Can anyone point me to historical evidence that the South was willing to compromise rather than taking up arms? It seems to me that Lincoln was abundantly clear that he did not intend to interfere with slavery in the slave states, and even insofar as necessary to abide by the Dred Scot decision, which it seems to me effectively extended the institution of slavery to the territories. What Lincoln repeated said, in effect, was that he would prefer to contain slavery so as to set it "on a path to eventual extinction". However it seems like the path to eventually extinction had no timetable, and that if the slave states would have not taken up arms, under Lincolns approach slavery might has lasted another 100 years. So, please enlighten me, what evidence is there that the slave states had worked for "any honorable compromise" as General Lee asserts?