Final answer:
Lincoln's Inaugural Address suggested the South aimed to secede without violence and indicated that he would use force only if provoked, placing the responsibility for war on the seceded states. His approach likely would have been one of leniency and reintegration, emphasizing reconciliation and the restoration of the Union if Southern states returned.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, he implied that Southerners tried to secede without violence when he mentioned his intention to administer the law on all federal property, but that he would not use violence unless forced to do so.
Lincoln also made clear that any initiation of violence would come from the seceded states, thus putting the burden of war on them. He stated, "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war." This assertion suggests that, although he rejected their right to secede, he placed the decision for peace or conflict squarely on their shoulders.
Regarding the possible handling of Southern states returning to the Union, Lincoln's commitment to the Union and reconciliation suggests he might have pursued a policy of leniency and reintegration post-war. His public addresses hint at a preference for healing and restoring the nation without harsh penalties for the South, which is evidence by phrases like "We are not enemies, but friends... The mystic chords of memory...will yet swell the chorus of the Union."
Therefore, had he lived to complete his second term, it is plausible to conclude that Lincoln's approach to the Southern states would have been guided by this spirit of reconciliation, with an emphasis on restoring the Union and healing the divisions between North and South.