[Non-Sequitur]

South Carolina fired on Sumter - a fort in their territory that would not stand down and was a direct threat (kind of like Iraq, in that way), but the other Southern states didn’t

South Carolina didn't fire on Sumer - a federal fort that did not belong to South Carolina - the confederacy did. As such, it was all the Southern states firing on Sumter and as a result initiating the war. Blaming it all on South Carolina because the firing started there makes no more sense than blaming it all on Lincoln because he insisted on retaining ownership of federal property.

[FredHunter08]

“a federal fort that did not belong to South Carolina “

Call it “preemptive war”, if you will.

“Blaming it all on South Carolina because the firing started there makes no more sense than blaming it all on Lincoln because he insisted on retaining ownership of federal property.”

Who owns Federal Property?