4:30 a.m.

Secession  Confederate officials soon began seizing federal mints, arsenals, and military installations all across the south

Fort Sumpter  Fort Sumter, South Carolina, was important because it guarded Charleston harbor. The US (Union Army) still had troops in this fort.  Why do you think the Confederacy attacked the fort?

Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor  The Union had control of this key southern fort  The Confederates knew controlling the fort meant controlling the ships and the harbor

Attack on Fort Sumter  President Lincoln was determined to find a way to hold the country together without giving in to Confederate demands  He wanted: To avoid a war with the southerners The southern states to return to the Union…peacefully  It was too late…

The Opening Salvo  The first shot of the American Civil War didn't hit anything It was a 10-inch mortar shell that exploded above Fort Sumter as a signal for Confederate artillery to open fire on the Union-held fort.

Edmund Ruffin, Confederate soldier who fired the first shot against Fort Sumter Maj. Robert Anderson, defender of Fort Sumter

Bombardment of Fort Sumpter Charleston Harbor, April

Fort during the battle Artists Rendition

Fort Sumter, S.C., April 14, 1861, under the Confederate flag.

Reaction to Fort Sumter  Lincoln’s Response -75,000 Volunteers and a blockade of all Southern ports  Both sides prepare for war Remember Lincoln’s inauguration – “In your hands, not mine, my disaffected countrymen…”

North and South