Civil War Causes

I posted this in the Yahoo! club "General Lee's Civil War Society", and thought I might as well post it here too, seeing as I'd gone to the trouble of typing it.

Gentlemen -
I perceive with interest that there are those in this club who support the Southern side of the Civil War. Though the victors may write the history books, they apparently weren't prepared to grapple with the World Wide Web.
Niceties aside, I, like Frank, was brought up on the concept that slavery played second fiddle to states' rights as the primary motivation for the civil war.
However, while the above was undoubtedly the case with the Lincoln administration, which subdued the slavery issue to appear less partisan, I contend that South Carolina would never have seceded if it hadn't been for the slavery issue.
While Lincoln didn't talk about it too much, the Southern elite was keenly aware of the hazard posed by a Republican government to their unequal society.
Yes, states' rights took a hit in the Civil War, and were an important issue to individuals such as Lee, who had no great love for slavery. However, states' rights were not quite cosa belli without the urgency of slavery in that context.
Thanks to the Colonel for providing this forum, and to all members for intelligent discussion.
Salim