorry, it is not my opinion that all 7 of the Lincoln-Douglas debates heavily featured the topic of slavery.
It is not my opinion that “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was the 1st book in United States history to sell 1.5 million copies, at a time when books were still scarce in general possession. Only the Bible sold more volumes than Uncle Tom’s up to that date. That is NOT opinion.
It is not my opinion that the Vice President of the Confederacy declared that slavery was the reason for secession.
So you can pretend that it is only my opinion that slavery was the foremost cause of Southern state cessation that caused the Civll War, but it is a fact, even as the issue of State sovereignty followed closely.
And now for a pet peeve.
The term “Civil War” was a misnomer — a label used by the North to demonize the south, IMHO.
The war was most definitely NOT a civil war. The Confederacy had no desire whatsoever to rule Washington DC and control the people of the United States.
A Civil War is a war between two competing factions for control of a sovereign nation or empire.
The Confederacy wanted no such control over the USA. They wanted the same free, autonomous, sovereign self-rulefrom the USA that the 13 rebelling colonies wanted from Great Britain.
The war was a revolt, a rebellion — it was not a Civil War.