I have seriously never heard anyone say that Lincoln started the war at Fort Sumter to prevent secession. I started my study of the civil war in 1967 when I began and eventually finished reading the entire York Co., SC, library section on the war. I have a lifelong fascination with the war but especially reconstruction. Yours is the typical Yankee position with no surprises really except that I have not followed these silly debates on Free Republic and I had no idea that any Lost Causers thought Lincoln started the war at Sumter. It was widely thought that we had been at war for a long time when Ruffin was granted the privilege of firing the “first shot” of the war. But everyone agreed that this would be the official start of the war otherwise it makes no sense to have Ruffin fire the cannon.
I'm not trying to be facetious.
"Lincoln started war at Fort Sumter" is Lost Causer orthodoxy on Free Republic threads, with countless electrons spurred into motion defending or attacking such claims.
"Lincoln invaded the South to stop secession" is the only narrative Lost Causer's here even recognize.
And the reason Lincoln wanted to stop secession, they claim, was 100% economic, to prevent Northern collapse from the loss of $200 million in Southern exports.
BDParrish: " It was widely thought that we had been at war for a long time when Ruffin was granted the privilege of firing the “first shot” of the war.
But everyone agreed that this would be the official start of the war otherwise it makes no sense to have Ruffin fire the cannon."
You'll make no FRiends among Lost Causers with talk like that.
They insist that Lincoln started war by ordering his "war fleet" to "attack" Confederates in Charleston.
No war fleet, no war, they claim.
As for war starting before Fort Sumter, of course I'd agree with that except for: before Fort Sumter the Union never fired back, pushed back or took back anything seized by Confederates.
Fort Sumter was the first serious response to Confederate aggressions against Union properties and officials.
BDParrish: "Yours is the typical Yankee position with no surprises really... "
I have no idea what "the typical Yankee position" is, have simply responded as best I can to whatever is the latest Lost Causer nonsense posted here.
My opinions, so far as I can tell, are in accord with our Founders, especially as expressed by Madison.
You disagree?
He started the war at Fort Sumter (By sending a fleet of warships to bombard the confederates surrounding the place) because he needed an excuse to stop the South from removing Washington DC's economic control of their trade with Europe.
Washington DC and New York would have faced dire economic circumstances had the South established direct trade with Europe because laws had been created which caused the vast bulk of all Southern output (which was 75% of all US Trade with Europe) to funnel through New York.
New York was siphoning off about 40% of all the money the South earned through their exports, and Washington DC was collecting the vast bulk of it's Federal revenue from the New York port of Entry for European imports in payment for Southern produced exports.
The Financial danger to the Power Barons of New York was actually greater than just the loss of 75% of the European trade income, but I won't get into that just yet, because it takes a bit to describe the threat. Just be assured the astute business men of New York were capable of seeing the monetary threat a free trade south posed to their own industries.