Chapter 20
Big Question- The South’s attack on Fort Sumter can be seen as the mistake that started the Civil War. The South was so agitated and ready to fight, that when Lincoln made the decision to “provision” the fort, they immediately believed that the North meant to reinforce it with Union troops. This miscalculated, jump-to-the-worst-possible-conclusion, was favorable to the North because it kept the Border States loyal to the Union. If the Union was to attack first, Lincoln would have lost the support of the Border States, who would have succeeded, making the war impossible to win.
This can be compared to the attack of the Japanese on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Japanese miscalculated the effect that the loss of the ships at Pearl Harbor…show more content… While nobles in Europe supported the South, in hopes that a divided Union might help them to claim territory in the Western Hemisphere, common people voted for the Union. Although Britain didn’t officially recognize the Confederate States for fear of angering the Union, they did help out the South by taking control of Union ships.
7. King Cotton was dethroned due to a fatal flaw that was built into its design. Due to the enormous amount of productivity before the war, Britain had stored up enough excess cotton to last them for another year and a half.
8. During times of war, Presidents are sometimes required to bend the rules that are given to them by the Constitution. President Lincoln was justified in his violations of ordinary civil liberties due to extreme circumstances needed to keep order during the war.
9. The South succeeding caused a major problem that ended up backfiring on them. Included in their constitution was the ability for individual states to succeed, and with the emphasis put on states operating on their own, another succession did not seem far off.
10. The Civil War greatly impacted both sides, but was especially helpful to the Union economy. Factories who were protected by the tariff boomed during the war and support the economy, which came out of the war in better shape than when it went