Fort SumterPages 497-500

No Time to Celebrate Lincoln had little time to celebrate winning

the election. He wanted to save the Union and keep the

country together. Seven states had already seceded from the

Union.

Decisions - Decisions Some people told Lincoln to just let the

Southern states go. Others said he should give in on slavery

and hope the Southern states would return. Some thought Lincoln should use the army

to end the revolt.

Losing Control When the Southern states seceded, they

took control of post offices, forts, and other federal property in their states.

Fort Sumter, a fort on an island off the coast of South Carolina, remained under Union control.

Major Robert Anderson was the commander of the fort.

Fort Sumter Major Anderson sent word to President

Lincoln that supplies at the fort were almost gone.

He told President Lincoln that if fresh supplies were not sent he would be forced to surrender the fort to the Confederacy.

Lincoln’s goal was to keep Fort Sumter under Union control.

A Tough Decision Lincoln had a few choices:

He could send supplies to the fort but Southerners might attack.

He could send troops to the fort but Southerners would surely attack then.

He could choose to do nothing at all which would mean he was giving the fort up to the Confederacy.

Lincoln’s Choice President Lincoln

decided that he should send supply ships to the fort and wait to see how Southerners would react.

President Jefferson Davis President

Jefferson Davis had to make a decision. His goal was to take control of Fort Sumter for the Confederacy.

Davis’s Choice President Davis made a choice that would

possibly result in war. Davis decided to take over the fort before

Union ships arrived with fresh supplies. On April 12, 1861, Confederate leaders

demanded that Union forces surrender Fort Sumter.

Major Anderson refused.

Shots Fired The Confederate troops fired on the fort. The next day Major Anderson ran out of

ammunition and had to give up. President Lincoln asked Americans to join

the army and stop the rebellion.

More States Secede Fearing that Northern armies would march

into the south, the states of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the seven states that had already left the Union.

A total of 11 states were now part of the Confederacy.

The Civil War had begun.