You do know, I hope, that Ft. Sumter is in South Carolina, don’t you? And that South Carolina had seceded, and was no longer a part of the United States; and that Lincoln not only refused to peacefully leave Ft. Sumter, but instead had ordered it be reinforced and resupplied? THAT was an act of war, and before Beauregard ordered the bombardment of Sumter.
No, it is not "in" South Carolina, it is a man-made island built from the seafloor by the federal government. South Carolina had no right to it.
“You do know, I hope, that Ft. Sumter is in South Carolina, don’t you?”
Fort Sumter was Federal property as provided for in the customary agreements made between the Federal government and a state government and governed by the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever,...and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—
“And that South Carolina had seceded, and was no longer a part of the United States;”
No South Carolina government seceded from the Union of the United States of America in accordance with the provisions of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and Constitution. The Articles of secession were lacked all lawful authority and lacked the authority of lawful suffrage. The purported articles of secession were fraudulent and an illegal usurpation of the sovereignty of the citizens of South Carolina and the citizens of the United States.
“and that Lincoln not only refused to peacefully leave Ft. Sumter, but instead had ordered it be reinforced and resupplied? THAT was an act of war, and before Beauregard ordered the bombardment of Sumter.”
The United States Government under president Buchanan and President Lincoln was obligated by the Constitution to suppress the unlawful Rebellion:
Constitution
Article. IV.
Section. 3.
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
Section. 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.
Constitution
Article I
Section 10
Section. 10.
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
I'm not commenting on the right or the wrong of either side in the war as a whole, but it is laughable and absurd when Southerners twist themselves into pretzels claiming that the attack on Fort Sumter was some how, some way, an act of defense. A major moving his 80-odd outfit around between several forts under his command is not an act of war, or aggression, especially in the face of thousands of Southern troops encircling the area. The South fired the first shot, the South seized supplies and fortifications. Just own it and stop pretending up is down.