"Until South Carolina attacked the US at Sumter, there was as much support in the north to let them go as there was to make them stay."

That was the sentiment Lincoln was determined to eliminate by forcing the South to react to him. Both sides acted out of martial emotion, the South was not the only section of the country arming themselves. There were many high powered abolitionist that wanted a war with the slave owners, a good many of these were state governors who, at that time, were the suppliers of armies to Lincoln. This is where Lincoln failed as a president, he bowed to his supporters to cause war against fellow Americans and between states.

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David Upton