[NovemberCharlie]

Forcing the other slave states to get off the fence was, IMHO, the real reason the Confederacy fired on Sumter, instead of waiting a couple of days for them to be starved out.

Wasn't there a supply ship en route?

[Restorer]

Wasn't there a supply ship en route?

Yeah, but they could have turned back the supply ship without firing on an American flag in a federal installation. They had turned back previous supply ships without it leading to war. They wanted war. The states that had seceded by that point did not constitute a viable nation. The outbreak of war forced the other slave states to get off the fence.