With respect, mac, which ballot boxes do you mean? Certainly not those that expressed the sovereign will of the people of various Southern states to secede. Those secession referenda were a clearer indication of sovereign will than occurred during the ratifications of the Constitution itself. The right to secede was never taken away from the people of the states or relinquished by them -- it was a voluntary union.
Whether or not Lincoln made a back room deal in 1864 to get votes to pass a slavery amendment that he felt helped him on the battlefield does nothing to counter my belief that Lincoln intentionally instigated war with the South in 1861. In my opinion, in 1861 he invoked the way of the bullet, and six hundred thousand soldiers paid the ultimate price. If Lincoln had been a man of peace, he would have let the South go their own way. He wasn't, and he didn't.
And I suppose in your opinion, in 1941 FDR invoked the way of the bullet, and millions of soldiers paid the ultimate price. If FDR had been a man of peace, he wouldn't have let a little think like an armed attack on a U.S. facility lead to war. But he wasn't, and he didn't.