You're absolutely right, Steve. I should have been more clear that my intention was to cut off the counter-argument that I was oversimplifying the cause of the war by insisting that it was the abolition of slavery foremost. It was really about repesentation in government, in which the southern states were hindered by the fact that their economy was largely based on slave labor, which greatly impacted their population. So, yes, slavery can been seen as the root of the problem. Still, 'let's free the slaves' was hardly the rallying cry of the Union, at least at the onset.
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