"My fascination with the Civil War has less to do with military engagements than with the motivations of up to 1.5 million Southern men and boys wiling to die to tear the nation in two in defense of slavery, an utterly indefedsible institution."
"Had the conflict, also known as the War of the Southern Planters, been fought only by Southern slave owners, it would have been over in weeks rather than years. "
I have never heard the term, "War of the Southern Planters".
At least he does give a real and concrete reason for the war -
"The North wanted to build roads, canals and railroads to accommodate growing industries. Without personal or corporate taxation, revenue was raised by tariffs, which protected Northern products and increased prices of imported goods needed by the nonindustrialized South. "
The problem with that theory was that 95% of all tariff revenue was collected in three Northern ports. Philadelphia alone collected almost as much tariff revenue as the 11 busiest southern ports combines. If tariffs fell hardest on anyone it would have been those up North.