Lincoln’s Choice

In April 1861 Abraham Lincoln made a choice to resupply Fort Sumter, located in Charleston Harbor.  In so doing he was fully aware that he risked having the convoy fired upon by Confederate forces in and around Charleston.  He also knew that he risked having the fort attacked by those same Confederates.

We know that Lincoln could have made a different choice, because he considered alternatives.  He had done so for weeks.

Given Lincoln’s commitment to reject secession, why did he make the choice he made?  What other choices were there?  Did he make the right choice?

Being Fair to a Defender of the Faith

George Purvis had a lot to say in response to my April Fool’s post on the SCV.  In his replies he confessed that he had not read the Constitution, defended acts of white supremacist terrorism, and claimed that enslaved blacks were citizens while avoiding other questions.