Battle Fort Sumter. I Attaching Information I

¶ … battle fort Sumter. I attaching information I researched. The Battle of Fort Sumter has a particular significance in the history of the United States because it represented the first battle of the Civil War, the bloodiest war in the history of the country. It marked the point in which the battle for the union of the United States, as we know it today, was started.

The battle did not only represent a turning point in the history of the country but at the same time it established the grounds on which the issue of the secessionist states of the South would prove the point of breaking from the Union and the way in which Abraham Lincoln, the president at that time managed the situation.

The historical background behind the battle of the Fort Sumter is rather clear and focuses on the desire of the Southern states to break away from the Union as a result of the discussions and debates over the most important issue at the time, slavery. The institution of slavery was a well-established practice especially among the Southern states that had benefited from free labor especially in the cotton fields and around the house.

However, Abraham Lincoln was against this practice, not necessarily because of the injustice that was constantly created in terms of human rights, but rather as a result of subsequent political pressures that determined him to have an open mind concerning slavery and the African-American population in the United States. There are several points to consider in discussing the battle of Fort Sumter. Firstly, the significance it had on the evolution of the Civil War, in the sense that it marked the breaking point between the two armies.

Secondly, the tactics being used in the battle allowed the participants to envisage the modus operandi for the entire war. Thirdly, the result of the battle allowed for a development of the war that eventually ensured the existence of the Union and the evolution of the United States into a federal yet united state. The Fort had a particular importance for the war particularly because "The North considered the fort to be the property of the United States government.

The people of South Carolina believed it belonged to the new Confederacy. Four months later, the first engagement of the Civil War took place on this disputed soil." (U.S. History.org, 2013) This particular aspect is important because South Carolina was among the first states to break away from the Union and the point was strategic to ensure that this state would not eventually belong to the Secessionist forces.

At the same time though, the fort represented a strategic point in terms of commerce and supply as it was in the middle of Charleston Harbor. Yet, even so, by March 1861, the fort had been refused of supplies and the necessary means of survival for the men inside. This is not necessarily important for the Civil War as it is for the period under discussion. The Fort was a rather important trading point for the United States home and abroad.

This aspect is taken into account when underlining the measures that were taken during the Civil War in terms of trade and other related activities. More precisely, "During the Civil War, Union forces established a blockade of Confederate ports designed to prevent the export of cotton and the smuggling of war materiel into the Confederacy. The blockade, although somewhat porous, was an important economic policy that successfully prevented Confederate access to weapons that the industrialized North could produce for itself." (U.S. Dept.

Of State, 2013) This comes to point out that aside from the strategic importance of the Fort, the symbolic nature of the battle took into account the commercial value of what could have been traded thru the Fort. Even so, the strategic value gave it more weight.

The tactics that were used to attack the Fort were somewhat legit in the sense that Lincoln's approach took into account the need for assistance in terms of supplies for the people that had been in the Fort without food for a significant period of time. There are numerous accounts of the status of the people in the fort.

"Although they had been confined inside Fort Sumter for more than three months, unsupplied and poorly nourished, the men of the Union garrison vigorously defended their post from the Confederate bombardment that began on the morning of April 12, 1861" (U.S. Civil War, n.d.) More precisely, the aim of president Lincoln can be seen as "humanitarian" on the one hand, and strategic on the other.

In this sense, he agreed on sending out supplies, yet "Lincoln stressed that as long as the relief expedition was allowed to proceed, only food would be delivered, however if attacked, efforts would be made to reinforce the fort." (About.com, 2013) This aspect comes to point out that Lincoln's strategy was somewhat deceiving given the fact that a confrontation between the Union and the Confederacy was inevitable. The third point to take into account is the actual consequences of the Fort Sumter battle.

"One hundred and fifty years later, that war's profound implications still reverberate within American hearts, heads and politics, from the lingering consequences of slavery for African-Americans to renewed debates over states' rights and calls for the "nullification" of federal laws.

Many in the South have viewed secession a matter of honor and the desire to protect a cherished way of life." (Bordewich, 2011) This comes to point out that there is significant importance for the event because it laid the foundations for the war that defined the nature of the Union as it stands today. Another significant factor related to the Battle lies in the fact that despite outcome of the battle, managed to eventually ensure victory.

More precisely, "physically and emotionally drained, and halfway starved, Anderson and his men gazed back toward the fort where they had made grim history. In their future lay the slaughter pens of Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg, Chickamauga and hundreds more still unimaginable battlefields from Virginia to Missouri. The Civil War had begun." (Smithonian.org, 2013). The overall impression of the battle was that the actual war had begun as a result of the mix between the armies and the expected answer from the opposing side.

The eventual result of the battle.