Let Them Go or Force Them To Stay? That Was His Question

Upon assuming the presidency, Abraham Lincoln was confronted with the unprecedented national emergency of several southern states declaring themselves seceded from the union and forming their own nation, the Confederate States of America. He was confronted with a very complicated and historic decision- whether to save the union or let it dissolve. His scenario included 3 options to proceed with, each with far-reaching consequences:1) Compromise with the breakaway states, which would have likely been based in a national political compromise with Southern congressman to extend slavery by at least one more state.2) Let the seceding states leave; the two nations would exist side by side, with slavery continuing to be practiced and legal in the Confederate states.3) Use of armed force as Commander-in-Chief of the United States to maintain the union, for the primary reason of preventing seceding states from taking over federal military installations and confiscating weapons, ships, vital ports and forts.Analyze and explain why Pres. Lincoln chose the third option, involving an inevitable military invasion of the slaveholding South rather than the first two. What aspects of the first two options do you believe he found unreasonable, politically impossible and disastrous in the long term?http://www.abrahamlincolnartgallery.com/archivepg4pic22.htmhttps://americancivilwar.com/documents/ordinance_secession.html