[DoodleDawg]

No they didn't - if Lincoln hadn't invaded the South, there would have been no war.

Having started the war only the Confederacy controlled where it would be fought. They have nobody to blame but themselves.

The misnamed 'Civil War' was not much different!

Well, yeah it was. But I agree on the "misnamed" part. For the first 60 or so years after the conflict it was officially referred to as "The War of Rebellion" or "The War of Southern Rebellion". I think we should go back to that.

[Svartalfiar]

Having started the war only the Confederacy controlled where it would be fought. They have nobody to blame but themselves.

Actually, it's the complete opposite - the South didn't need to invade the North, didn't want to fight a war at all, they just wanted to be left alone. It wasn't a civil war, it was a succession. In order to 'win', the South needed to do merely nothing. But then Lincoln invaded and that's were war was needed - without it, the North couldn't force the southern states back into the Union. War and invasion was his only option.

[OIFVeteran]

The official US War records call it the war of the rebellion which to me is the most accurate term. They were rebelling against the duly elected government of the United States of America.

[DiogenesLamp]

Only if we call the American revolution “The war of Colonial Rebellion.” Must be consistent, mustn’t we.