Civil war

It was mainly over states rights, and less government involvement. Freed black slaves fought for the confederacy too. :)

Slavery was the main issue

Slavery was not even brought into the Civil War until 1863. As a previous guest stated, the Civil War was started and fought for state rights including taxes, and yes freed slaves also fought in the Civil War on the Confederate side. Less than 5% of the south's white population actually owned slaves, so why would they volunteer to go to war to stop the slaves from receiving freedom? Slavery was later brought into the Civil War as "justification" for the North to keep fighting (at that time a losing battle) and "punishment" for the South (some hoped that the newly freed slaves would revolt and bring down the Confederates from the inside). If you need further evidence take a peek at the Emancipation Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation freed ONLY the slaves in territories not yet conquered by the Union armies.