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Well, of course, the answer to that is obvious. No declaration of war was necessary to simply protect your own harbor, and no one knew for sure what measures would be necessary. You don't declare war over a defensive action. That would be idiocy.

Defend from what? The garrison in Sumter had taken no hostile actions against Charleston or anyone in it. It had not blocked traffic in and out of the harbor. Hadn't fired at anyone or anything. The troops had simply manned their post. And when the confederate attempt to starve them out didn't work then Davis chose war. His bombardment of the fort was an act of war, certainly his secretary of state thought so. And Toombs also knew what the results would be. Yet there was no attempt made by Davis to get consent of the confederate congress before plunging the nation into war.

That makes the third canard you have passed off in the past 24 hours on this thread.

Falsehoods are your specialty. No declaration of war was made prior to the attack. What you're submitting is akin to if the Japanese had bombarded Pearl Harbor and then declared war in mid-January 1942.

But Lincoln did not.

But he did.

You said: “Defend from what?”

Based on newspaper reports, intelligence, and civilian observations, the Confederate government operated on the knowledge that Union ships were headed for Charleston. The sources reported the departures of the following ships:

Harriett Lane- three 9-inch Dahlgrens, one 30-pounder Parrott Rifle, and one 12-pounder -to be used as an armed escort ship for the troop carrying passenger steamer Baltic
Pawnee-15 gun warship-crew of 94
Pocahontas-6 gun warship-crew of 95
Powhatan-warship-many guns plus 4-12 pounders-300 sailors and launches (Klein p414)
Baltic-civilian merchant/passenger steamer-10 small boats-300 men (troops)
(Klein p358)
Illinois-civilian merchant/passenger steamer-carrying an unspecified number of troops (Klein p406)
Atlantic- civilian merchant/passenger steamer-600 troops aboard (U.S. Navy History records)
Yankee-ocean tug
Uncle Ben-ocean tug

You know that the movement of the garrison from Ft. Moultrie to Ft. Sumter broke the Buchanan-South Carolina agreement, and was considered an act of war against the State of SC.

Anderson formally threatened to fire on harbor traffic. There was no Confederate attempt to starve anyone. The Union fleet's appearance, firing on civilian shipping, seizure of ships, and blockade consituted acts of war against the state's sovergn coastline.

Lincoln made no declaration of war before he sent the ships south.