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As to the preconditions, it's obvious that both delegations came from a position of "We're taking this, and you can either accept a price that we'll offer, or you'll get nothing."

Oh, please. Now you're just making stuff up -- phony quotes? Please.

Opening positions in negotiations are just that -- negotiable. Or do you pay some guy the exact price he advertised in a newspaper for his car, because he put it there? Or ignore his ad because you didn't want to pay 100% of his ask? Come on.

If anyone ever finds the doubtless-confidential instructions the Carolina and Confederate commissioners (which last Lincoln refused even to talk to -- POINT!), it would be nice to see what they were.

Until then, you're just woofing.

The South offered to settle the national debt.

So what is it when I steal your car, then tell you that I’m prepared to negotiate a price for it? As I keep saying, a negotiation involves two parties, either of which can walk away whole if no agreement is reached. The south was never going to let the United States keep it’s forts, lighthouses, armories, etc, were they?