The Civil War is the war where Americans fought against each other. It lasted from 1861-1865 between the Northern states and Southern states. Causes of the Civil War include state’s rights, sectionalism, and slavery. Americans were separated in their beliefs which is called sectionalism. In the beginning, there was a compromise between the north and south called Missouri Conpromise. It was an agreement where Maine was created as a free state, Missouri was a slave state, and slavery was not allowed in new states north of Missouri. 

The Southern states NEEDED slavery. They relied on agriculture because their main cash crop was cotton which increased their need for slavery. The South beieved in state’s rights because they felt each state should have the right to decide whether they should have slavery or not. After the election of 1860, the southern states were worried that the government would make slavery illegal. South Carolina decided to secede from the Union because of the election. 

The Northern states were the opposite of the southern states. They were called the Union and wanted to abolish slavery. The Union’s economy relied on industry and factories, so they did not need slavery and wanted to end it. The Union also wanted a strong federal government, so they can force the south to stop slavery. Abolitionists were people who wanted to end slavery. In the Dred Scott case, the Supreme Court decided that slaves were property, not people, and could not sue in court. This outraged the abolitionists and deepened the divide between the northern and southern states. 

In the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was the only presidential candidtate to take the stand against slavery. His debate with Stephen Douglas won him fame as an opponent of slavery. The southern states threatened that they would secede from the Union if Abraham Lincoln was elected president because he spoke out against slavery. After becoming president, Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 to make slavery illegal in the Confederate states. The document said, “slaves of any state…in rebellion… shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. 

There were two sides in the Civil War – the north and the south. The south was called the Confederacy and after they seceeded from the United States, they made Jefferson Davis the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War. The Confederate Army was led by Robert E. Lee. Robert E. Lee was a genious in military strategies and his personalily made him with holding the Confederate Army together. The Northern States were called the Union, and Ulysses Grant was the general for the Union army. There were many people who were active abolitionists. They spoke out against slavery or helped slaves escape in the Underground Railroad to get to freedom. Frederick Douglass was a former slave who learned to read and write. He taught other slaves to read and write before he escaped. Harriet Tubman was a famous conductor in the Underground Railroad who helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom.

There were several battles in the Civil War. The first battle started at Fort Sumter because that is where the first shots were fired. The bloodiest battle of the Civil War was the Battle at Gettysburg. This was the turning point of the Civil War because that is where the Union began to win the war against the Confederacy. President Lincoln delivered a speech called the Gettysburg Address. He said this speech to bring the country together because it was divided.

Reconstruction is a time of rebuilding in the South after the Civil War. There were many reasons for Reconstruction. Damages were done in the South that needed to be fixed or rebuilt. The roads, railroads, and bridges were destroyed. Confederate money was worthless because they were rejoined to the United States after they lost the war. Slave labor was gone because slavery became illegal, so plantation owners had to start paying workers. After the Civil War, sharecropping developed because small farmers did not have money for land, tools, and seeds. Mainly Southern Blacks typically tilled farms as renters and sharecroppers. 

Southern states were not happy about letting go of slavery. They passed the Black Codes to try to deny equal right to African Americans. They tried to limit the effects of Radical Reconstruction by enacting Jim Crow laws. One of the rules according to Jim Laws was African Americans must pay to vote.

One goal of post Civil War Congressional Reconstuction was to ensure civl rights for former slaves. During the reconstruction, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were adopted. Each Amendment resulted in increased individual rights for African Americans. They were intended to provide legal and political rights for African Americans. The 13th Amendment made slavery illegal. In July of 1868, the 14th Amendment was adopted to recognize newly freed slaves as citizens. It ensured that they were awared the same protections under the law as all other citizens. It also overturned the Dred Scott decision and gave citizenship to all former slaves. Finally, the 15th Amendment made voting possible for all men, no matter their race.