I have often read accusations that the American Civil War (henceforth ACW) was a War of Northern Aggression and was not fought against slavery but for some other reason. Exactly what the person in question claims the reason is is almost irrelevant, it is always a bad reason like to promote collectivism, to impose tariffs on the South or whatever, the one thing that all those who rail against the ACW agree on is that it was wrong.

My own view is that it was right to fight the ACW and that it was a war against slavery even before the Emancipation Proclamation was announced. From the founding of America in 1776 until about 1860 the issue of slavery had been handled by a series of compromises. The US Constitution was more or less neutral toward slavery although it did say that...