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I think it was Longstreet who said "We should have freed the slaves first, then fired on Sumter."

The war would have happened with or without the institution of slavery. It was about the rule of the Federal Govt who did not believe (through their dictator Lincoln), that the South had the right to secede. Might doesn't make right, it only makes you in charge. But it won't last forever.

Under secessionist rule, the penalty for possession of a U.S. flag was death by hanging. As a pro-secessionist, are you also in favor of hanging people for possessing a U.S. flag?

The war would have happened with or without the institution of slavery. It was about the rule of the Federal Govt who did not believe (through their dictator Lincoln), that the South had the right to secede.

You make is sound like the desire to secede was floating in a vacuum -- what drove the desire -- slavery!

The war would have happened with or without the institution of slavery. It was about the rule of the Federal Govt who did not believe (through their dictator Lincoln), that the South had the right to secede.

Heh heh. The south started the war before Lincoln was even able to warm the president's chair. Here's the chronology of treason:

November 6, 1860: Lincoln defeats Douglas, Breckinridge, and Bell for the Presidency.
December 20, 1860: South Carolina convention passes ordinance of seccession.
January 3, 1861: Georgia seizes Fort Pulaski.
January 4, 1861: Alabama seizes U.S. arsenal at Mount Vernon.
January 5, 1861: Alabama seizes Forts Morgan and Gaines.
January 6, 1861: Florida seizes Apalachicola arsenal.
January 7, 1861: Florida seizes Fort Marion.
January 8, 1861: Floridians try to seize Fort Barrancas but are chased off.
January 9, 1861: Mississippi secedes. Star of the West fired on in Charleston Harbor
January 10, 1861: Florida secedes. Louisiana seizes U.S. arsenal at Baton Rouge, as well as Forts Jackson and St. Philip.
January 11, 1861: Alabama secedes. Louisiana seizes U.S. Marine Hospital.
January 14, 1861: Louisiana seizes Fort Pike.
January 19, 1861: Georgia secedes.
January 26, 1861: Louisiana secedes.
February 1, 1861: Texas secedes.
February 8, 1861: Provisional Constitution of the Confederacy adopted in Montgomery, AL. Arkansas seizes U.S. Arsenal at Little Rock.
February 12, 1861: Arkansas seizes U.S. ordnance stores at Napoleon.
February 18, 1861: Jefferson Davis inaugurated as President of the Confederacy.
March 4, 1861: Abraham Lincoln inaugurated as 16th President of the United States.
April 12, 1861: Fort Sumter fired upon by Confederates.