Slavery did not cause the Civil War, or War of Northern Aggression, depending on where you're from. As noted, the economies of North and South were different; however, up until 1808 the North, which had the majority of the shipping for the young United States, was actively involved in the slave trade with Africa. It continued to move Southern goods around the world right up until the war.
The North did not fight the war to free slaves, but rather to "preserve" the union. The South did not fight to preserve slavery, but to maintain State's Rights against an increasing Federal, and Northern controlled government.
The issue of slavery, or more precisely, abolition, did not become a factor in the war until Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. By declaring Northern support for abolition, he hoped to take the moral high ground and deny Great Britain in aiding the South, since it had abolished slavery in 1830. His gambit paid off, and Great Britain never declared war on the Northern states. Lacking foreign aid, the South could not maintain the fight against the Northern onslaught.
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