The Battle of Fort Sumter

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The firing on that fort will inaugurate a civil war greater than any the world has yet seen…you will lose us every friend at the North. You will wantonly strike a hornet’s nest which extends from mountains to ocean. Legions now quiet will swarm out and string us to death. It is unnecessary. It put us in the wrong. It is fatal. –Robert Toombs. (Boerner paragraph 2). The Civil War impacted the course of history forever. But it had to start somewhere and the Battle of Fort Sumter marked the start. The Battle of Fort Sumter had various causes and effects. Before the start of the Civil War, conflict had been brewing between the states of the North and South. The election of Abraham Lincoln did not enhance the situation at all. Lincoln was a noted abolitionist and he wanted to abate the expansion of slavery into the Western states. The Southern states saw this as an infraction to their way of life by controlling their economy. How could the Northern states regulate the Southern states? The economy of the North was very different than the South. Especially since slavery was vital to farmers in the planting and harvesting the crops. Secession was on the horizon and Lincoln knew he had to do something to prevent this. To help build the Union Army, Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for 90 days. Every state was asked to fill a quota based on its population. This did not help Lincoln’s and only hurt the Union cause. This only enraged the Southern state more and seceding for the Union was becoming a reality. Fort Sumter was one of many forts during the Civil War in the United States, and was named after General Thomas Sumter who was a hero in the Revolutionary War. Plans for the fort were originally develope... ... middle of paper ... ...l War officially ended on April 18th, 1865. Was it by chance the initial battle started at Fort Sumter? Did President Lincoln use the situation at the fort to gain support in the North? Or was the battle initiated by the Confederates to gain supporters in the South, knowing they had the advantage in this battle? Historian will debate this topic for years to come. One thing is for certain, the outcome of the Civil War resulted in the reunification of the United States. Sadly, it took a war to reunite the nation and that war began at the Battle of Fort Sumter. Works Cited Atlas of the Civil War, the Everything Civil War Book, the www.boerner.net/jboerner/?p=10867 Fort Sumter:How Civil War Began with a Bloodless Battle An Illustrated History of the Civil War Images of an American Tradegy Civil War, the www.civilwar.org/battlefields/fort-sumter/html?tabfacts

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