…then what should we have done when 9 million Southerners out of 31 million Americans (both numbers including slaves) revolted over the election of Abraham Lincoln, and they mustered up over 1 million under arms (compared to 2.2 million Union soldiers)? Surely the US couldn’t muster up the spine, much less the ability, to defeat the separatists, could they?
Of course, Abraham Lincoln didn’t listen to the nay-sayers, and despite a very heavy toll, the Union prevailed in the Civil War.