"The struggle of today is on the one side for empire and on the other for independence." ~ Wigan Examiner (UK) May, 1861.  

"The Southerners are admired for everything but their slavery and that their independence may be speedily acknowledged by France and England is, we are convinced, the strong desire of the vast majority, not only in England but throughout Europe." ~ Liverpool Daily Post, 11 March 1862.  

Lincoln himself stated, as well as commentators at the time, taxation and secession were the issues, not slavery. And as many in the North and Europe realized, it was Lincoln who schemed to launch the most devastating war in American history.