I know what kind of thread this is, but you can't be serious!
The "narrow group of politicians" you refer to was almost the entire population of the South. And speaking of "chaos" the War for Southern Independence was THE most chaotic episode in our history. What would have resulted if Lincoln had not gone to war would have been the opposite of chaos.
It's wasn't me but your Confederate Vance who said that the rebellion was of the politicians and not the people.
There was large groups of southerners who had no desire for separation. This sentiment was particularly strong in places like Northern Alabama, East Tennessee and Western NC, but it existed everywhere. When people like Sherman showed the rest of the population the price that would have to be paid for a slaveowners' state, many of them quit the fight also.
Chaos was inevitable when you split one people into two. We were one people with only an interest in slavery and the desire for power by a few slaveowners separating us.