You can't say the northern states were not benefiting from exploitative conditions or even slavery in the south. And all of white America continued to profit fr

You can't say the northern states were not benefiting from exploitative conditions or even slavery in the south. And all of white America continued to profit from denying non-whites equal rights in one way or another. The Confederates had probably hoped the North would not want to go to war over the Union thing. And also: Even though slavery is not an effective means of production (though it probably was, at some points for some people), it's still wrong.