For the most part, yes. There were a few arguments, but the biggest was that slavery was abolished in any new states added to the country. The U.S. had just won freedom from England 80 years earlier and the south wasn't going to let anybody tell them what they could or couldn't do.
People who hold the confederate flag dear will tell you it stands for absolute freedom(a.k.a. freedom from government control). The argument conservatives are taking right now is they don't want history destroyed.
The irony running all over America right now is palpable. 1. People claiming to be anti-fascist are using fascist tactics to get their points across...i.e. refusing to let anybody speak who doesn't share their ideas and destroying history because they don't agree with the messages they feel it portrays.
2. Liberals are fighting for open borders and for the country to become a sanctuary for people fleeing oppression. One of the main selling points of Liberals is that illegal immigrants are willing to do the jobs American's won't. So....the argument is you want illegal immigrants in this country to do the low-skilled, cheap labor jobs....where have I heard that before?