Now, come one...there were alot of reasons that the civil war was faught. Slavery may have been one of the larger issues, but there were plenty of others. So, let's discuss some of them in a little bit more detail.
First off, let's establish that the abolitionist movement was pretty small. Of course we have activists like John Brown and his infamous raid at Harper's Ferry. However, the real issue wasn't onw of slavery and human rights, but of slavery, new territories and money.
As the United States continued it's westward expansion, new states were admitted to the union. Anybody familiar with the Missouri Compromise Line? If not, read up on it. Anyhoo, as new states were admitted, the Southern states were concerned about their right to bring their slaves into free states with them (slaves were considered property, and not people, as supported by the fugitive slave law). And who wants to compete with slave labor? human rights had nothing to do with it at this point.
Of course, there was the issue of nullification and the States' rights versus the authority of the national government. The southern states seemed to think that they were still governed by the Articles of Confederation (another subject that Americans seem to have missed in school...). Therefore, those southern states decided that they could nullify, or not follow, any law that they felt as being unjust.
My whole point is that the civil war wasn't faught over slavery and it wasn't faught over states' rights. It was faught over alot of things combined. As far as political parties? They're all crooked. Those that wanted slaves to be freed didn't feel that way because they felt it was wrong - they felt that way for financial reasons.
If you want a good book that kind of talks about these things without digging too deep, read 1831 : Year of Eclipse by Louis P. Masus. I recommend it!!
