American Civil War

North and South

The Union in the North fought the breakaway Confederacy.

💡 Did you know? Eleven Southern states had seceded.

Slavery

The South wanted to keep slavery, the North to curb it.

💡 Did you know? Behind it also lay the dispute over states' rights.

Abraham Lincoln

He wanted to preserve the Union at any cost.

💡 Did you know? He is still seen as one of the greatest US presidents.

1861

The first shot was fired at Fort Sumter.

💡 Did you know? Beforehand the Southern states had declared independence.

The Confederacy

Eleven states joined together.

💡 Did you know? Their president was Jefferson Davis.

Jefferson Davis

He led the Southern states through the war.

💡 Did you know? After the defeat he was imprisoned for a time.

Robert E. Lee

He was seen as a brilliant but ultimately outmatched commander.

💡 Did you know? His surrender practically ended the war.

Ulysses S. Grant

He wore the South down with relentless pressure.

💡 Did you know? He later became US president.

Battle of Gettysburg

Lee's push into the North failed here.

💡 Did you know? It was the war's bloodiest battle.

The Gettysburg Address

In a few sentences he summed up the ideals of democracy.

💡 Did you know? “Government of the people, by the people, for the people” became world-famous.

The Emancipation Proclamation

It made the freeing of slaves a war aim.

💡 Did you know? Slavery was finally abolished only in 1865.

Appomattox

This practically decided the war.

💡 Did you know? Grant let the beaten Southern soldiers leave with honour.

The Union (the North)

The United States remained one country.

💡 Did you know? The industrialised North outmatched the South.

The 13th Amendment

It banned slavery across the entire USA.

💡 Did you know? Millions of people were thereby freed.

He was assassinated

An assassin shot him in the theatre.

💡 Did you know? He outlived the peace by only a few days.

John Wilkes Booth

The actor was a fanatical supporter of the South.

💡 Did you know? He was killed shortly afterwards while fleeing.

It was the bloodiest war in their history

Around 600,000 people died.

💡 Did you know? More Americans died than in both world wars combined.

On cotton and slave labour

Huge plantations were worked by slaves.

💡 Did you know? Cotton was called “King Cotton” in the South.

Reconstruction

The South was reintegrated into the Union.

💡 Did you know? But equality for the freed people stayed contested for long.

The end of slavery

The Union was preserved and slavery abolished.

💡 Did you know? Yet the legacy of segregation lingered for a long time.