[thecavemaster]

That quote is just Lincoln trying to keep up motivation for a fight with the South. Which at that time was not going very well. Lincoln may not have been a fan of slavery. I have never argued that he was. He was not a slave owner.

However, you have yet to answer my question of whether or not you believe the civil war was fought over slavery?

Slavery ending was about the only good thing that came out of the civil war. In a wierd kinda way I'm glad it all did happen, because without the men and women of the black community our country would not be as great as it is today.

I think Lincoln, more than anything else, wanted to preserve the Union because he believed that democracy, with rights protected by a Constitution, and people empowered by the vote and free voice, was "the last best hope on earth." So, I guess, strictly speaking, the Civil War was not about ending slavery in the territorial United States.