[Gaffer]

Try a definition that isn’t tied to some specific historical event for a place and setting that fits your interpretation. Describe it in words that set out the meaning without applying to selected history.

[Dr. Sivana]

Try a definition that isn’t tied to some specific historical event for a place and setting that fits your interpretation

I didn't think I had to. I used examples to demonstrate, not merely to define. I assumed you knew the classic definition. You also avoid calling the colonists' war a civil war, even though it fits your definition squarely.

A Civil War means a struggle within a nation for control of the country, possibly with the aid of outsiders who do not intend to take over the country personally. That struggle must be contracted, and not just take place among a small number of rulers and regular armed forces (that would be a coup).

That is why I used the French and Russian revolutions as examples of a classic definition of Revolutions that really were civil wars, a difference in kind, and NOT a small one. People don't call activities of the Basque a Civil War. They call the Spanish Civil War a Civil War.

In the case of the United States, it was still an open question as of 1859 what degree of sovereignty actually lies with the several states which formed These United States. The war settled that question.