[jeffersondem]

“Sure, you can start reading here.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I saw your recommendation - perhaps a compelling reason why Lincoln decided it was necessary to kill 600,000 Americans. I didn’t find it.

[rockrr]

perhaps a compelling reason why Lincoln decided it was necessary to kill 600,000 Americans

That's your strawman, not BroJoeK's

[BroJoeK]

Jeffersondem: "I’m not sure what I was expecting when I saw your recommendation - perhaps a compelling reason why Lincoln decided it was necessary to kill 600,000 Americans. I didn’t find it."

If you're looking for insanity, you'll find plenty in DiogenesLamp posts, all of which were addressed and debunked on that thread, among others.
Sanity begins when you first grasp that the decision for war was made by Jefferson Davis at Fort Sumter, exactly equivalent to the Japanese decision for war at Pearl Harbor.
The Confederacy then multiplied their commitment to war by issuing a formal declaration of war on May 6, 1861.
Finally they refused to stop fighting on any conditions more favorable than "Unconditional Surrender".

In Lincoln's First Inaugural on March 4, 1861, he promised Secessionists they could not have war unless they themselves started it.
So they immediately set about preparing to start war at Fort Sumter.

That's why responsibility for the Civil War dead & wounded belongs to Confederate leaders who started fighting and refused to stop short of unconditional surrender.