[Non-Sequitur]

Oh, so the way to deal eirenically with an "unstable" regime (that didn't exist, in Lincoln's theory) is to poke it with a stick. Good peace policy. Not.

When all Lincoln was trying to do was hold on to that which belonged to the U.S., then saying that that is an act of aggression is a lame attempt to put the blame for your dumb mistakes everywhere except where it belongs.

[lentulusgracchus]

When all Lincoln was trying to do was hold on to that which belonged to the U.S., .....

When it didn't, not after assertion by South Carolina of her sovereign rights over her own territory. No title deed on earth can stand up to an assertion of sovereign power, I don't care whose legal system you're talking about.

Lincoln resorted for continued control of the forts to ius belli, an appeal to the sword. He no longer had the Constitution and the Supremacy Clause to work with. South Carolina was no longer a member of the Union.