I won the election with 40% of the votes which is more than any other candidate
Lincoln Elected
Well I was second with 30% of the vote and your name didn't even on the ballot in most southern states.
Many people wanted to preserve the union but didn't know how some southern sates debated secession but Senator John Crittenden had another idea but southern states said no human power can save the union
I propose a series of amendments to the constitution.
Attempt at compromise
For Lincoln the issue was "whether in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose."
My heart has been torn by... the destruction of my country the dismemberment of that great and glorious union
Reactions to Secession
Many southerns welcomed secession. A new paper in Atlanta Georgia said the south will never submit. In the north some abolitionist preferred to allow the southern states to leave but most northers, however, believed that the union should be preserved