He did. As the duly-elected President of all the states, he defended all loyal Americans from the regional faction that rejected the United States Constitution and attempted to divide them from the United States.
Americans who were loyal to the United States deserved to be defended by the United States no matter where in the United States they lived.
"The Southern ideals of honor, family, and duty were as important to Unionists as to their pro-secession neighbors. They believed, however, that rebelling against the United States, which many of their ancestors had fought for in 1776 and 1812, was the unmanly and dishonorable act".
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