Never a serious student of the Civil War, I ask this question honestly and without bias. How would a panel of the best qualified Constitutional scholars view the war in retrospect? Was it legal? Or was it Mr Lincoln and supporters, saying, no, I'll kill you before I let you divorce me?
How about this for an answer. How many Confederate military or civilian officials were convicted of treason after the war? Note that the vast majority of the Confederate military officer corps that survived the war, both the Confederate president and vice president, the majority of the Confederate presidential cabinet, senators, congressmen, etc., etc., were either captured or publicly available. Both the president and vice president were held as prisoners for a time. NOT ONE, NONE, NADDA of them were tried for treason nor even for disturbing the peace. NONE. The U.S. Supreme Court warned that if any were so charged, they would likely be found not guilty and therefore the war waged on the seceding states would have been found to have been illegal. That is historical FACT.
