"Add that to Lincoln's quote stating that the war was not about slavery and that it could be taken off the table to resolve the conflict, if an agreement could be made."
Catch 22: AH! but it was about slavery in the south and they were not going to rejoin the growing Union in which slavery was inevitably squeezed out. Note the 1850 Republican Party platform.
Read the docs of succession from those southern states. It was about slavery. Yes those elite 2-3% controlled the power, money, and narrative in their states.
"Add that to Lincoln's quote stating that the war was not about slavery and that it could be taken off the table to resolve the conflict, if an agreement could be made."
Catch 22: AH! but it was about slavery in the south and they were not going to rejoin the growing Union in which slavery was inevitably squeezed out. Note the 1850 Republican Party platform.
Read the docs of succession from those southern states. It was about slavery. Yes those elite 2-3% controlled the power, money, and narrative in their states.