With all the advantages of hindsight, it is now all too apparent (to me) that had Lincoln proposed legislation that would have financially compensated slaveholders, followed by freeing all slaves into a preplanned program of rehabilitation and entry into citizenship - then the cost to the country, measured in terms of dollars expended, lives lost, family unity preserved, and even the preservation of national unity would have been far more desireable than what resulted from having launched the CW.

Does anyone know whether this alternative ever (seriously) crossed Lincoln's or any of his predecessor's radar screens prior to secession and the outbreak of hostilities? If it did, what happened to such a legislative initiative?