On April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon by the Confederate forces in Charleston. But who fired the first shot and what happened after the guns went silent?

As two different administrations begin to set up shop, they both have an elephant to deal with: the growing situation off the coast of South Carolina. Will Fort Sumter be surrendered, or will the Confederacy bombard it?

What did Lincoln do between the election and the inauguration? Will an assassination attempt stop him from reaching Washington?

What went through the Provisional Council's mind when they selected their president and why did they accept Jefferson Daivs? Was he the right man?

We often think the North sat back and waited until the shot were fired on Sumter before they acted. That's not true. During the Secession Winter, Northern politicians began to work on a compromise to save the Union.

SOURCES:

Kenneth M. Stamp. And the War Came The North and the Secession Crisis 1860-1861.

On January 21, 1861, Jefferson Davis stood in the Senate and delivered a farewell address. This speech lays out the doctrine of states' rights, state sovereignty and secession.

The Seceded States wasted no time in calling for a convention in Montgomery Alabama to set up their new government. The first thing they created: A Constitution.

Did the North just simply do nothing in the Secession Winter? Or were politicians trying to stop a war from erupting? Arguments and debates filled the halls of Congress before Lincoln took office.

As Lincoln's election reaches the country, Southerners loyal to secession begin to head back to their states to plan their next move.

This week I look at the South Carolina Declaration of Secession.