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“This was a war of secession exactly like the one the 13 colonies fought against Great Britan, admittedly for a less than noble cause.”

It is worth remembering that one of the causes for independence that the slave states cited in the Declaration of Independence was that Britain was interfering with slavery in the colonies.

Let's not pull any punches. The slave states were: New York. New Jersey. New Hampshire. Connecticut. Pennsylvania. Massachusetts. Rhode Island. Delaware. Maryland.

Also Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia.

central_va post #64: "If the Army of the Potomac had never crossed the Potomac in 1861 then there would not have been a war. "

Wrong.
By the time the Union army crossed the Potomac for the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas, in July 1861, Confederates had already formally declared war (May 6, 1861) and brought war to the Union states or territories of Missouri, Maryland, West Virginia, Oklahoma (Indian Territory) and New Mexico.
By war's end Confederate forces also invaded the Union states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky & Kansas.
And Confederate guerillas operated in Union states like California, Colorado and even Vermont, as well as Unionist regions in Southern states.
So our pro-Confederates' claims that it was all just "northern aggression" are pure bunk.

JohnyBoy post #67: "Which is why it wasn’t a civil war.
A Civil war involves sides trying to take over the central government.
This was a war of secession exactly like the one the 13 colonies fought against Great Britan..."

The dictionary definition of "civil war" is:

"a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country."

Wiki says:

"A civil war, also known as an intrastate war in polemology,[1] is a war between organized groups within the same state or country.
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region or to change government policies."

So if you define the Confederacy as a "separate country", then you might claim it was a "War of Northern Aggression".
But problems with that include:

Southern Declarations of Secession were not constitutionally valid and the Confederacy was never recognized internationally as a legitimate "separate country".
Aggression began with the Confederate assault on Union troops in Union Fort Sumter and continued in Union states & territories throughout the war.
The American Revolutionary War is sometimes listed with other civil wars, but Brits themselves don't call it that.
Instead Brits say "War of American Rebellion", "War of American Independence" or, more often, "American Revolution".
The distinction is: they don't consider the American colonies to have ever been "the same country".

jeffersondem post #72: "It is worth remembering that one of the causes for independence that the slave states cited in the Declaration of Independence was that Britain was interfering with slavery in the colonies."

In fact, no such issue is listed in the Declaration of Independence.
Just the opposite: Jefferson's famous deleted paragraph complained first that Brits had forced slavery on all American colonies and now intended to use slaves against the patriots.