You mean the other side had no say? They didn't have to rebel. They didn't have to recruit an army 10 times larger than the Union army. They didn't have to fire the first shot. They could have done a lot of things, but they had their mind set on a fight from the beginning because they all knew that one Southerner could beat any 10 yanks. Lincoln offered them everything in his power if they simply ceased their rebellion.
Don't guys like Ruffin, and Pickins and Toombs and Davis with their pig-headed bluster get any responsibility? Oooops --- I forgot. This is The Lost Cause Myth were dealing with --- the home of the Cult of the Victim where all the men were Christian gentlemen, all the women were beautiful and all the "darkies" were as happy as a bug in the rug until that mean old Lincoln came along. . The south never did anything wrong. Maybe the South did win --- the cultural war that is since it's so damn trendy now to be a victim. Everybody wants to be one but no one wants to accept any responsibility.
Do you believe in God?
If so, do you believe God is sovereign?
If so, what does 'sovereign' mean to you?