"The sport of folly and the prize of treason": Confederate property seizures and the Northern home front in the secession crisis

In the winter of 1860-61 a series of shocking events shook the Northern public. As each Southern state declared itself out of the Union, its government seized Federal properties located within its borders. From late December 1860 through May 1861, seceding states captured Federal forts, arsenals, customs houses, and dockyards. The Northern public response to this property confiscation is described.