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

The North had just elected a President who was Republican, which at the time was very pro-abolitionist. Lincoln, detested slavery but in reading some of his writings was very much be considered today a white supremacist. He just detested the act of slavery, he did not care for the plight as much of the African.

Also the issue wasn't the abolishment of slavery per say, there was an argument over the expansion of slavery into new territories such as Kansas and into Oklahmoa and the Arizona/New Mexico territories. The South whose economy was very capital deprived as slaves/crops were the only tangible form they had was dependent on the slave labor. They new if expansion was cut off it would hurt the slave market, similar to oil, without the demand for new markets it would either and could then be killed off.

And having Lincoln elected without receiving a vote or even being put on the ballot in the states that would make up the Confederacy, they knew they were virtually powerless. Read "Why Confederates Fought" by Sheehan-Dean. A very small % of people actually owned slaves, yet hundreds of thousands died defending it? No, slavery was a common practice in a very conservative religious world. The issue was states rights and Northern Imperalism per say. One of the issues was revolved around slavery and it's expansion but it was not the complete issue.

The only negative to come out of the North winning was phasing out of states rights vs the federal government.