[DarkSavant]

Maryland did not have a path until 1863, long after the war started. Lincoln explicitly stated he had no intention of ending slavery.

The North had no moral high ground.

[rockrr]

Jeebus - are you really that uneducated?

Lincoln recognized that he didn’t have the power to issue an executive order eliminating slavery - it had to be done through the amendment process in Congress.

What Lincoln told the south was that he would not interfere with their pursuit of The Peculiar Institution in the south. He intended to block the expansion of slaver into the territories however.

There was plenty of dirt to go around but the north had infinitely higher moral ground than the south.