This article focuses on ten U.S. history textbooks, all in common use across the nation. This study adopts a historical narrative analysis, which aims to determine the manner in which textbook narratives may promote "de facto national mandates." This method allows for the comparison of textbook narratives to historical works, looking for alternative interpretations, omissions, distortions, and the presence of historical "myth." It is important with this approach to incorporate relevant and substantial historiography in order to mitigate the inherent subjectivity of this methodology. With that in mind, the author relies on including James McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" (1988), Christopher Olsen's "The American Civil War: A Hands-On History" (2006), and David Williams' "A People's History of the Civil War" (2005). Primarily, the focus of this analysis is on how wars start: What do textbooks say about the beginning of the Civil War? Why did the attack at Fort Sumter happen? And was it sufficient provocation to begin the bloodiest war in U.S. history?