After Davis' and Lincoln's inaugurations, pressure mounted for the two new leaders to take some action on Fort Sumter. Lincoln in particular was pressured to reunite the states. The Union president thought that the southern secession was "artificial." When Jefferson Davis sent a group to Washington to negotiate for the transfer of Fort Sumter to South Carolina, they were promptly refused.
Lincoln had a dilemma. Fort Sumter was running out of supplies, but any attack on the South Carolina militias cutting off the fort from resupplies would appear as Northern aggression. States that still remained part of the Union (such as Virginia and North Carolina) might be driven into the secessionist camp if they thought that the Union soldiers were the aggressors. People at home and abroad might become sympathetic to the South. But Lincoln could not allow his troops to starve, nor could they surrender and risk showing considerable weakness.
At last he developed a plan. On April 6, Lincoln told the governor of South Carolina that he was going to send provisions to Fort Sumter. He would send no arms, troops, or ammunition — unless, of course, South Carolina attacked.

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