Part one of term paper
From the time the South demanded the return of Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens, tension had been building in expectation of Lincoln’s reply. The options available to Lincoln were limited, and those that were available were further limited by constraints of time and man-power. Lincoln’s options were also limited by his goals. Lincoln had a ...

Part two of term paper
... to push at all. An additional goal was to perhaps lure the border states onto the northern side. This was an important goal because it fell in line with Lincoln’s un-hostile attitude. By being attacked first, he could say he was responding to an act of war on the United States. One of Lincoln’s options was to sit by and do nothing. This was not really an option, however, because abandoning his soldiers at this fort would not only lower the morale of his entire army, but could also turn ...