Gentlemen: you maintain, then, that the prime motivation for Lincoln, his cabinet, and the North, was NOT the preservation of the Union, but rather the destruction of a nascent threat? I have a difficult time believing this, given what we have of Lincoln's writings. Speeches are one thing - they can be crafted to persuade a public to stay a difficult course by patriotic appeal, but in all the letters and personal documents that have survived, and there are many, the evidence points to a genuine desire by Lincoln to restore the Union, not simply choke off an infant competitor in the cradle.
Obviously restoration of the Union would accomplish the latter, but calling that the prime motivator, the driving force, I believe is unfair.
Obviously restoration of the Union would accomplish the latter, but calling that the prime motivator, the driving force, I believe is unfair.
which is a different question from "what was the prime motivator for lincoln to fight the civil war?"
i agree preservation of the union was foremost in lincoln's mind. however, it is important to note that if there was a guerilla war, i find it very unlikely that a US president would have given the south independence-- a guerilla war inflicts fleabites while having a great power war would be a head wound.
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