History is always written by the victors, and the civil war is no different. Fortunately enough material exists for thinking people to evaluate what really transpired back then. Sure, slavery became the cause celebre, but not until long after deaths were mounting. IMO, this was a war over enshrining lobbyists. North East industrialists were hijacking the federal government re tariffs at the expense of southern states ability to trade freely with other nations, etc. Also, back then citizens viewed the state as their country (which is outside the U.S. interchangeable with the word "state."). These united states were individual mini nations who formed a voluntary union. Their loyalty was to their country, which was their state. They voted to join with the presumption that they could vote to leave. "Can the liberties of a nation be deemed secure when we have removed their only firm basis-a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God, that they are not to be violated without his wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country (Virginia) when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever..." That's Thomas Jefferson, 1783. Note the "My country Virginia" view of Virginia, a term also used by Robert E. Lee before and during the War.