[jeffersondem]

“A seasoned lawyer, Lincoln knew that letting the South strike first put them in the wrong under the constitution and legitimated the North's position.”

The South responded to Lincoln's skillful use of the U.S. Navy to provoke the Gulf of Tonkin Incident - err, I mean the Fort Sumter Incident. Let's set that aside.

When you write about the “North's position” - what position was that?

[Rockingham]

The North's position was that secession was illegal and the the South had no right to demand the removal of federal troops and the abandonment of federal installations.

Foolishly, the new Confederate states and government backed the attack on Fort Sumter. Calling the routine resupply of Fort Sumter a provocation quite misses the point that the South was spoiling for a fight. They falsely believed that the North had neither the stomach nor the capacity for a fight.