Was the Union in favor of secession?

Answer 1

Generally speaking, slavery was not an issue north of the slave state of Maryland in the east and there was slavery in Missouri and Kentucky in the west. Most US citizens had no reason to think about their state from seceding from the USA. At various times prior to 1860, a few states thought about the idea, but those ideas went nowhere. For the most part the people north and south would prefer that these national affairs could be settled by compromises as in the past. For northern textile mills however, the thought of having to import cotton from an independent "Confederacy" was not a pleasing idea. Also, from a national viewpoint, the monies earned by cotton exports to European nations was a positive influence. They and the mill workers would be the most numerous source of sentiment opposing secession.