[Non-Sequitur]

Unilateral secession is a declaration of war because it is revolutionary and must be defended by armed conflict.

I don't want to get bogged down in technicalities but I can't see using terms like 'declaration of war' in this case. War is conducted between sovereign nations and the confederacy wasn't one. First to last the Civil War was a rebellion initiated by the southern states and waged against the lawful government in Washington, D.C.

[capitan_refugio]

Point well taken. I agree the CSA had no standing as a nation. The point I was making is that, with the overt act of secession, the rebel states precipitated conflict. You don't need to worry about, or justify who did what at Sumter in April 1861, or if the William Aitken incident in December 1860 was the flashpoint.