Your first point is true. And the south did themselves a disservice firing first. But we both know Lincoln goaded the south. Still fair play, they fired first.
And while Lincoln said he would sign the Corwin amendment that didn't deal with the issue of the expansion of slavery.
Lincoln said he was going to withdraw troops from Fort Sumpter. Instead he sent reinforcements and supplies. The south fired first because they weren't idiots.
And if they hadn't fired first, would the union troops have packed up their supplies and munitions and shipped out on their warships? Because that's the only situation in which it would have been a trap. It was an act of war.
The fort wasn't going to effect anything. The south could have left it alone. Lincoln resupplied after the south said to leave it. It was a staring contest and the North won it. Lincoln wanted them to be fired upon, and the South wanted to be seen as just defending their home. Instead the South looked like the aggressors and Lincoln used that.
I don't know that he did. As far as I know, he was grossly misinformed about pro-Unionist sentiment in the south and he believed that it would rear its head... rather than wanting a full out war.
And while Lincoln said he would sign the Corwin amendment that didn't deal with the issue of the expansion of slavery.
Was it an issue? Why should the Republicans, who had just won an election running on stopping the expansion of slavery, 'deal with' that in any way other than by fulfilling their campaign promises?
Your first point is true. And the south did themselves a disservice firing first. But we both know Lincoln goaded the south. Still fair play, they fired first.
And while Lincoln said he would sign the Corwin amendment that didn't deal with the issue of the expansion of slavery.
Lincoln said he was going to withdraw troops from Fort Sumpter. Instead he sent reinforcements and supplies. The south fired first because they weren't idiots.
Yeah that's the trap. Who would fire first.
And if they hadn't fired first, would the union troops have packed up their supplies and munitions and shipped out on their warships? Because that's the only situation in which it would have been a trap. It was an act of war.
The fort wasn't going to effect anything. The south could have left it alone. Lincoln resupplied after the south said to leave it. It was a staring contest and the North won it. Lincoln wanted them to be fired upon, and the South wanted to be seen as just defending their home. Instead the South looked like the aggressors and Lincoln used that.
I don't know that he did. As far as I know, he was grossly misinformed about pro-Unionist sentiment in the south and he believed that it would rear its head... rather than wanting a full out war.
Was it an issue? Why should the Republicans, who had just won an election running on stopping the expansion of slavery, 'deal with' that in any way other than by fulfilling their campaign promises?
Because it cost him a plurality of states.