this is what happens when I am insomniac

Been having trouble sleeping so thought it would be a larf to try again to read a book so dull that even I, Capt. history, could not wade through it the first time. On the surface, the concept is great....watching the development of the opening campaign of the Civil War through actual quotes from newspapers, diaries, correspondance, etc. from the people that were there. You would have to work hard to mess that up. Still, the first time I tried to peruse Sword Over Richmond I was unable to get more than 5 or 6 pages in. Now, with insomnia on the horizon, it seemed a good time to retry.
And something strange happened. First off, it is actually a pretty good read, quite entertaining and illimunating. Either that or the lack of sleep has altered my perception of reality....
Second, I am rethinking some of my thinking on the Civil War.
Politically speaking, history was undergoing a major transformation during my formative scholastic years. Historians were "correcting" the conventional wisdom. No longer would they allow the trope that the Civil War was over slavery. Now the accepted narrative was that various economic factors, social factors, and other such items caused the war and slavery was at best a sideline issue.
Carefully guided by my instructors at Condon Elementary and then again in 7th Grade, I admit I bought into it.
Now, reading the actual words of the people involved, thinking about who made what claims, I have to call shenanigans yet again. I have complained many times about the Public (lack of) Education system. I have mentioned before that after 3 years of private schooling, the switch to public was a mistake. I actually tested lower after 4 years of public school than I did after 3 years of private. At least I can prove the accuracy of "new math": 3 + 4 = 2. Here is yet another example.
According to the people taking part, slavery was understood to be the cause. Not just by the elite, not just words put out for the commoners to be soothed by...this was the people themselves. You have people talking about "defending our home and lifestyle." You have people talking about "ending the immorality of slavery that degrades our nation". You have people talking about the North being unwilling "to die for an ideal".
To be certain secession was an issue and the match that touched the tinder. But without the battle over the expansion, containment, or elimination of slavery, that issue never arises. The economics were entirely about slavery...the North trying to compete with the perceived cheapness of slave labor (I say perceived because many, many books have been written arguing the costs of slavery...feeding, clothing, guarding, overseeing the slaves, that those costs exceeded the benefits and actually retarded the economic growth of the South), the South trying to retain their system and ensure they had the tools to continue enforcing their system...a free border state could prove troubling as escaped slaves had more opportunities, among other considerations...these issues all stemmed from and revolved around the slave issue.
If you remove slavery from the equation there is no battle over economics. The industrial north needs the food from the agricultural south and the agricultural south needs the tools and equipment they can only get from the North. There is no perceived wage discrepancy.
The need for succession never arises because there is no fear that an anti-slavery (or pro-freedom...frame it however sounds better) Congress and President will unilaterally act to end slavery and the plantation system.
However, if you take away the economic equation, you still have the moral outrage over slavery. Lincoln reputedly said to Tubman, "So you are the little lady who started this war" over her expose of the excesses of slavery in her book Uncle Tom's Cabin. People such as John Brown still agitate for the end of slavery. Thee interests lay outside the bounds of the economic advantages or disadvantages.
Sometimes it is good to question the accepted framings of the public discourse because frankly...there are people out there whose intent is not to inform and persuade, it is to mislead in pursuit of a cause.