Not from Lincoln’s administration. Going back to the Lincoln Douglas debates all the way through his first inaugural address, and into the dark days towards his re-election, it was his platform that the South had no right to secede and it was the duty of the President to preserve the Union.

For years, he had argued extensively on the matter and discussed historical facts proving the intent and actions of the founding fathers. He also discussed exceptions like Texas on how they also had no right to secede.

Lincoln argued that a supposed right to secession was the same as anarchy. (If a State can secede, then so can a county, so can a city, so can a neighbourhood, and so can an individual until it is pure anarchy). Lincoln argued that Democracy depends on the minority respecting the power of the majority as long as their constitutional rights are protected.

In their biography of Lincoln, Lincoln’s private secretaries make no mention of Lincoln thinking of changing his mind. There is no Lincoln speech or letter I’m aware of where he seriously considered capitulation.

The previous Administration, that of President James Buchanan, was a completely different matter. Despite the Constitution stating that the Federal government had a right to suspend habeas corpus and to defend itself in the event of a insurrection, Buchanan had been counseled into the belief that it was Congress’s problem and there was nothing he could do about it. Yet, Congress doesn’t command the military, the President does. So, Congress could do nothing. For over a year, Buchanan observed Southerners discuss secession, vote on it, seize federal armories, build an army, and threaten war and he somehow came to the conclusion he could do nothing about it. Most of the men advising him to let the South go eventually left the federal government and joined the Confederacy.