Actually I think I am. I went and looked back at Tuesday at what you called your 'main point': The South was looking for a fight, and Lincoln only too gladly gave them what they were looking for.
By 'only too gladly' I take you to mean Lincoln's actions were deliberate and their intent was to provoke a fight. And if I'm right in that then I can't seem to find where I have back tracked on my position which I began laying out in post 1051 where I said that I did not believe that Lincoln set out to start a war when he launched his resupply mission to Sumter. He may have feared the result but unlike you I did not believe that war was his purpose. In post 1060 I laid out what I believed were indications that he didn't set out for war. Your post 1064 contradicted me and claimed Lincoln knew without a doubt his actions would result in war and deliberately went ahead anyway. So that brings us up to today. Without recapping the sniping going back and forth between us, I still can't find where I retracted anything I said earlier and agree with you that Lincoln knew without a doubt his actions would lead to war. And you've not tried to show anything to support your claim that he knew without a doubt that supplying Sumter would. And now here we are.
Close, but not right.
I did say the South was looking for a fight and the Lincoln gladly gave it to him. And yes, I meant, that Lincoln understood the consequences of resupplying the fort. This without a doubt is your construct.
But you said.. that because Lincoln's words were peaceful that he wasn't looking for fight therefore he did not think resupplying would lead to a fight.
How politically naive of Lincoln... especially in the light of what he was just told by Lamon.
Here is the rest of my post 1064 states: "You can't argue history like that because now your argument doesn't take into account the South as a player in the conflict. The only agent in your construct is Lincoln. What he wants. No conflict can be understood under that type of constricting historiography. One side was not passive while the other was active. Both were there shaping the events."
When you factor in what the South was saying about the resupply of the fort... did Lincoln still believe he could resupply in peace...
I still can't find where I retracted anything I said earlier and agree with you that Lincoln knew without a doubt his actions would lead to war. And you've not tried to show anything to support your claim that he knew without a doubt that supplying Sumter would. And now here we are.
No, here we are: (from earlier today) Let me restate the debate we were having on Tuesday: I said that Lincoln knew full well that if he sailed into the harbor he would have a war.
You didn't believe he did because he told the South that he was going to reprovision the forts and why do that if you wanted war. Now Hurlbut's statement has been introduced. Hurlbut says, he told Lincoln that if you reprovision the forts, you have a war for that is what the South wants.
Let me repeat: this is the debate.
I am not arguing whether Lincoln was right or wrong in what he did. (I have an opinion on that but don't assume you know it... I just don't want it to get in the way of the true debate we are having) I am not arguing choices, etc.
In the light of both Lamon and Hurlbut's statements, and what he was told by commissioners, governors, etc., and what he read in both northern and southern newspapers... did he know that his actions would bring about a war?
If the answer is yes than my argument stands...The South was itching for a fight, and Lincoln gave it to them. If the answer is no than Lincoln was the stupidest man to ever occupy the White House for he could not properly discern the signs of the time.
And you've not tried to show anything to support your claim that he knew without a doubt that supplying Sumter would. And now here we are.
Actually, knowing you reputation, if the quote existed in the world that supported you... you would have already posted it.
I will go through the trouble...
And here you are again, eternally shameless, utterly refuted in the by-and-by on this very point, working your grift yet again on an unsuspecting customer who thinks you're on the level.