History of the United States I / Unit 15 USH1 2111 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Fort Sumter
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The idea
A Union garrison of fewer than one hundred men held Fort Sumter in Charleston harbour, and Fire-Eaters pressed Davis to take it, hoping for foreign recognition.
In practice
Local merchants refusing to sell food, with supplies running out by mid-April.
Where people slip
British recognition was the particular hope, so the Confederacy's foreign policy shaped its first military decision.
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