Nearly 20% of Trump Fans Think Freeing the Slaves Was a Bad Idea

[D Gary Grady]

19. Lincoln tried very hard to preserve the Union without war

Lincoln even indicated acceptance of the "other" 13th Amendment, one that would have made it impossible for the federal government to have outlawed slavery in the existing slave states, even by later amendment. It passed Congress by a large margin and was ratified by several states, though not enough to enter the Constitution, and by then many Southern elites actively hated the Union and did not want to remain in it. Most of the secessionist states had already announced secession before Lincoln's inauguration, but he tried in vain to convince them to rejoin. It was South Carolina that started the war by firing on Fort Sumpter.