"Slavery was the cause of the American Civil War." Do you agree or disagree? To what extent do you think the South went to war in defense of slavery (either explicitly or implicitly)? To what extent did the North go to war to destroy it (explicitly or implicitly)? If you believe slavery was the cause, how do you explain the proposed Curwin Amendment, or the fact that not all slaveholding states seceded? If you think it was not the cause, how do you explain the secession declarations, or the fact that no non-slaveholding state seceded?