“[But it’s not so complicated that we can’t see it for what it was—a war over slavery.] This is true, but not so in the sense in which the author intends it.Worth repeating.
To be very particular, the war was about who was going to make the decision to end slavery and when: the southern States where slavery was practiced; or, the national government of the United States.”
It is not worth repeating because it is flat out wrong. It is a myth that has been built up in the aftermath of the destruction caused by the civil war to justify the very horrible thing that happened.
Lincoln had no intentions of doing anything about slavery when the Civil War began. The reason he invaded the South was to prevent independence, not to abolish slavery. He didn't even abolish slavery in the five Union states in which it was still occurring.
It wasn't until six months after the Civil War that all the Union States had given up slavery.