"My policy sought only to collect the Revenue (a 40 percent federal sales tax on imports to Southern States under the Morrill Tariff Act of 1861)." reads paragraph 5 of Lincoln's First Message to the U.S. Congress, penned July 4, 1861.
"I have no purpose, directly or in-directly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so," Lincoln said it his first inaugural on March 4 of the same year.
"Whereas an insurrection against the Government of the United States has broken out and the laws of the United States for the collection of the revenue cannot be effectually executed therein." -April 1861
On Dec. 25, 1860, South Carolina declared unfair taxes to be a cause of secession: "The people of the Southern States are not only taxed for the benefit of the Northern States, but after the taxes are collected, three-fourths (75%) of them are expended at the North (to subsidize Wall Street industries that elected Lincoln)." (Paragraphs 5-8)
On April 8th 4 days before the famous shots fired at Fort Sumter, Lincoln sent a fleet of war ships led by USRC/USS Harriet Lane to reinforce Fort Sumter which was in Charleston harbor to collect the new tax. USS Harriet Lane was a revenue cutter that became a warship. Revenue cutters previously called Revenue-Marine were armed ships for the Treasury Department meant to enforce tax collection.
Between 1790 and 1798 cutters were the only armed ships in service as the US did not maintain a standing Navy. USS Harriet Lane was 177.5 feet long, 30.5 feet wide one four-inch rifled Parrott gun to the forecastle, one nine-inch Dahlgren gun before the first mast, two eight-inch Dahlgren Columbiads and two twenty-four-pound brass howitzers. Her crew of 95 were also issued small arms.
It arrived on April 11th still a full day before the famous "shots fired" when Capt. George S. James fired a single 10-inch mortar round above Ft. Sumter. The Yankee tax collection ship that had invaded Charleston Harbor fired a 32 pound shot across the bow of a civilian steam ship Nashville. The union has sent its tax collection ships as well as other war ships to South Carolina to collect the tax and they fired first. It was the following day the South fired of the import-export tax collection fort. The Yankee ship would continue to fight in many naval battles until it wrecked off of Hatteras NC trying to enter the Pamlico Sound. It was repair and re-entered the war. However at the battle of Galvaston, after sinking a tug boat, the ship was boarded and taken over. Union Commander Edward Lea was wounded as the re-occupied confederate forts opened fire and ground troops boarded the anchored ships. Le's father Confederate Major Albert M. Lea boarded the Harriet to find his son had was nearly dead. He died in his father's arms.
A young 10 year old boy, the young son of Captain Wainwright continued to fire to revolvers until both was out of ammo, from the boat cabin after his father had been killed. Why his father brought a 10 year old boy on a naval ship in the middle of a war is the epitome of arrogance and stupidity. The boy did survive. The Confederates captured the ship that started the war as well as a United States signal service code book that had been left in her cabin. The would use the ship as a blockaded runner and send cotton to Cuba. It was then entered into the British naval registry and named Lavinia, and not recovered by the US until after the war.
The war really was brother against brother and father against son. Slavery was already being phased out and that was going to happen anyway. Wage slavery is cheaper, which is why it had already been phased out of many other nations, free-markets increase autonomy. But Lincoln needed his revenue. He personally invested in the railroad business. He could not allow the division of the union as they would lose too much money. Apparently reversing the protective tariff instead was never an option. But when they started the war, they thought it was going to be quick war over and done in months. It wasn't, but the deeper they got into it the more he fell into the sunk-in-fallacy. There was no point in murdering hundreds of thousands of people. Share Cropping replaced slavery after the 13th amendment anyway and millions of whites and blacks tilled the land in slave conditions while expendable Chinamen were building the railroad from West to East and American Indians were murdered ro driven away from all the land in between. After that script pay and then wage slavery was instituted which eventually morphed into off shore slavery and sweatshops. Wallstreet and giant Northern industry still enjoy government subsidies and exploitation of labor from illegal immigrants and off shore penny pay factories. It was never about freedom or human rights and still isn't. It is about money. It was then and unfortunately it still is now.