Blockade runners of the American Civil War
The proclamation raised an immediate question of whether the action by the seceding states was a rebellion or a war. Legally, based on the United States Constitution it was an armed insurrection "levying war against the United States" which made them guilty of treason. But, in dealing with foreign governments, the U.S. always treated the Confederates as rebels and not belligerents at war with the United States.