The Crucible of War by Fred Anderson :: Civil War Slavery American History Essays

The Crucible of War by Fred AndersonAn account of ex- slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass opens this chapter. When intelligence information arrived of the Confederacy firing on Fort Sumter, Douglass cheered the outbreak of the fighting and capital of Nebraskas sworn statement to maintain the Union. Douglass recognized that the Union was fighting solely to uphold the warfare paint and preserve the people, not to end slavery but he in addition understood, much earlier than most, that a war to save the Union would of necessity become a war to end slavery. And the War CamePresident capital of Nebraska was determined to stop the spread of secession and to take no sue that would push the still undecided focal ratio South into seceding. He seek to reassure the Deep South of the safety of slavery, giving Unionists there the orifice of reasserting themselves and overturning the secession finish, but at the same time he do it clear that he was determined to uphold the Union. H is Confederate counterpart, Jefferson Davis, was equally determined to see an independent Confederate States of America. While neither man want war, both knew one side would provoke it sooner or later, and the war would come. The Surrender of Fort Sumter Fort Sumter, a federally manned beef up inside Charleston harbor, was a hateful symbol to the Confederacy of the nation it had abandoned. Union forces at the fort were running short of supplies and, unless they were reprovisioned, would have to evacuate. Lincoln knew that to surrender Sumter would be to abandon his commitment to preserving the Union, so he direct a relief expedition, telling Confederates that there would be no search to send troops or munitions unless the supply ships were attacked. TheConfederates faced a dilemma If they allowed the ships through, they would be submitting to federal authority, but taking the fort would make them the aggressors. The decision was made on April 12. When Fort Sumters Union comman der refused the southern revise to surrender, Confederate shore batteries began shelling the fort, which surrendered on April 14, 1861. The Civil War had begun. The Upper South Chooses Sides Lincolns proclamation calling for the loyal states to muster 75,000 volunteers to put come out the rebellion forced the other slave states to choose sides. Over the beside five weeks, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina seceded. The Confederacy now contained eleven of the fifteen slave states. In the border slave states ofKentucky, De equityare, Maryland, and Missouri, secession was thwarted by a combination of local Unionism and federal intervention, including the use of martial law to suppress Confederate sympathizers.