Lincoln and Ft. Sumter

[Laurie Verge]

I know that I'm going to take a beating on this one, but grandmas do anything for their grandchildren -- especially for one who loves history (his mother doesn't!).

My 7th grade grandson will be entering his school's National History Day contest soon. This year's theme is Turning Points in History, and he has chosen the fall of Ft. Sumter and the title of The Shots that Changed America. He wants to end it with the ironic conclusion that the Fort was reclaimed with the official flag raising on the same day that another shot occurred that affected the country - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

That said, I was discussing some of the points with him as he started his outline and mentioned the theory that some historians have suggested that Lincoln forced the Confederacy into firing the first shots in order to precipitate the beginnings of the war.

I have thought this over and over and read several online essays and book excerpts on it and can't make up my mind. My grandson, however, blabbed to his teacher that, "My grandma said....." His teacher told him he would have a hard time documenting that. He has taken it as a challenge - I have taken it as a sidebar to be suggested, but not used as the full project.

Therefore, I am throwing the subject into this arena to get your feelings on whether or not Lincoln intended to trick the Confederacy into firing the first shots at Sumter -- or anywhere else for that matter. I will download your comments and hand them over to him to analyze. Please remember that he's a twelve-year-old 7th grader, however.