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Lincoln sent a respectful letter to Davis, and Davis responded by attacking Fort Sumter.

Lincoln sent a respectful letter, then loaded up five warships and a troop carrier and gave *THEM* orders to attack if the Confederates did not comply.

It was the arrival of the ships that convinced General Beauregard that Lincoln was serious about using warships against them. If you look at the details you find that the decision to attack Sumter was made right after the arrival of the Harriet Lane.

Your argument that Lincoln was wrong and Davis was right is really not relevant.

Well I guess that depends upon whether or not you consider the truth relevant or not, and from what I have seen of civil war discussions, most people would rather believe what they have always been told.

The bottom line is Jeff Davis turned a winning legal case into a losing war.

If you had read all the statements from the people involved that I have read, you would quickly realize that Lincoln was going to have his war, whether it be started at Fort Sumter or started at Fort Pickens in Pensacola.

The orders Lt. David Porter followed in Pensacola (attacking ships and such with no knowledge of Sumter) makes it clear that Lincoln was going to create the war that *HE* and only *HE* needed.

Lincoln was not going to allow Jeff Davis to secede peacefully. He was going to keep provoking him until he triggered some sort of confrontation.

The money issue would never have allowed Lincoln to acquiesce to the South's secession. Lincoln's backers would not tolerate the Federal government sitting on it's hands while their vast fortunes were jeopardized by direct Southern trade with Europe.

Lincoln was the clever manipulator, and one way or the other, he was going to get his war.

Legal arguments mean nothing when massive amounts of money are involved. (750 million in 1860 dollars.)