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Lincoln made it clear that Sumter was a US fort and not one belonging to South Carolina.

South Carolina was blocking access to a US fort. Lincoln did exactly what many other governments would have done in the same situation. Your facts are somewhat amiss in that Lincoln was planning on attacking Charleston. He was planning on relieving the fort. There IS a big difference between the two.

I’d say the American public is a bit more aware of what happened down there than you give them credit for.

Lincoln made it clear that Sumter was a US fort and not one belonging to South Carolina.

You didn't answer my question about whether you knew about the warships sailing to attack the Confederates. This question is relevant because if you didn't know about that, It is likely that you didn't know about a whole lot of other things that further cause reasonable people to question Lincoln's actions.

The US government had been sending signals about the evacuating the fort both before and after Lincoln took office. This Union Army officer (Abner Doubleday, brevet Major-General, U.S.A.)says that the Confederates were informed in December of 1860 that control of the forts would be turned over to them.

Soon after his arrival which took place on the 21st of November, Anderson wanted the sand removed from the walls of Moultrie, and urged that it be done. Suddenly the Secretary of War seemed to adopt this view. He pretended there was danger of war with England, with reference to Mexico, which was absurd; and under this sudden zeal to put the harbor of Charleston in condition,-to be turned over to the Confederate forces. He appropriated $150,000 for Moultrie and $80,000 to finish Sumter.

I’d say the American public is a bit more aware of what happened down there than you give them credit for.

The American Public has been sold a narrative since at least 1860, and is unaware of a whole lot of things that shed a very different light on the events surrounding that period. I used to be among them in believing the official narrative, and over time I learned that much of it is very misleading.

So did you know about warships sailing to attack the Confederates?

I'll tell you something else. General Beauregard sent word to Major Anderson (Beauregard was Anderson's student at West Point) and informed him that Ships were coming to attack Beauregard's forces. He asked for Anderson's word that he would not use the guns of the fort to attack the Confederate forces if those ships showed up and started attacking them.

Anderson refused. Beauregard clearly understood that when the ships attacked, so too would Ft. Sumter.

So what would you do?