content: Nope, it was about secession. The South wanted to maintain their secession (which was done over slavery) and the US wanted to reverse that secession, not because of slavery (which most Northerners were fine with), but because they didn't want the South to be out of the Union (for many economical and political reasons). Ending slavery only became the rallying call in the North after 1863. Prior to that, it was all about bringing the CSA back into the Union.