But that requires you to adopt the the perspective of the southerners to answer the question "correctly" under the test. Just because they defined slavery as an "economic issue" rather than a "human rights" issue doesn't mean that a) the war was not fought over slavery and b) that slavery is not a human rights issue.
I agree with what you are saying and think you are right. I didn't mean to imply that slavery was not a reason for the war, nor a major reason. I think the South viewed it as more of an economic issue compared to the Northerners who saw it as a human rights issue. I also think the slavery issue increased in importance for the North as the war went on. However, the South initially seceded due to economic issues (which included slavery), not slavery itself. Slavery was still legal at the time the south started the war (but it was facing heavy scrutiny). It was not until midway through the war that Lincoln emancipated the slaves and banned slavery.
While I agree that preserving slavery played a part in the South's secession, I think it was more of an economic issue rather than a human rights issue. I think the question is poorly worded, but the most correct answer is economics not human rights.
