Why Did The Civil War Start?

The start of the civil war can be identified with two causes. One - obviously, slavery, but there was also a dispute about if a state should be able to leave the Union. Insignificant, maybe, however, if you asked any of the soldiers what they were fighting for, there would be a low chance of that soldier saying “for” or “against” slavery, (Leidner, 2). The southern soldiers may have said they were trying to save their economy and/or culture, (Leidner, 6). The northern soldiers may have said they were fighting because their idol or president said to. Some might have even said ‘…because someone told me to,’ (Leidner, 7). Overall, not everyone knew what they were fighting for, but there was still an outcome. However, someone did have to start the war that killed 718,000 people. How couldn’t the North have started it? They were the ones that wanted slavery to be gone, and they succeeded.