3. The civil war begins
Between the time of Lincoln's election and his inauguration, seven states from the lower South seceded. During his inaugural speech, Lincoln tried to pacify the South by stating that he will not interfere with slavery where it exists but declared that the secession of states from the Union was illegal.
But when Lincoln entered his office on the first morning after his inauguration he was confronted with profoundly disturbing news of fort Sumter in a potentially vulnerable situation with all their provisions exhausting. Ford Sumter was a symbol of prestige for the government since it was one of the last remaining federal station in South. Lincoln found himself on the horns of dilemma. He had to either order a reinforcement …show more content…
Many lives were lost each day and the press had to be censored to reduce panic among the people. Yet the residents of Washington lived in a state of constant fear. Stores were closed. Windows and Doors barricaded. It were dark times for the nation. The civil war was going on and the tensions started to arise from abroad too. A member of British Parliament had introduced a resolution urging England to accord The Southern Confederacy belligerent status. It was a tangled situation altogether for Lincoln. During the Civil War, Union forces had established a blockade of Confederate ports designed to prevent the export of cotton and the smuggling of war materiel into the Confederacy. But England was desperately trying to pass a resolution to give confederate ships the same rights enjoyed by federal ships since the former wanted to ensure a continuing supply of cotton reaching their country. While strict action had to be taken to prevent England from passing this, Lincoln had no intention of fighting two wars at once. He had to act strategically. Seward had already prepared a surly letter to be sent to Francis Adams and meant to be read by Britain’s foreign secretary. But Lincoln recognised the hostile undertone in the letter and altered the tone of the letter to make it seem as a warning and at the same time not crossing any boundaries. This became basis for a third line policy that became influential in interrupting British momentum towards the confederacy. Lincoln had opted for the least provocative way to neutralize a potential