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I already agreed that the South fired the first shot. Aren't you even curious as to how that happened.

I know the details.

Don't you ever even wonder if there was a way to have prevented war?

If the South wanted to prevent war, the first step would have been not steal property, and then not fire on the other side.

The union forces at Fort Sumter didn't have a prayer of holding out, because they were almost out of food and ammo. Lincoln knew this. He could have withdrawn the forces without incident, and let the South go its own way. The commander at the Fort was also given ample opportunity to leave.

Why leave? It was federal property.

Historical accounts portray the leaders from both sides as being particularly amiable toward each other even in surrender.

So the cannonballs weren't really cannonballs?

Now, what if Fort Sumter had not happened? Do you think that Lincoln would have just let the South go? Wasn't he determined to keep the union together? Was there anyway to prevent the South from secession without war?

We'll never know.

I always thought it was a good thing the Union remained together, but it was a bloody war, and I do wonder if there was any way to avoid it.

Don't secede for the abominable cause of slavery.