alt Hacker News> It is the only attempted coup d'état directed towards the Federal government in the history of the United States.
The Civil War in the early 1860s doesn't count because they just wanted to secede?
> It is the only attempted coup d'état directed towards the Federal government in the history of the United States.
The Civil War in the early 1860s doesn't count because they just wanted to secede?
The Civil War wasn't really a coup because the South wasn't trying to take over Washington D.C. or run the Federal government. A coup is usually a quick, behind the scenes power grab by a small group of people trying to unseat a leader. What happened in the 1860s was the exact opposite: it was a massive, public breakup where entire states voted to leave.