American History Tellers - Civil War | The Gathering Storm | 1

Episode Date: July 27, 2022

Over the first decades of the 19th century, Americans fought over whether slavery should be allowed to expand into newly settled western territories. The debate grew so fierce that it led to a bloody attack right on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Many believed that the fight over slavery had made the bonds of union more brittle than ever. Then, in 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with a promise to keep slavery out of the West. Lincoln’s victory was the tipping point. One by one, Southern states took steps to sever their ties to the Union, and America hurtled down the path to Civil War.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersPlease support us by supporting our sponsors!There was a publishing issue when this episode was originally released which we quickly resolved. If you are hearing the incorrect audio, here are some things to try:1. If the episode is downloaded to your app, delete it and re-download2. Try listening in another podcast app, preferably on a different device if you have one available3. Try listening to the episode on our websiteIf you need more assistance, feel free to contact us at help.wondery.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's 7 a.m. on April 12, 1861. You're the second-in-command of U.S. forces at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. When South Carolina seceded from the Union four months ago, you found yourself guarding a federal fort behind enemy lines. Since then, six more southern states have broken away, joining South Carolina to form the Confederate States of America.

And now, for the first time, Confederate forces have opened fire. South Carolina rebels have been shelling the fort with artillery for two and a half hours. You're badly outnumbered and outgunned, and your superior, Major Robert Anderson, has delayed a response, waiting until daylight to use your limited ammunition. You and only a few dozen soldiers have gathered on the fort's parade ground. You're wrapped in wet blankets to keep the falling cinders from scorching you. Anderson approaches, a grim expression on his face. Major Anderson, how much longer until we can return fire?

Look, I wasn't about to waste our meager ammunition while it's still dark. Whatever shots we take, I want to be certain that they hit their targets. Well, our best cannon are at the top tier of the fort. If we could take position there... No, that's out of the question. It's simply too dangerous. I won't expose you men to the barrage overhead. I'm willing to take the risk, sir. I'm not, Captain. We'll fire our guns from the lowest level, where we'll be better protected. It won't be easy to hit our targets, but I trust our gunners and it's the best we can do. Anderson shakes his head ruefully. I never expected to be fighting off an attack from our own countrymen. Well, they're not our countrymen anymore, Major.

They were the ones... Before you can finish your sentence, a cannonball strikes the wall above you. Everyone scatters as bricks and flaming debris tumbles down on the parade ground. You run for cover and lock eyes with Major Anderson. Sir, please, we've got to return fire! Anderson dusts off his uniform and sighs. All right, Captain, but our ammunition is limited. Make the most of it.

And remember, stay off the top tier. Yes, sir. And with your permission, I'd like to Make the most of it. And remember, stay off the top tier. Yes, sir. And with your permission, I'd like to fire the first cannon myself. The honor's all yours. Choose your targets wisely and good luck. You salute, Anderson, and gather your men. You feel the weight of this moment. As soon as you return fire, you'll be making it official.

United States of America will be at war against itself. From Wondery comes a new series about a lawyer who broke all the rules. Need to launder some money? Broker a deal with a drug cartel? Take out a witness? Paul can do it. I'm your host, Brandon Jinks Jenkins. Follow Criminal Attorney

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Oh my God. Buy It Now. Stream free my God. Buy it now. Stream free on Freebie and Prime Video. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history. Your story. On our show, we'll take you to the events, times, and people that shaped America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams. We'll put you in the shoes of

everyday people as history was being made, and we'll show you how the events of the times affected them, their families, and affects you now. In the pre-dawn darkness of April 12, 1861, exploding shells lit up Charleston Harbor. Confederate cannons opened fire on U.S. troops at Fort Sumter in a move to claim the federal garrison as their own. It marked the start of the Civil War, the greatest crisis in the nation's history. In the decades leading up to the war, a long-festering conflict over the westward expansion of slavery left the nation bitterly divided. When Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with a pledge to keep slavery out of the West, years of smoldering tensions reached a breaking point. The slave states of the Deep South

seceded and formed the Confederacy. And as hopes for compromise faded, America hurtled headlong into civil war. For four long, bloody years, Americans fought each other with unimaginable ferocity. The salvation of the Union and the destruction of slavery would come at the heavy cost of more than 600,000 lives. Since the dawn of the Republic, Americans argued over two questions. Whether the United States was a loose coalition of states or a single, indivisible Union, and whether slavery could continue in a democracy that promised liberty and equality for all. These questions would ultimately be answered on the battlefield, in a war that changed America forever.

This is Episode 1 in our seven-part series, The Civil War, The Gathering Storm. On May 22, 1856, blood spattered the floor of Congress. South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks had a score to settle. He walked into the Senate chamber as a session adjourned and approached Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, who was sitting at his desk writing a letter. Recently, Sumner had delivered a blistering speech on the floor of the Senate

in which he raged against pro-slavery Southerners like Brooks and their Northern Democratic allies. Now Brooks approached and declared, I have come to punish you. Before Sumner could respond, Brooks raised his metal-topped walking cane and slammed it down on Sumner's head. He struck the Senator again and again, savagely beating him with more than 30 blows until the cane broke. Sumner collapsed on the floor unconscious, blood gushing from his head. Colleagues carried him away, and it would take him years to recover from his injuries. The brutal beating on the Senate floor polarized the nation. Southerners hailed Brooks as a hero. Northerners made Sumner a martyr. And to many, the violence was an ominous

warning of things to come, a sign that the slavery debate had escalated to a dangerous new level. Sumner's speech had been called the crime against Kansas. Two years earlier, in 1854, Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas pushed the Kansas-Nebraska Act through Congress. It allowed settlers to vote on whether their territories would be slave or free. The controversial act undid decades of settled policy over where and how slavery could expand into new U.S. territories, and the law outraged anti-slavery politicians like Sumner. And as a violent guerrilla war raged in Kansas

between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers, political fallout from the Kansas-Nebraska Act spread to every state legislature and the halls of Congress. The new law blew apart the old two-party system. Southern members of one party, the Whigs, jumped ship to the Democrats, while Northern Whigs reorganized themselves into a new party, the Republicans. And this new Republican party made stopping slavery's expansion its central goal. It was the first American political party to draw its support from just one region, the North. But the Kansas-Nebraska Act had another

far-reaching effect. It lured a lawyer from rural Illinois back into politics. His name was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in the Kentucky wilderness in 1809. When he was seven, his family moved to the Indiana frontier, where Lincoln grew up wrestling, felling trees, and splitting logs to build fence rails. He had little formal schooling. Instead, he educated himself by borrowing books from his neighbors. In his twenties, Lincoln settled in Illinois, where he worked as a store clerk. Later, he passed the bar and became a trial lawyer. Lincoln stood six foot four and towered over most people. He had unruly hair and sunken cheeks, and he carried important papers in his

stovepipe hat. Known as Honest Abe, he gained a reputation among his clients for his decency, wit, and intelligence. And in 1846, Lincoln turned his law career into a successful run for Congress, but he only served one term, returning to the law. A decade later, the burning debate over the expansion of slavery led him back into politics. But Lincoln was not an abolitionist. Only a minority of Northerners were prepared to end slavery outright, and Lincoln was not among them. Though he called slavery a monstrous injustice, he believed the Constitution protected it where it already existed.

He was, however, fiercely committed to stopping slavery's expansion. That belief drew him to the Republican Party ranks in 1856. And the following year, the Supreme Court issued a decision that sent shockwaves across America. In Dred Scott v. Sanford, the court ruled that black people, both free and enslaved, were not U.S. citizens. It also declared that laws excluding slavery from Western territories were unconstitutional. Lincoln condemned the decision, affirming that it guaranteed the black man's bondage. Like many Northerners, Lincoln resented the outsized power that pro-slavery forces were exercising over the country.

He would make it one of the central issues of his campaign for U.S. Senate in 1858. Accepting the Republican nomination in Springfield, Illinois in June, Lincoln spoke about national division in a speech that became famous. He declared, A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. Lincoln clearly felt that America was in the grips of an insidious conspiracy to spread slavery across the nation, one that was tearing the Union apart. Lincoln's opponent was the incumbent senator from Illinois and author of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Democrat Stephen Douglas. Standing just 5'4", but known as the Little Giant, Douglas was an aggressive speaker, a hard drinker, and one of America's most powerful politicians.

On the issue of slavery, he was indifferent. Speaking about the slavery debate in Kansas, he declared, I care not whether it's voted up or voted down. But Douglass did believe strongly in the concept of popular sovereignty, arguing that it's the residents of any territory that should get to decide whether slavery would be allowed in their borders, not the federal government. And this was why he had drafted the Kansas-Nebraska Act. To him, slavery was an issue that should be left to the states and territories to decide. Lincoln disagreed. And while Douglass saw popular sovereignty as a cure-all, Lincoln argued that it was morally bankrupt because it allowed for slavery's expansion. And throughout the summer

and fall of 1858, Lincoln and Douglass squared off in seven contentious debates across Illinois. Thousands of farmers, shopkeepers, and lawyers stood outside for hours at a time to hear these two powerful orders go toe-to-toe on the future of slavery. And it was on August 27th that the most critical debate took place. Standing on stage in the town square on a cool and cloudy afternoon in Freeport, Illinois, the two opponents could not look or sound more different. The stout and polished Douglas commanded the audience with his booming, baritone voice. The tall and lanky Lincoln wore rumpled clothes and spoke with a high-pitched Kentucky drawl. Douglas supported

the recent Dred Scott ruling, in which the Supreme Court decreed that slavery could not be legally prohibited from the territories. Lincoln asked Douglas whether there was any lawful way for settlers to vote slavery down, given Dred Scott. And in doing so, Lincoln cleverly set a trap. Douglass would now be forced to choose between his support for Dred Scott and his belief in popular sovereignty. In the end, Douglass stuck by popular sovereignty. He acknowledged that territories could choose to prohibit slavery, despite Dred Scott, and this stance became known as Douglas' Freeport Doctrine, named after the town that hosted the debate. That November, Douglas won his Senate election over Lincoln. But Lincoln triumphed in the long term.

His performance in the debates won him national recognition, and at the same time, Douglas' Freeport Doctrine came back to haunt him. It alienated many Southerners who demanded a more full-throated support of slavery. The gulf between the North and South grew wider the following year. In October 1859, radical abolitionist John Brown led a botched raid on the federal armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Brown was hanged for treason for trying to seize weapons and launch a massive slave rebellion. After the events at Harper's Ferry, slave states were swept up in a tide of fear and paranoia. Many Southerners insisted that Brown was an agent of the Republican Party. Especially alarmed was a faction of radical pro-slavery Southern Democrats known as Fire

Eaters. These Fire Eaters had long been calling for Southern states to secede from the Union, and Brown's raid turned this secessionist outcry into an organized movement. And the memory of John Brown loomed over the presidential election the following year. Moderate Northern Democrats hoped to nominate Stephen Douglas to the ticket, but radical Southern fire-eaters saw him as a traitor who could not be counted on to protect slavery because of his Freeport Doctrine. Writing about Douglas, one Alabama newspaper declared, The demagogue of Illinois deserves to perish. And in April 1860, the conflict between Northern and Southern Democrats

came to a head at the party convention in Charleston. Secessionist fever burned through the city, threatening to split the party and country in half. Imagine it's the morning of April 30, 1860, in Charleston's Institute Hall. You're the Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives and head of the delegation representing your state at the Democratic National Convention. For days, the northern and southern factions of the party have been wrangling over the platform. You're determined to find a compromise to keep your party and your country together, but your more radical colleagues, the Fire Eaters, have other ideas. They've convinced

the delegations from Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to walk out of the convention. Now all eyes are on you to lead out your South Carolina delegation too. A fire eater turns to you. Well, sir, what will it be? You prepared to do your duty to this state or not? Well, I think we should be reasonable. If we approve a platform of popular sovereignty and let territories decide on slavery for themselves, we'll keep our allies in the North. We've got to stick together. It's our only chance of defeating the Republicans.

South Carolina cannot stand for anything less than explicit federal protection for slavery. But our Northern colleagues will never agree to that. We've got to find a compromise for the sake of party unity. If Northern Democrats won't act to preserve slavery, then it's time the Southern delegation just walks out. Most of them already just did. find a compromise for the sake of party unity. If Northern Democrats won't act to preserve slavery, then it's time the Southern delegation just walks out. Most of them already just did. We can't leave them to fight this alone. Now, if we split the party, we'll make the election of a Republican inevitable. That's not what you want, is it? The fire eater shrugs. If that's what's going to happen, then so be it. Perhaps a Republican president will finally galvanize the South to form a new nation.

One in which our rights are not under constant threat from these Northern abolitionists. The president of the convention pounds his gavel to bring the hall to order. You look up at the galleries, which are packed with cheering supporters of the fire eaters. Here in South Carolina, pro-secession sentiment is high. Those people in the galleries are your friends, neighbors, and constituents. If you defy them, they'll condemn you as a traitor, hound you in the streets. You turn back to the Fire Eater. Oh, Lord.

Let's see, I have no choice. The Fire Eater smirks and hands you South Carolina's statement of withdrawal. You quickly scratch out your signature. The delegates turn their attention to you as you stand and read the document. Gentlemen of the convention, we, the undersigned delegates of South Carolina, will no longer participate in the proceedings of this convention. We hereby respectfully announce our withdrawal. The gallery explodes in applause as you look down at your signature in bold black ink. You're now a hero to your constituents, but you wonder what this means for your party and your country. You

fear that this division between Democrats will guarantee the election of a Republican. That could spell the end of the Union itself. When the Democratic Party convened in Charleston in April 1860, the issue of slavery drove a wedge through its ranks. After a bitter debate, delegates from the cotton states of the Deep South stormed out of the convention. Their absence prevented Stephen Douglas from mustering the necessary two-thirds vote, and the convention ended without a nominee. The next month in May, Republicans gathered in Chicago to choose their nominee. Many were shocked when a dark horse candidate, Abraham Lincoln, captured the nomination on the third ballot. To his supporters, Lincoln was

a self-made man of the people, someone who symbolized frontier grit and the American dream. He was also less controversial than other, more well-known contenders. So going into June, the Republicans had their nominee, but the Democrats were still divided. That month, the Democrats reconvened in Baltimore. But again, the Southerners staged a walkout. This time, they organized their own rival convention across town. The Northern Democrats nominated Douglas, while Southern Democrats settled on their own nominee, Kentucky moderate John C. Breckinridge. Meanwhile, complicating things further, border state politicians formed the Constitutional Union Party and nominated wealthy Tennessee slaveholder John Bell. Desperate to avoid conflict, though, they took a neutral stance on the slavery issue. The four-way contest was unprecedented. In practice, it was a campaign between Lincoln

and Douglass in the North and Bell and Breckinridge in the South. Lincoln was not even on the ballot in nine Southern states. But it was the most fateful election in American history. The future of the Union and slavery was at stake, and the rhetoric was bitter. Though Lincoln insisted he would not touch slavery where it already existed, his party's anti-slavery politics frightened Southerners. They painted an alarming picture, warning that Lincoln's victory would lead to the abolition of slavery, billions of dollars in economic losses, and a wave of violence and crime committed by free Black people turned loose upon their former white masters. This split in the Democratic Party virtually guaranteed Lincoln's victory.

When the votes were counted on November 6th, Lincoln won the presidency. But he did so with less than 40% of the popular vote. Lincoln's victory was a turning point. The secessionist frenzy could no longer be contained. And as winter came, America descended into crisis. One by one, southern states began taking steps to break the bonds of union and tear the republic apart. This is the emergency broadcast system. A ballistic missile threat has been detected inbound to your area.

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Follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. On November 7th, 1860, news of Lincoln's victory swept across America and sparked hysteria on Southern streets. South Carolina politician and newspaper editor Robert Barnwell Rett was a rabid fire-eater who promoted secession in the pages of his newspaper, the Charleston Mercury. In the lead-up to the election, Rett declared, The issue before the country is the extinction of slavery. The Southern states are now in the crisis of their fate. And on election night, Rett kept the Mercury offices open late

so eager crowds could hear the returns. Before dawn, the Associated Press crowned Lincoln the victor. And some Charleston residents were furious. Others celebrated the results, hoping Lincoln's election would soon set secession in motion. At noon, Rhett unfurled the South Carolina Palmetto flag outside his office in protest. He noon, Rhett unfurled the South Carolina palmetto flag outside his office in protest. He wrote in his newspaper, the tea has been thrown overboard. The revolution of 1860

has been initiated. And that same day, three federal officials in Charleston resigned from their posts in protest. One declared, I will not serve under the enemy of my country. South Carolinians were not alone in their hatred of Lincoln. An Atlanta newspaper warned, Let the consequences be what they may, whether the Potomac is crimsoned in human gore and Pennsylvania Avenue is paved ten fathoms deep with mangled bodies, the South will never submit to such humiliation and degradation

as the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. For Rhett and other white Southerners, Lincoln and the Republicans were a threat to their entire economy and way of life. By 1860, four million enslaved men, women, and children across the South were worth more than three billion dollars to their owners, making them the largest financial asset in the country. Slavery brought the South immense prosperity and political power. To many Southerners, the election of Lincoln by a minority of voters was a direct assault on that power. South Carolina had long been a hotbed of secession. And now, with Lincoln set to take

office, that secession talk reached a new fever pitch. On November 10, 1860, the South Carolina state legislature unanimously voted to call a special convention to consider leaving the Union. Later that night, crowds celebrated by staging a torch-lit parade and burning an effigy of Lincoln. Six weeks later, on December 20, 169 delegates met in a banquet hall in Charleston. Former governors, congressmen, and senators filled the convention ranks. Almost all the delegates were slave owners. Most owned more than 20 humans.

And in the span of just a few minutes, the delegates unanimously voted to secede from the union. Charleston celebrated with marching bands and a fireworks display. Militia units paraded through the streets. Church bells rang and cannon blasts echoed through the city. Soon, South Carolina's two senators submitted their resignation to Congress. The convention made the reason for secession clear. They were leaving the Union to protect slavery. The delegates issued a document declaring that the Free States

denounced as sinful the institution of slavery and encouraged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes and incited those who remained to servile insurrection. The delegates also provided a legal argument for secession. According to them, states were sovereign entities that could leave the Union as freely as they joined. Secessionists insisted that states' rights trumped national sovereignty. They also invoked the right of revolution. Many secessionists believed they were acting on the same principles that guided the Founding Fathers in breaking away from Great Britain. They argued that they were declaring their independence to protect their freedom from

a hostile central authority, and central to that freedom was their legal right to enslave black people and transport them wherever they liked. These arguments did not convince most Northerners. Outgoing President James Buchanan declared secession unconstitutional, and in his last message to Congress in December 1860, Buchanan insisted that the Union was not a mere voluntary association of states. Lincoln also denied the right of secession. He would later call it the essence of anarchy. This secession crisis unfolded in the final months of Buchanan's presidency. Lincoln would not be inaugurated until March of 1861. And as much as Buchanan believed that secession was illegal, he also believed that the

federal government lacked the constitutional power to stop the states from leaving. He was also constrained by public opinion. Few Northerners were eager to go to war with the South, and increasingly, war looked like the only option that might prevent them from leaving. So the crisis would be left to Lincoln, and both the North and the South anxiously awaited the arrival of the new president. In the meantime, secessionist leaders traveled across the South that winter, determined to persuade other states to join South Carolina in breaking away from the Union and forming a new nation, one dedicated to the preservation of slavery. Imagine it's December 1860 in Milledgeville, Georgia.

You're a judge from Mississippi and a fierce supporter of secession. Your governor has appointed you to travel to Georgia to promote the cause. You're walking into a room in the Georgia General Assembly to speak to a dozen legislators about why they should vote to break away from the union. Well, gentlemen, thank you for having me. Legislators look at you expectantly as you remove your hat and place it on the table. You all have an important decision on your hands now, don't you? The state of Mississippi has called a convention to consider secession. And it's my earnest hope that Georgia will join us in this mission.

Help guarantee the safety of the South. A young legislator shakes his head at the room's reaction and clears his throat. Sir, is it really necessary to take such drastic action? You're talking about destroying the Union. Union? What Union? The North has already destroyed the Union. What will be left of it once Lincoln takes office? Now the Republicans are counting down the days until they can overturn the Constitution and proclaim freedom for the slaves. Well, I don't know, sir. I don't trust the Republicans any more than you do. But would they really go that far? You sweep your gaze across the room in frustration, searching for allies. The Republicans believe the African is equal to the Anglo-Saxon. Anyone who believes that won't stop until they drive out slavery and

destroy our way of life. The young legislator still looks uncertain, so he'd try a new tack. Tell me, sir, do you have children? Yes, I have two daughters at home. But what does that have to do with it? Do you own slaves? My wife brought two from her father's home. I'm a lawyer by trade, not a planter. Personally, I have no use for them. Well, it doesn't matter if you own two slaves or 20. Lincoln wants to submit us to the horrors of slave rebellion on a massive scale. Do you want to see your daughters forced to flee from the land of their birth or worse, raped or killed by the same black men that you feed and keep in your house? The man shakes his head, fear shadowing his face.

Of course not. Then what will you do about it? I tell you what you should do. Vote in favor of secession. The young legislature looks finally convinced, and a satisfied smile spreads across your face. Now that you've won over these men to your cause, Georgia is one step closer to joining the secession movement. And as far as you're concerned, every slave state needs to join together to stand up to this northern hostility.

You won't rest until you've done your part. In the winter of 1860 to 1861, several states appointed commissioners to travel across the South to rally support for secession. In newspaper editorials, speeches, and in town meetings, the commissioners argued that once Lincoln and the party they called the Black Republicans were in power, they would abolish slavery and force racial equality on the South. The commissioners reminded those who did not own slaves that they too had a stake in protecting slavery. They argued that even the poorest white laborers benefited from slavery because it kept them a step above the lowest class in the South's strict racial hierarchy. They also conjured apocalyptic images of a race war and preyed on racist fears that a liberated population of Black

men would rape their white daughters, sisters, and wives. And as secessionist fervor spread, it drowned out the voices of moderation. By the second week of January 1861, Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama had joined South Carolina in seceding from the Union. Few secessionists imagined that the North would oppose secession or that their actions would lead to war. But many Americans feared the South was moving down a dangerous path. Congress frantically tried to broker a compromise to stop more states from seceding. In December 1860, Kentucky Senator John Jordan Crittenden proposed amending the Constitution to enshrine federal protection for slavery in the

South, but Republicans refused to support such a one-sided compromise, and the Senate rejected the proposal on January 16th. Over the next two weeks, the dominoes continued to fall. By February 1st, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had also seceded. The separation of the Lower South was complete, but eight slaveholding states remained in the Union, including Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Slavery was less dominant in these states than their more southern neighbors, and their leaders were less eager to secede. But the seven states that did secede met on February 4th in Montgomery, Alabama, to form the Confederate States of America. The delegates meeting there quickly drafted a

temporary constitution. The document mirrored the U.S. Constitution with a few key differences. In particular, it explicitly protected the right to own enslaved people, both in the Confederate States and in any new territory the South might acquire. As the Confederacy's provisional president, the delegates elected Jefferson Davis. Davis was a stern and humorless slave owner from Mississippi. Just two weeks earlier, he had resigned from his seat in the U.S. Senate when Mississippi seceded from the Union. A West Point graduate and a veteran of the Mexican-American War, Davis was more interested in military command than serving as president. But the convention looked to him as a

compromise candidate. Davis was dedicated to the Confederate cause and deeply believed in protecting the institution of slavery, but he was not a fire eater. By selecting someone more moderate, delegates hoped he could help them win the allegiance of states still considering secession. But Davis was still capable of fiery rhetoric. On February 16th, he spoke to a cheering crowd in Montgomery, declaring, the time for compromise has now passed, and the South is determined to maintain her position and make all who oppose her smell Southern powder and feel Southern steel. Two days later, Davis took office, just as Lincoln prepared to take command of the United States. Soon, all eyes turned to a disputed fort in Charleston Harbor,

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You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. Imagine it's late at night on February 21st, 1861. You're walking into a hotel bar in Philadelphia. You're the head of a detective agency hired by the railroad to protect train operations from secessionists who might sabotage their tracks. President-elect Abraham Lincoln is scheduled to take one of your trains to Washington for his inauguration, but you've just received some alarming intelligence about his trip. You've come here to alert Lincoln's friend and advisor, Norman Judd. Spotting Judd in the corner of the room, you weave your way through the tables to approach him. Mr. Judd, thank you for agreeing to meet me so late.

Detective, I'm afraid the President-elect has already gone to bed. This whistle-sopped tour has been rather tiring for all of us. But how about a nightcap? Well, I'm not in a drinking mood, sir. And please keep your voice down. You glance over your shoulder at a pair of patrons at table lower. If you could, follow me. Judd raises his eyebrows, but gets up from his seat. You lead him through a door into a small, private meeting room Is the president-elect still scheduled to speak in Harrisburg tomorrow? Yes, then travel to Washington from there, by way of Baltimore That's my concern

We need a strategy to keep him safe Keep him safe? From whom? I've gotten wind of a plot One to assassinate Mr. Lincoln once he arrives at Calvert Street Station. Apparently, the moment he crosses the border into Maryland, he'll be entering slave territory. Do you know how many people in Baltimore want him dead? Judge shakes his head in fear and disbelief. Every rail line between Pennsylvania and Washington goes through Baltimore.

What do you propose we do? Well, we'll deviate from the public travel schedule, that's for sure. Instead of going from Harrisburg to Baltimore as planned, Mr. Lincoln should return here to Philadelphia. We'll put him on a passenger train in the middle of the night and take him to Baltimore's President Street Station. No one's going to be looking for him there. He can change trains and continue on to Washington. You think that'll work? Well, I'm planning to cut telegraph wires in and out of Harrisburg to prevent leaks. And Mr. Lincoln should wear a disguise. He's simply too recognizable otherwise.

Goodness, all right, but is all this necessary? We don't want him creeping into Washington like a thief in the night. People will think him cowardly. The president-elect needs to show the country that he's in command. I'm sorry, sir, but these threats on his life are real. Better a cowardly president than a dead one. Judd closes his eyes and exhales. All right, what can I do?

Well, I'll let you explain the plan to Mr. Lincoln. You'll hear from me in the morning with further instructions, but from here on out, the president-elect's codename is The Package. And please don't share this plan with anyone else. We need to assume that Confederate spies could be anywhere. Judd looks stricken as you walk out of the room. You hope that your precautions will be enough. The country is falling apart around you, but you're committed to doing everything in your power to guarantee the safety of its new commander-in-chief.

As Abraham Lincoln traveled to Washington for his inauguration, rumors swirled of assassination plots. To guard against possible threats to his life, a detective for the PW&B Railroad named Alan Pinkerton arranged for the president-elect to sneak through Baltimore in disguise, then slip into Washington on the night of February 23, 1861. The Capitol remained on high alert in the lead-up to Inauguration Day. On March 4, loaded cannons and sharpshooters lined Pennsylvania Avenue as Lincoln took the oath of office, becoming the 16th president of the United States.

He would be given the task of leading a broken nation through its greatest crisis. Standing before a crowd of 30,000 people, Lincoln pulled his inaugural address out of his breast pocket and began to speak. He had carefully worded his speech to avoid alienating Southerners, and to prevent the secession of the eight remaining slave states, Lincoln pledged not to interfere with slavery. He sent a clear message to the South that the North would not attack unless attacked first, saying, In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.

But above all else, Lincoln insisted on the preservation of the Union. He closed his speech with an impassioned plea for reconciliation, declaring, The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched by the better angels of our nature. But Lincoln's powerful rhetoric could not change the fact that seven states had already seceded, and eight more were teetering on the edge. And beyond that, they didn't simply leave the Union. As states seceded, they seized federal property within their borders, including arsenals, mints, and forts. On Inauguration Day, only two major forts in the South still flew the United States flag.

The most important was Fort Sumter, which guarded South Carolina's Charleston Harbor, a vital port for Southern trade. The fort's commander was Major Robert Anderson, a former slave owner from Kentucky. Loyalty to the Union, though, outweighed his sympathy for the South. When South Carolina seceded on December 20th, Anderson concluded that he and his men could not adequately defend the federal garrison at Fort Moultrie. So under the cover of darkness on the day after Christmas, Anderson and some 80 federal troops slipped away to the more defensible Fort Sumter, located a mile away on a man-made Granite Island in Charleston Harbor. The North still considered it federal property,

but South Carolinians wanted to claim it as theirs. At Fort Sumter, Anderson and his men were cut off from supplies and surrounded by 6,000 South Carolina militiamen. Then-President Buchanan tried to reinforce the fort, sending provisions and 200 soldiers on an unarmed merchant vessel. But as the ship approached Charleston Harbor, South Carolina artillery fired on it, forcing it to turn back. As the weeks wore on, an uneasy truce settled over Charleston Harbor. Under a tacit agreement, South Carolina's forces left Fort Sumter alone,

as long as the federal government did not make further attempts to reinforce it. But when Lincoln arrived in the Oval Office on the morning after the inauguration, he found a message from Major Anderson on his desk. Anderson reported that Fort Sumter only had enough supplies to last a few more weeks. Lincoln was faced with a dilemma. He could try to resupply the fort, but that would require attacking the South Carolina militia. It would be seen as an act of war and potentially cause the Upper South to secede.

But Lincoln also feared the consequences of showing weakness. If he let federal troops surrender Fort Sumter to South Carolina, the cradle of secession, it would be a major victory for the Confederacy. After weeks of sleepless nights, Lincoln came up with a plan. On April 6th, he told the South Carolina governor

that he was sending supplies to the soldiers cut off at Fort Sumter. But Lincoln promised he would not reinforce the fort with weapons, ammunition, or soldiers unless South Carolina attacked first. The ball was now in Jefferson Davis's court, and he was under growing pressure to assert Confederate independence, even if it meant going to war. Fire eaters argued that a show of force would encourage the remaining slave states to secede. The Charleston Mercury declared, Border southern states will never join us unless we have indicated our power to free ourselves,

until we have proven that a garrison of seventy men cannot hold the portal of our commerce. Forced to choose between peace and war, Davis chose war. On April 9th, he ordered Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard to take Fort Sumter. Twice, Beauregard's aides sailed to the fort and demanded Anderson surrender. Both times, Anderson refused.

And finally, at 4.30 a.m. on April 12th, 1861, Confederate artillery opened fire. Over the next 33 hours, the South Carolinians bombarded the fort with 4,000 shells. Lacking manpower and ammunition, Anderson's men struggled to return fire. On the afternoon of April 13, Anderson surrendered. The next day, he pulled down the tattered American flag and evacuated his exhausted soldiers. The shelling of Fort Sumter lit a fire in Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. The time for compromise had clearly passed.

Shots were fired. And soon, northern and southern men would take up arms against each other and march into battle. The war between the states had begun. From Wondery, this is Episode 1 of The Civil War from American History Tellers. On the next episode, Lincoln issues the call for 75,000 militia volunteers to suppress the rebellion and respond to the South's attack on Fort Sumter. Meanwhile, the Upper South and border states debate secession themselves, while a violent mob in Baltimore assaults Union soldiers. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free

on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham, for Airship. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Derek Behrens. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Ellie Stanton, edited by Dorian Marina.

Our managing producer is Tanja Thigpen. Coordinating producer is Matt Gant. Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer-Beckman and Marsha Louis for Wondery. Richard Bandler revolutionized the world of self-help all thanks to an approach he developed called neurolinguistic programming. Even though NLP worked for some, its methods have been criticized for being dangerous in the wrong hands. Throw in Richard's dark past as a cocaine addict and murder suspect, and you can't help but wonder what his true intentions were. I'm Sachi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the hosts of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of the most infamous

scams of all time, the impact on victims, and what's left once the facade falls away. We recently dove into the story of the godfather of modern mental manipulation, Richard Bandler, whose methods inspired some of the most toxic and criminal self-help movements of the last two decades. Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Scamfluencers and more exhibit-see true crime shows like Morbid and Kill List early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Check out Exhibit C in the Wondery app for all your true crime listening.