Scotty J Presents: The Civil War

Everyone knows Bull Run was the first major battle of the Civil War. But before that, there was a number of small skirmishes that happened. Fairfax Courthouse and Phillipi were the first two.

These two corners of Virginia are often overlooked in the beginning of the war. Today I look at them and what happened there.

What was going on with West Virginia during all of the secession talk? Listen to day to find out.

With the attention focused on the North and South, we tend to overlook the Uppers South and Border States in the early days of the war. Today we check in on them.

If you plan on going to war, you need to fund your army. How did the Federal and Confederate Armies get their supplies?

If there was one speech that defined what the Confederacy stood for, it was the Cornerstone Speech given by Alexander Stephens in March of 1861.

Robert E. Lee was asked to lead the Federal Army in 1861. Did he decide to take the offer or go to the other side?

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.

James Buchanon was a hands-off president during the sectional crisis. In his final address to Congress, he explains his thoughts on secession and the ability of the president to stop it.

The Election of 1860 placed the country in danger. Who won? Who lost? And did the South secede?

How did the South take the news of Lincoln's nomination? Did they welcome it with open arms or see it as a sign of the end times?

How did William Seward, the expected nominee, lose the bid to become the President in 1860, and who was this upstart, Lincoln?

The Democratic Party split. Now there are two separate groups, and each wants to nominate a president. And what is the Cincinatti Platform and how does it pertain to the Democrats?

Would you hold a nomination convention if your party was splintering? The Democrats did in 1860 and it did not go well.

It's an election year, but is everyone happy with the candidates? And what plans are forming in South Carolina that could ruin everything?

John Brown. Depending on where you are born, he's either a zealot or a terrorist. He is a complicated man, but one that created the spark that started the war.