[blackdog]

The civil war was not fought over slavery. That was later defined as a benefit of the war.

[BroJoeK]

blackdog: "The civil war was not fought over slavery.
That was later defined as a benefit of the war."

No, slavery was there from the beginning -- it was the first & major reason given in the secessionists' "Reasons for Secession" documents.

Slavery was a major reason for Union victory and Confederate defeat -- since the North freed & hired runaway slaves, including as combat soldiers, and the Confederacy could not.

During the Civil War runaway slaves quickly became an issue for the Union, and emancipation their response.
As a result, by war's end most of the Confederacy's 3+ million slaves were freed by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

By 1862 Julia Ward Howe's Battle Hymn of the Republic became a major inspiration for Union troops (and remains so today), including:

"In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on."

So, secession began over slavery, and Civil War ended freeing the slaves.
Those are facts.