The American

Civil War
 The American Civil War, also known as War between States,
began in 1861 and lasted till 1865. It was one of the important
events in American history. This armed conflict started over the
issue of slavery between the United States and the Southern
States that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate
States of America.
The Civil War cost more American lives than any other war in
history.

The Civil War was fought between the industrialized northern

states and the agricultural southern states of America. The war
threatened the unity and integrity of the nation. However, due to
dynamic leadership of President Abraham Lincoln, the Union
was saved.
Causes Of the Civil War
 Slavery
In the early 1800s the Northern states turned from farming
to manufacturing. But in the South, farming remained the
most important occupation. Southern farmers grew cotton
and tobacco, and they used slaves to work in their fields.

The prevalence of slavery in the South became a

controversial issue. The Northern states were comparatively
prosperous than the Southern states due to rapid industrial
progress and trade.

The Southern states were generally backward. The

Northerners shunned slavery and considered it a blot on the
name of their country. For the Southerners, slaves were a
vital part of their economy. Huge plantations of cotton,
tobacco and sugarcane depended on slave labor.
Without slave-labour, agriculture would suffer in the South.
The Anti- Slavery Movement (of 1840) was a great threat to
the South. The issue became so controversial that a Civil
War became inevitable.

The Republican Party was founded by the Northerners who

hated slavery. The public began to detest the practice and
found it absolutely unacceptable. In 1852, public feeling
against slavery was intensified by Harriet Beecher Stowe's
novel Uncle Tom's Cabin which showed the ugly side of
slavery.
 Question Of Slaves
Not only slavery but also the Question of States Rights was
also a cause of Civil War. The Southern states wanted no
interference by the Federal Government in the state affairs.
They reserved the right to reject any federal law which they
did not like.

Slave life went through great changes, as the South

saw Union Armies take control of broad areas of land.
During and before the war, enslaved people played an active
role
. in their own emancipation, and thousands of enslaved
people escaped from bondage during the war.
 Election of 1860
The 1860 United States presidential election was the 19th
quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday,
November 6, 1860. In a four-way contest, the Republican
Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin,
absent from the ballot in ten slave states, won a national
popular plurality, a popular majority in the North where
states already had abolished slavery, and a
national electoral majority comprising only Northern
electoral votes.

In 1860, the nominee of the Republican Party, Abraham

Lincoln was elected President of USA. Since Lincoln had
.
spoken against slavery, the Southern states looked upon him
as an enemy.
 Secession
As soon as Abraham Lincoln was elected President in
November 1860, Southern states like Carolina, Mississippi,
Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas seceded (separated)
from the Union. They established a new nation, the
Confederate States of America. They chose their own
President, Jefferson Davis.

As states left the Union, they seized all federal properties

within their border. When the Confederates bombarded on
the Fort Sumter, President Lincoln declared blockade of
Southern
. ports and the Civil War began on April 12, 1861.
Main Events Of War
Since the South had forced a war upon the CODE-PSLB
Union, Abraham Lincoln made a proclamation for
Emancipation of Slaves. He came to be known as the "Great
Emancipator". The war dragged on for four years and in
the end the South surrendered.
In January 1863, Lincoln abolished slavery. Lincoln was not
only fighting slavery, but fighting for the preservation of the
Union. The seceding states were treated as rebels. The
Proclamation of Emancipation made it impossible for a
liberal country to go to war on behalf of slavery. After this,
the war became a siege of the Confederacy.

The war ended in 1865 at Appomattox where the

commander in chief of the Confederate Army, Robert E.
Lee, surrendered to the Union commander-in- chief Ulysses
S. Grant. The latter went on to become president of USA.
ResultsOf The War
Nearly all the fighting had taken place on the Southern soil,
due to which they suffered heavy damages. There was a
period of reconstruction and it took a few decades for the
Southern states to recover from the wounds of the Civil War.

Slavery was abolished from the United States. The problem

of secession also ended and the Federal Government became
the Supreme Authority in the United States. The Civil War
speeded up the economic revolution of the country on an
unprecedented scale.

.
 Abraham Lincoln And
his Role in The Civil War
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the 16th President of United
States, became the President during the most crucial period
of American history. The Union was breaking apart and a
civil war threatened the country. With almost no support in
the South, Lincoln swept the North and was elected
President in 1860.
He brought the nation to peace and a reunion. He struck a
deathblow to slavery. As he grew in power, he grew in
greatness. He served the nation with dedication and
devotion. He was a great orator. His Gettysburg speech is
one of the most quoted in the history of speeches in United
States.

This great man was born in 1809 in Kentucky. He served in

Illinois legislature for eight years. His views against slavery
made him unpopular among the southern states. In 1861 he
took office as President of America and fought a war to save
the Union and to abolish slavery.

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