The American Civil War Begins

Presidential election of 1860 In 1860, Stephan Douglas and Abraham Lincoln ran against each other again, this time for president. Lincoln had become well known from their debates about slavery. This time, Lincoln won, becoming the 16th president.

Southern States secede Lincoln received no support in the South because they believed he wanted to end slavery. Since there were so many more people in the North, he won the election anyway. As soon as Lincoln won the election, the South started to secede. This means the South split from the Union. They no longer wanted to be part of the United States. Supporters of secession based their arguments on the idea of states’ rights. They said they had voluntarily joined the union, so they could leave when they wanted.

Confederate States of America On December 20, 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede. They were followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The eleven states that had seceded formed the Confederate States of America. They named Jefferson Davis as president.

Civil War A civil war is a war between people of the same country. There have been many civil wars, but one of the worst happened in America. The American Civil War was fought to keep the South from leaving the Union.

The Civil War began at Fort Sumter.

Fort Sumter was in the South, and the Union had a hard time defending the fort. There were 23 states in the Union (North) at the beginning of the war. There were 11 states in the Confederacy (South) at the beginning of the war.

North’s Advantages The North some many advantages. They had many more people and also had more factories, which could be used to make weapons The Union also had many more miles of railroad tracks.

South’s Advantages The South’s main advantage was that they were fighting at home. The Confederacy also had superior generals and better trained soldiers. The South was also being supplied by England at the beginning of the war. England wanted to keep trading for the South’s cotton.

Battle of Bull Run One of the first battles of the war was the Battle of Bull Run. The North realized after this battle that the war would not be easy and would not be over soon.

New Weapons Many new weapons were used during the Civil War. One of these weapons was an ironclad ship. An ironclad ship was a ship with iron plates on it to protect it from cannon fire.

Other new weapons Deadlier cannons and bullets More accurate rifles

Battle of Antietam First time the Confederacy invaded Northern territory was the Battle of Antietam. It was bloodiest battle day in United States history – 26,000 casualities. The Union army stopped the Confederate army. This “victory” by the Union gave President Lincoln the chance to announce the abolition of slavery in the South.

Emancipation Proclamation Declared that all slaves should be set free in the Confederacy. South ignored the Emancipation Proclamation, but it did change to focus of the war to the issue of slavery.

Women in the Civil War Women on both sides worked during the war. Many became nurses. The most famous nurse from the Union was Clara Barton. She also helped organize the American Red Cross.

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. 90,000 Union soldiers fought 75,000 Confederate soldiers. More than 50,000 men were killed or wounded in the battle. The Union won the battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the war The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the war. The Confederacy would never invade Union territory again.

Gettysburg Address After the Battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln went to the battlefield to dedicate a cemetery in honor of all those who had died. Lincoln spoke for two minutes, but his speech became very famous. It is called the Gettysburg Address.