Quote Originally Posted by denuseri View Post
He didnt invade anyone at the start, he just didnt role over and surender federal lands. The South did the invading to begin with by attacking Fort Sumter.

The precedent for Federal residing over state was decided upon long before Lincoln got into power.
A matter of semantics, I suppose, or of opinion. South Carolina seceded from the Union before the attack. Since the fort was within the territorial boundaries of the state, the garrison there was technically a foreign occupying force. There was no diplomatic status for the fort, so it could not be considered part of the Union. So the attack could not be called an invasion. Definitely a belligerent act, but not an invasion. The first invasion was the Union's attempt to take Richmond in July 1861, ending at the first Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). This was an actual invasion by Union troops into Confederate territory.

Whether the secession was legal or not is beside the point. The American colonies breaking away from England was not a legal enterprise, certainly not according to English law. The idea of the southern states seceding and forming a new nation is hardly different.