May 31

American Civil War

The American Civil War, also known as the War between the States or simply the Civil War (see naming), was a civil war fought from 1861 to 1865 between the United States (the "Union" or the "North") and several Southern slave states that had declared their secessionand formed the Confederate States of America (the "Confederacy" or the "South"). The war had its origin in the fractious issue of slavery, and, after four years of bloody combat (mostly in the South), the Confederacy was defeated, slavery was abolished, and the difficultReconstruction process of restoring unity and guaranteeing rights to the freed slaves began.

In the presidential election of 1860, Republicans led by Abraham Lincoln opposed expanding slavery into United States' territories. Lincoln won but before his inauguration on March 4, 1861, seven cotton-based slave states formed the Confederacy. Outgoing Democrat James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected the legality of secession. Lincoln’s inaugural address insisted his administration would not initiate civil war, leading eight remaining slave states to reject immediate calls for secession. A Peace Conference failed to find a compromise. Both sides prepared for war. The Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on "King Cotton" for its industry that they would intervene; none did and none recognized the new Confederate States of America.