[cowboyway]

You don’t want to answer because you know the truth, that there was never any real negotiation offered, only a choice between “take what we offer” and “get nothing.”

Formulate a cohesive question.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

You’ll only evade the question again, but I’ll try. What would the south have done if the United States refused to sell it’s forts, etc. for a price that was agreeable to the south?