re: Do you think the Civil War was started over slavery?

Regardless of what the North wanted, the South wanted to keep their way of life. Their way of life was profitable for the people in charge. So they wanted to keep the status quo to keep their income. The poor whites wanted to keep slavery so they wouldn't be the bottom of the social ladder. They also knew that once they became free there was nothing stopping the freedmen from attacking their former slave owners. All of these along with other reasons

The north and south were so different morally and socially that the country was moving in 2 polar opposite directions. The violence in the territories and Mexican/American war just set the table for the issue to explode.

Was slavery the main reason for the war? It was the most important of many reasons but it was far from the only one. The South wanted to keep its way of life, which was directly tied to the slavery, but I think it was financially driver by the people that had the political power in the South.