Lincoln let confederate leaders know about his plan to resupply fort sumter so that a: they were not fire on the ships b: they were not attack other nearby forts c: they would defeat union forces d: they would not attack during the union surrender

A: they were not fire on the ships

Explanation:

Lincoln wanted to keep the union strong and didn´t want to be the violent side that started the civil war, so he send only supplies to the union soldiers that were held hostages in Fort Summer, when the confederates heard this, the decided to open fire on the fort on the dawn of April 12th, 1862, this was the start of the civil war. This was a hard decision for Lincoln, whose power at office was being tested by how he reacted to this situation, he let the confederate leaders know that he was pacifically providing supplies so his soldiers wouldn´t starve to death to which they answered with a violent attack on the fort.

the answer is a) james madison.