Is that why he invaded the South?
Lincoln had a war forced on him when the confederates fired on Sumter and followed it by declaring war. The fact that most of the fighting was in the southern states in rebellion can be blamed on Jefferson Davis.
Is that why he invaded the South?
Hmmmm...I think you are a little confused.
January 4 Alabama militia sieze the U.S. arsenal at Mt. Vernon, AL. Alabama has not yet seceded.
January 5 Alabama militia sieze Ft. Morgan and Ft. Gaines in Mobile Bay.
January 7 Florida militia sieze the Federal fort at St. Augustine. Florida has not yet seceded.
January 8 Florida militia attempting to sieze Ft. Barrancas are driven off by Federal troops.
January 9 South Carolina militia fire on US merchant vessel Star of the West, preventing reinforcement and resupply of Ft. Sumter garrison.
Mississippi secedes.
January 10 Louisiana militia sieze all Federal forts and arsenals in the state. Louisiana has not yet seceded.
Florida (belatedly) secedes. Federal troops abandon Ft. Barrancas.
North Carolina militia capture Ft. Johnson and Ft. Caswell. North Carolina has not yet seceded.
January 11 Alabama (belatedly) secedes.
January 12 Florida militia demands the surrender of Federal troops in Ft. Pickens. The demand is refused.
Mississippi fortifies Vicksburg and closes the Mississippi River to all traffic. Mississippi is the only state on the river, at this point, which has seceded.
January 19 Georgia secedes.
January 21 Mississippi militia sieze Ft. Massachussetts and Ship Island.
January 25 Georgia militia sieze the federal arsenal at Augusta. North Carolina calls for a referendum on secession.
January 26 Georgia militia sieze Ft. Jackson and Oglethorpe Barracks.
Louisiana (belatedly) secedes.
January 31 The U.S. Mint in New Orleans is siezed by Louisiana militia.
February 1 Texas submits an article of secession to popular referendum for February 23.
February 4 Delegates from the six seceded states meet in Montgomery to form the Confederate States of America.
February 9 Tennessee rejects secession in popular referendum by a large margin.
February 16 Texas militia sieze the federal arsenal at San Antonio. Texas has not yet seceded.
February 18 Texas militia besiege Federal army headquarters for Texas in San Antonio and force the surrender of over 3,000 troops. Texas has -still- not seceded.
Jefferson Davis inaugurated as President of the Confederacy.
February 21 The Confederate Provisional Congress orders Mississippi to end the blockade at Vicksburg.
March 20 Harbor authorities in Mobile sieze the U.S. merchant supply ship Isabella, loaded with supplies for Ft. Pickens, Florida.
April 3 Confederate batteries in Charleston harbor fire on US schooner Rhoda H. Shannon.
April 4 Virginia's State Convention rejects secession 2 to 1.
April 12 Confederate troops open fire on Ft. Sumter; Federal troops reinforcing Ft. Pickens, FL from sea are fired upon by more Confederate troops. The Civil War 'officially' begins.
April 15 Lincoln calls for 75,000 militiamen to serve for three months to put down the insurrection in the South.
April 16 Isham Harris, governor of Tennessee, requests military alliance with the Confederacy. Tennessee has NOT seceded and is making treaty or confederation with another power, violating the Constitution.
April 17 Virginia secedes.
Sounds to me like President Lincoln was arranging to reoccupy a lot of federal property occupied by thieves and thugs.
You can snatch a purse. That doesn't make it yours.
Walt
Is that why he invaded the South?
"There is another precedent to consider, the case of Luther v. Borden, 48 U.S. 1 (1849) (USSC+) which dealt with occurrences during Dorr's Rebellion in RI in 1842. During that "Rebellion," there were two entities in RI that claimed to be the lawful state government.
In Luther v Borden, the court ruled that President has the power to decide [which] government of the state is in fact legitimate, and that the Courts have no authority to overrule the President's decision either during the crisis or after the fact. The court noted that:
" Undoubtedly, if the President in exercising this power, shall fall into error or invade the rights of the people of the State, it would be in the power of Congress to apply the proper remedy."
Now, clearly it is possible for a situation to exist where a state has no legitimate government - that is, an interregnum exists. During such a period there may be zero, one, two, or more than two entities claiming to be the legitimate government, but in fact none of them are legitimate.
Since the President has the power to decide which of two (or more) claimants is the legitimate government, the President must have the power to decide that *none* of the claimants is the legitimate government.
I submit that this is what Lincoln did in 1861. Having exercised his power to determine that no lawful government existed in the so-called seceded states, he then used the powers vested in him "as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States" to suppress the actual and armed rebellion.
Thus, Lincoln had the power to act without waiting for a request from a Governor or State Legislature. And Congress fully supported Lincoln in doing so."
-- from the ACW moderated newsgroup.
Walt