[Hoodat]

I stand corrected. The vote against secession occurred eight days prior to Fort Sumter. Yet it was Lincoln's demand for Virginia to raise troops and march against South Carolina which brought about the subsequent secession vote.

To his credit, Lincoln waited until the people had had their referendum before initiating his invasion of Virginia. But the bottom line here is that Virginia was not allowed to peacefully secede against the assurance they had been given in 1788. Hostilities in Virginia were initiated by the invading army of the North.

[x]

But if Virginia militia took over and cleared out the arsenal at Harper’s Ferry and seized the shipyards at Norfolk wasn’t that initiating hostilities?