Wrong again. There was no rebellion at all. There was completely peaceful secession -- unitil Lincoln notified the South that he would reinforce Sumter (the tax collection house), and he refused to meet with Confederate emmisaries.
All after many federal properties had peacefully been returned to Southern states under Lincoln's predecessor, who sought a PEACEFUL resolution....
Your previous quotes by Stephens mean nothing. What politicians have to say (in general) means very little, and Southern politicians were not above saying what was required to get the response they wanted at the time any more than their northern counterparts. What matters is ACTIONS:
1) The Southern States seceded (using slavery as one of their excuses
2) The (now northern-controlled Congress) passed a Constitutional Amendment GUARRANTEEING SLAVERY FOREVER---it could have NEVER been revoked--- and Lincoln PUBLICLY STATED that he AGREED with it. The northern Declaration of War also stated that slavery was NOT the reason for the war.
Non-Sequitur, you make the same error as so many others. To you, secession must necessarily = war.
But if Lincoln had followed the concept of the Declaration, the Southern states could have, and WOULD have, left in peace.
Instead, like every other tyrant, he used force to FORCE a government on Southerners that they no longer wanted.
Much like a marriage, where the husband has been abusing his wife. She tries to escape, but he captures her, ties her to the bed, and beats her almost to death. But HURRAH! The union is SAVED!
Same concept.
Considering that the southern actions were illegal, then they did indeed initiate a rebellion or insurrection, take your pick.
... unitil Lincoln notified the South that he would reinforce Sumter (the tax collection house)...
Sumter was a fort, not a customs house. And it was also the property of the U.S. government and not the state of South Carolina. Lincoln had every right to resupply it.
... and he refused to meet with Confederate emmisaries.
The emissaries were sent to obtain recognition of confederate independence, something that Lincoln was not about to do. In any event, it took the south a matter of a few weeks to turn from alleged attempts at a negotiated settlement to war.
All after many federal properties had peacefully been returned to Southern states under Lincoln's predecessor, who sought a PEACEFUL resolution....
Not a single federal facility was 'returned' to the southern states. They had been illegally seized by the southern states. Legal ownership remained with the U.S. government.
The northern Declaration of War also stated that slavery was NOT the reason for the war.
What Northern Declaration of War?
Non-Sequitur, you make the same error as so many others. To you, secession must necessarily = war.
Had the southern states negotiated a peaceful withdrawl from the Union, ensuring that all issues of concern to all the parties affected by their actions were settled prior to the separation, then we would no doubt be in separate countries today. Instead the southern states attempted to unilaterally leave the Union, walking away from financial obligations that were incurred by the United States, and seizing anything that caught their fancy. Every action on the part of the southern states screamed 'war' and dared the North to respond. The southern military fired at ships flying the U.S. flag on more than one occasion. There was nothing 'peaceful' about their actions.
Much like a marriage, where the husband has been abusing his wife. She tries to escape, but he captures her, ties her to the bed, and beats her almost to death. But HURRAH! The union is SAVED!
A more accurate analogy would be the spoiled wife walking out on the husband, taking whatever community property she wanted to, and firing a shot at his head on her way out the door.