Would contemporaries advocate that the issue of slavery was a primary cause civil war?

Yes, many contemporaries advocated that the issue of slavery was a primary cause of the Civil War. In the years leading up to the war, the debate over slavery became increasingly heated, with abolitionists arguing that slavery was morally wrong and should be abolished, while proponents of slavery argued that it was necessary for the Southern economy and way of life. The issue of slavery was also a major factor in the political division between the North and the South, with the North generally opposed to slavery and the South generally in favor of it. As tensions between the North and the South grew, the issue of slavery became increasingly central to the conflict, and many people at the time believed that it was the primary cause of the Civil War.

Here are some examples of contemporaries who advocated that the issue of slavery was a primary cause of the Civil War:

* Abraham Lincoln. In his famous Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln stated that "the institution of slavery has always been, and now is, injurious to the public welfare" and that it was "the cause of the present Civil War."

* Frederick Douglass. Douglass was a prominent abolitionist and advocate for civil rights. He argued that slavery was "the real cause of the present civil war" and that it was "the only question that can never be settled until slavery is abolished."

* Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe was the author of the influential anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." She wrote that slavery was "the only question which can ever endanger our national peace" and that it was "the cause of the present war between the North and the South."

* William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison was the founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He argued that slavery was "the chief cause of the war" and that it was "the only question that can never be settled until slavery is abolished."

These are just a few examples of the many contemporaries who advocated that the issue of slavery was a primary cause of the Civil War. The issue of slavery was a complex and multifaceted one, and there were many factors that contributed to the Civil War. However, there is no doubt that slavery was a central issue in the conflict, and that many people at the time believed that it was the primary cause of the war.