It seems to me that to assume that wasn't a major factor you have to do more convoluted rationalizing for why else they wouldn't have slavery in northern states, why there was such a thing as abolishinists, why the south feared such a movement would succeed in ending slavery, etc.
The north didn't go to war specifically to free the slaves, they went to preserve the union. But the south seceded precisely because there was a growing cultural divide on that issue and Lincoln was not in favor of slavery so they feared he would abolish it. And once the war ended that's exactly what happened.
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