What mainly caused the Civil War?

[CARLHAYDEN]

Preston is somewhat close to the truth.

Northern politicians wanted to reduce the south to a vassal area.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Uh, Fezzy, the Constitution was a compact of the sovereign states.

Essentially what happened was the north decided they wanted to reduce the south to vassalage, and the south filed for divorce.

If you look at the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions (offered by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison), it is clear that they favored nullification.  Secession is merely the logical extension where the central government was running amok.

Further, there was a movement just a couple of generations prior to the war between the states to have New England state seceed from the Union.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Not that the Confederate states were right, but it was most definitely about states rights.

     Tell me, how much of an issue do you think states' rights would have been if it had not been for slavery?

Quite a lot!

First, there were the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, where those states sought to nullify federal legislation having nothing to do with slavery.

Second, a number of New England states were contemplating nullification with respect to the War of 1812.

Third, South Carolina (while Jackson was President) sought to nullify a tax scheme injurious to the south.

And those are just actions before the war between the states.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Not that the Confederate states were right, but it was most definitely about states rights.

     Tell me, how much of an issue do you think states' rights would have been if it had not been for slavery?

Quite a lot!

First, there were the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions, where those states sought to nullify federal legislation having nothing to do with slavery.

Second, a number of New England states were contemplating nullification with respect to the War of 1812.

Third, South Carolina (while Jackson was President) sought to nullify a tax scheme injurious to the south.

And those are just actions before the war between the states.

Not that the Confederate states were right, but it was most definitely about states rights.

Tell me, how much of an issue do you think states' rights would have been if it had not been for slavery?

If not slavery than tariffs.  The South depended on slavery for their economy, they were mad that the Union was trying to mess with their economy through tariffs, slavery, and other things.  The war was fought because the South felt the North was trying to screw it over, that arouse from many things, one of which happened to be slavery.

     I see. Let me put it this way though. If neither slavery nor tariffs existed, would the South still have been angered enough by the North to secede? This is an honest question; I don't know a great deal about the antebellum South.

Yes.

If you examine history, both the statements of Lincoln in the first two years of the war, and the actions (or lack thereof) clearly indicated that slavery was NOT the causus belli.

What was really at stake was the Lincoln and his associates regarded the south as a colony of the north.

Southerners understandably feared that Lincoln would not abide by the constitution, and history has shown they were right.