Introduction

• The American Civil War divided the American nation. People had to decide whether to support the North or the South.

• It can be measured in five Aprils. It began in April 1861 and ended in April 1865. General Robert E. Lee, who led the Southern troops, surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant, the commander of the Northern Army.

Why did the war start?

• Some of the states in the South decided that they didn’t want to be part of the United States anymore. They wanted to govern themselves.

• The newly elected President, Abraham Lincoln, did not believe they had the right to secede from (= leave) the Union.

Why did the Southern states want to leave the Union?

• The South depended on slaves to work on their huge farms (plantations). Crops were their main business. Many Northerners, whose economy was based on industry, not farming, didn’t believe it was right to buy and sell humans.

• The Southern states were afraid the government in Washington, D.C, would take away their right to own slaves.

Which states left the Union?

• 11 states left the Union to form a confederacy (a group of states that works together but allows each state to keep its own laws). These were called the Confederate States of America.

• The border states were slave states that had not declared a secession from the Union. Some of them later joined the Confederacy.

The troops of the North vs the troops of the South

• The troops of the North were called the Union Army, Federal Army or Yankees and wore blue uniforms. The Union flag was the Stars and Stripes.

• The troops of the South were called Confederates or Rebels and mostly wore grey uniforms. The first Confederate flag was called the Stars and Bars, but later the Rebel Flag was adopted.

Emancipation Proclamation

President Lincoln signed it in January, 1863, proclaiming the freedom of slaves in the ten states that were still in rebellion. It made the eradication of slavery an explicit war goal, in addition to the goal of reuniting the Union.

How did life change after the war?

• It took a lot time for the South to recover from the ruin of the war. Farmland had to be reworked without the use of slaves.

• The Northern states gained a lot of power, but it was at the cost of many lives.

• Most ex-slaves had no education or money. Public places were divided by color. Many of them moved into the North only to find low-paying jobs.