The Civil War 1860-1865 - Fort Sumter

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) The Civil War, 1860–1865 Fort Sumter To Southern secessionists, President Lincoln made it plain that he would fight to preserve federal property and the Union. However, some leaders continued to believe that the problem might be resolved without resorting to force. Representative Thomas Corwin of Ohio presented a bill to modify the Constitution in the House of Representatives in February 1861 in an attempt to persuade the states that were in rebellion to rejoin the Union without using force. His was only one of several plans put out in January and February of 1861 to avert the approaching war and preserve American sovereignty. The proposed amendment would have prevented Congress from enacting any legislation that would have outlawed slavery. On February 28, 1861, the House approved the plan, and on March 2, 1861, the Senate did the same. After then, the states were asked to ratify it. It would become a law after being approved by three-quarters of state legislatures. Lincoln said in his inaugural address that he did not object to the amendment, and that of his predecessor, James Buchanan. On the other hand, seven states had already broken away from the Union by the time of Lincoln's inauguration. Among the remaining states, Ohio became a signatory to the amendment in 1861, followed by Illinois and Maryland in 1862. The Confederate states did not rejoin the Union in spite of their attempts at reconciliation. In fact, Confederate soldiers in the Deep South had already started seizing federal forts by the time the Corwin amendment passed Congress. The conflict between the federal government and the emerging Confederacy reached a boiling point with the fall of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina's harbor. Because the fort was occupied by a tiny Union garrison of less than a hundred troops and officers, the Confederacy had easy access to it. Jefferson Davis was under pressure from Fire-Eaters to seize Fort Sumter in order to show the determination of the Confederate government. Some also believed that by seizing control of the South's most significant Atlantic port, the Confederacy would win respect from other countries, particularly from Great Britain. By mid-April, the garrison's supplies were running low as local merchants refused to sell food to the Union soldiers stationed at the fort, making the situation worse. Confederate commanders were informed by President Lincoln of his intention to replenish the Union army. His plan was quite clear: the Confederates, not the Union, would decide whether or not to declare war. Confederate soldiers in Charleston started bombarding Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. The Union forces there surrendered two days later. Following the attack on Fort Sumter, which signaled the start of the war, Abraham Lincoln requested on April 15, 1861, that allies provide the necessary military forces to put an end to the insurrection and retake Fort Sumter. Border states and the Upper South, which had previously been unwilling to sever their links with the United States, were spurred to action when forced to choose between the Confederacy and the Union. They cast their secession votes fast. Two days after Lincoln called for soldiers, on April 17, a conference in Virginia that had been summoned previously to discuss the issue of secession decided to join the Confederacy. Ten days later, on May 6, Arkansas also declared its independence from the Union. On May 20, North Carolina was next. But not every person living in the Upper South and border states wanted to become a member of the Confederacy. In Tennessee, sentiments in favor of the Union persisted, particularly in the eastern region where the majority of enslaved people were affluent people's house servants. The state of Virginia, the birthplace of presidents and revolutionary leaders including James Madison, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe, was essentially divided on the subject of secession. Few slaveholders lived in the north and west of the state, where many opposed secession. Following their union, these counties became "West Virginia," which became a free state and joined the Union in 1863. The remaining portions of Virginia joined the Confederacy, including the historically significant Chesapeake Bay region that served as the site of early American towns like Jamestown and Williamsburg. The Confederacy gained even more optimism with the addition of this territory, and they gained the support of General Robert E. Lee, who was considered the greatest military leader of the time. Furthermore, the secession of Virginia drew Washington, DC, closer to the Confederacy, and Lincoln was troubled by worries that Maryland, a border state, would follow suit and ensnared the nation's capital inside Confederate territory. In the Indian Territory, the so-called Five Civilized Tribes also sided with the Confederacy. The Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Seminoles, and Cherokees were the Five Civilized Tribes. Numerous tribal members held slaves, and the tribes were pro-slavery. Following their forcible removal from their holdings in Georgia and other Deep South states under Andrew Jackson's administration, these Native American slaveholders discovered a hitherto unheard-of common cause with White slaveholders. They were permitted to send representatives to the Confederate Congress by the CSA as well. Four significant slave states stayed in the Union while the majority of slaveholding states joined the Confederacy. Despite having a very small number of slaves, Delaware was nonetheless considered a slave state and never voted to secede. Even with severe disagreements, Maryland continued to be a part of the Union. Although Missouri never joined the Confederacy, it became the scene of bloody battles and the home of guerillas supporting the Confederacy. Although the state of Kentucky declared itself neutral, internal conflict continued unabated. All all, these four states denied the Confederacy vital supplies and military personnel.