Lincoln and Civil War research is FUN!

[LincolnMan]

(12-28-2015 12:10 AM)maharba Wrote:  After reading and rereading all Lincoln's speeches, it does not appear to me that he seriously understood that most all the South would secede and form their own country, then go to War if invaded. I know Lincoln had no true military record like President Davis and first-hand knowledge of the harsh realities that attend it. But I wonder if Lincoln had truly understood that his actions would bring on the bloodiest war of all time here, whether he would have actually gone to War? I am certain that most all the residents of the North would never have joined in, if they had any clue of what was to follow.

“Mr. Lincoln did not believe, could not be made to believe, that the South meant secession and war. When I told him...that the Southern people were in dead earnest, meant war...he laughed and said the fall of pork at Cincinnati had
affected me. --attorney Don Piatt

I think you are correct. Lincoln did not truly or fully believe that the south would take action as it did. However, he was a quick learner afterward.