According to Lincoln there was no Confederacy. There were only American citizens in rebellion. He wasn’t waging war against another nation. He sent his army against Americans to force them to submit.
Regardless of what name you give them, Confederates first provoked war (seizing dozens of Union properties), then started war (at Fort Sumter), then formally declared war (May 6, 1861) on the United States while sending military aid to pro-Confederates in Union Missouri.
So, the war came because Confederates wanted a battlefield decision on their cause, rather than waiting the many months or years patient negotiations would take.
My thing is, I don’t really trust Lincoln. I still hold the opinion that he was acting nefariously to some degree.
Have you ever read “The Class of 1848?” One of my all time favorite books on the interesting inter-connectedness of the men who led the war, on both sides.
Last Sunday on the way home from church, we were listening to “With Lee in Virginia.” It got to the part where Gen. Lee is surrounded, right before he surrendered.
I turned the CD off, plugged my phone into the speakers and made the family listen to Levon Helm singing, “The Night They Drove ‘Ol Dixie Down” twice. (The Last Waltz version on YouTube.)
It got all quiet in the car. Then my 10 year old said, “play that one again mama.”