Читать книгу American Civil War For Dummies - Keith D. Dickson - Страница 85

This is a good question to ask about now. Who gets the blame for bringing the nation to such a terrible fate? The answer can very much depend on your partisan point of view. You can blame Lincoln for maneuvering Jefferson Davis into a confrontation, knowing that Davis had no choice but to resist the resupply effort. Lincoln even told him about the relief expedition just to make sure that Davis’s forces would be ready when it arrived. You can blame Jefferson Davis for being overly aggressive, seeking confrontation with the U.S. government over Sumter out of a misplaced sense of Southern national pride. You can also blame both of them equally for setting conditions neither could fulfill.

The problem was that compromise was impossible for either president. It was inevitable that shots would be fired. Lincoln had pledged to save the Union in March; 40 days later, he was at war. If Lincoln did not force a decision, the Confederacy would have gone on unmolested, mocking Lincoln’s oath. Davis pledged to defend the new Confederacy in February; 50 days later, he was at war. If Davis didn’t force a decision, the Confederacy would have no legitimacy, and the act of secession would be meaningless.

By authorizing the attack on Sumter, Davis made a conscious decision, knowing that the Confederate states could not leave the Union peacefully as he had hoped. He was perfectly willing to risk war, however, to secure the independence of the Confederacy. Lincoln, too, made a conscious decision by calling for 75,000 volunteers to crush what he now called a rebellion. The Confederate attack had put the Union in danger and the Confederate states had initiated armed aggression against the nation. He knew full well that his action risked losing all of the slave states to the Confederacy and thus initiating a war of terrifying magnitude. Yet he was willing to risk such a war for the principle of the Union.

Well, there you have it — plenty of blame to go around. Like it or not, history shows us that sometimes there just aren’t simple answers. Issues of war and peace can be mighty tough to sort out, and leaders can find themselves in a crisis with no other option except war. You pick your position and come out fighting.