Why will no one answer KenH's question?
How can one regard the war in 1776 any different from the war in 1861? Both revolts were fought to free themselves from tyranny and to become a separate, independent nation. The issue of slavery aside. Or better yet, lets focus only on the slavery aspect. If there were no slaves in the south, would you still have been against the south? Why or why not? What difference should it make in the overall scheme of things?
The Declaration of Independence states that we, as human beings, have the right to separate our selves from a former government and create our own to our liking. The Founding Fathers wrote that. They believed that secession was a legal act. Just as the 13 colonies seceded from Britain, so did the southern states secede from the Union. Perfectly legal. If you say it's not, you've got your eyes covered. Even the state Constitutions stated, upon entering the Union, that the state had the right to disolve that Union whenever they wanted.
With regards to Ft. Sumter, let me put forth a hypothetical. At this time, the U.S. currently has an agreement, which may legally be nullified at anytime by either country, with Saudi Arabia which allows us to maintain a base and keep troops in their country as long as they allow it. If the leaders of Saudi Arabia were to nullify that agreement and state they want us out of their country, what would we do? Would we say no, then send more troops and supplies to fortify that base within Saudi Arabia's borders? How stupid would that be. If we did, could we then blame the Saudi's if they attacked us to get us out?
As was stated before, this was not a war to take over the entire United States. This was a war to withdraw from a Union that no longer served the purposes of a large number of people. It was legal and the only way to remove U.S. troops from the C.S.'s sovereign territory was by force. The attack occured due to a direct provocation by President Lincoln and the south acted in the only way they could to protect their freedoms.
Bro. James, who would willingly fight for the cause.