Charleston, City of Mourners: Anticipations of Civil War in the Cradle of Secession.

The article discusses the political and social atmosphere of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860 and 1861 as residents anticipated the U.S. Civil War. It focuses upon the prospect of the secession of South Carolina from the United States, the battle of Fort Sumter, and public opinion concerning those issues and fears about the possible amount of bloodshed in a war.