You always want to lay this on Lincoln. What you keep forgetting is he was supported by the Republican lead congress. They passed laws and resolutions supporting his actions to suppress the rebellion.
The Republican party was founded, in part, on the destruction of slavery. It said so in their platforms of 1856 and 1860. No Republican (chase, seward) who won the nomination and the presidency would have just let the southern states go. Hell, President Buchanon, who was a pro-southern democratic, wouldn’t even let them go.
Which voted to strengthen protection for slavery through the Corwin amendment. This action makes it clear that neither side cared about slavery.
Both sides accepted it as the norm going forward.
No Republican (chase, seward) who won the nomination and the presidency would have just let the southern states go.
I'm glad you said this. I interpret it to mean that one way or another, the Union was going to fight them to stop them from leaving.
No one was going to let them leave in peace. And why is that? We let the Philippines go. We let Cuba go. We still tell Puerto Rico they can leave if they wish.
What was it about the money producing Southern states that made them so important to the Union government?