OO ---

As for the 5 states, I think that was a pure political consideration. Had he made the Emancipation cover the 5 union states, there would have been a huge chance of actual armed insurrection in those states distinct and apart from the already raging conflict ongoing. And to be blunt, it would seem that the mindset was "We are already in a fight about a a whole slew of issues, lets just make sure that *this* one is off the table for all time".

I agree with you it was not totally about slavery --- the war was one driven by deep differences in state's rights, an overriding Federal government whose tariff and tax policies were distinctly and pointedly against the southern states (overlapping with the first point, to a great extent), and further driven by a deep social *and* economic divide on the issue of slavery. All of these points fundamentally overlap to a huge extent in the southern states' decisions to leave the Union.

And the issues of the Federalist and anti-Federalist points of view re: taxation and tariff policy, and on state's rights within the Union, and the pernicious issue of slavery were all papered over in 1787 --- and the Founders knew this. But only for all three to emerge with an extraordinary vengeance in 1861. And those three issues were all solved in the time honored way -- via force of arms.

However slavery was front and center in each of the three main branches of the underlying causes of the war of 1861. It may not have been the sole causation for the conflict, but it was undoubtedly a very major one.