Many historians agree that the issue of slavery was the main cause of the American Civil War.  A total of eleven southern states wanted to preserve slavery and as a result voted to secede from the United States.  These states subsequently declared themselves the Confederate States of America, also known as the Confederacy.  Also most historians agree that slavery was the cause of the war, they have differing views regarding which aspects (idealogical, economic, political, or social) were most important.  Their opinions also differ regarding the Northern States reasons for not allowing the Southern states to succeed from the Union.  Followers of an ideology known as the Lost Cause Idealogy have denied that slavery was the root cause of the war however this view has been disproven by overwhelming evidence, including the Southern states own secession documents.