“And there we have it. A purely ‘might makes right’ justification for Lincoln’s actions at Fort Sumter. This is, in my experience, what most Lincoln apologias reduce to if you explore them far enough.”
I’m at a loss as to how South Carolina’s claims amount to anything more than Might Makes Right.
Well both sides in the dispute acknowledged and practiced the principles of sovereignty and imminent domain. To the extent that those two principles are legitimate South Carolina was clearly acting on a basis other than just might makes right. The fort was in their territory. A libertarian might deny the legitimacy of notions like sovereignty and imminent domain, but I prefer to judge the two parties by the standards they both professed.
By what right did the US evict the British army from Detroit?