Fort Sumter National Monument - SC Tourists Attraction Favored by Fantopia.net

FORT SUMTER NATIONAL MONUMENT

History provides us with defining moments from which we judge where we are with where we have been. The Civil War provides the United States with one of its critical defining moments that continues to play a vital role in defining ourselves as a Nation. Fort Sumter is the place where it began. America's most tragic conflict ignited at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, when a chain reaction of social, economic and political events exploded into civil war. At the heart of these events was the issue of states rights versus federal authority flowing over the underlying issue of slavery. Fueled by decades of disagreement and confrontation, South Carolina seceded in protest of Lincoln's election and the social and economic changes sure to follow. With Fort Sumter as an unyielding bastion of Federal authority, the war became inevitable. A powerful symbol to both the South and the North, Fort Sumter remains a memorial to all that fought to hold it.

***Fantopia's Personal Note***

This is a wonderful experience for the family as a whole, even if some aren't that interested in historical events that deal with the military, however, it takes a boat ride to gain admittance to the fort. This can be very enjoyable for all with plenty of fresh ocean smells, seagulls, lots of our local dolphins who normally school in small groups. Take a bag of chips, popcorn ect. and let the kids feed the seagulls as they chase the boat! The fort is beautiful with all it's old scars that is visable from your water view as you approach the dock. A pair of binoculars wouldn't be remiss on this trip either as normally in the summer I go through this way from Charleston Harbor and through the Jetties every weekend. It never ceases to amaze me of all the wonderful things that out of nowhere appear when you least expect them. So many sail boats, so many fishing vessels from 17ft-65ft cut a trail through here as this is our highway out of Charleston Harbor into the ocean and beyond.