Lincoln CHOSE VIOLENCE and not to end slavery, but to impose statist tyranny.
Yes, he did want to provoke a war, but the threats of violence against the South made by parts of the Republican Party began before secession and the election of Lincoln, so he was basically catering to factions of his own Party in going to war.
A book by Hinton Rowan Helper,
The Impending Crisis of the South, was published in 1857, purporting to deal with the economic impact of slavery on the South, was adopted by the Republicans as a propaganda tool. They published abridged editions of it and used it accompanied by inflammatory rhetoric.
Leading Republicans raised money to print and circulate an abridged edition as a campaign document. This infuriated Southerners, especially as the Republicans added such inflammatory captions in the abridged edition as: "Revolution -- Peacefully if we can, Violently if we must." ...
from page 112
Ordeal By Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction, James M. MCPherson. Alfred a. Knopf 1982.
Helper's book played a role in provoking one of the most serious deadlocks in the history of Congress. The Republicans had a plurality but not a majority on the House that convened in December 1859 over the election of Speaker of the House. States passed resolutions to vote on candidates based on whether they supported the book or not. It took 44 ballots, with ultimately the Speakership going to William Pennington.
Many who claimed they supported it had never read it. lol ...
The deadlock went on for 8 weeks, and one commentator noted "the only persons who did not have a revolver and knife were those who had two revolvers."
John Brown's raid had taken place two months before this Congress convened, and the support for that violence along with the threats of violence against the South in Republican campaign literature pretty much establishes the pattern of Republicans willing to use violence even before the secessions and election of Lincoln began.
