Setting aside slavery for a bit, the Confederate Constitution was MUCH better than our current one and actually addressed most of the problems we have today which were becoming apparent then. That in and of itself shows that slavery was not the end all be all of the war.
Off the top of my head without going back and actually looking at it, the Confederate constitution decreed that someone must actually be a citizen to vote. It provided for a line item veto. It gave state legislatures the power to impeach federal officials and judges who operate solely within the confines of their state. It banned tariffs and governmental subsidies of industries. It limited federal spending on infrastructure to harbors and the like. It provided that the Confederate Post Office must turn a profit and pay for itself. (Here is a biggie)The Confederate Congress could only appropriate money in response to a specific request from the executive branch and only with a two thirds vote. Thus, none of the omnibus bills or any other spending that wasn't specifically detailed and voted on by Congress. Further, the spending was to be for an EXACT amount and could not be changed without another vote of Congress. Every bill before Congress could only relate to ONE subject and the subject had to be reflected in the title. Thus, none of these little riders that Congress loves to sneak into bills as almost an afterthought.
Just think if our constitution today had those provisions. Most of the runaway spending and federal power would be not be possible. That doesn't mean that federal power wouldn't have developed in other ways and that there wouldn't be other problems. But it does show that even by 1860 almost ALL the problems we see today were being seen or foreseen then and that the Confederate constitution sought to address them.
