The Civil War

The Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. It was a war between the Northern states and the Southern states. One big reason for the war was slavery. The North wanted to end slavery, but the South wanted to keep it. More than 600,000 soldiers died in the war.

The North and the South

The Northern states were called the Union. The Southern states formed their own country called the Confederacy. The war started in 1861 at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Abraham Lincoln was the president of the Union. He worked hard to keep the country together.

The End of the War

The Civil War had many big battles like Gettysburg and Antietam. The Union army was led by General Ulysses S. Grant. The Confederate army was led by General Robert E. Lee. In 1865, Lee gave up at a place called Appomattox. The war ended, and slavery was made illegal in the United States.

Fun Facts

• The Civil War is the deadliest war in American history.
• Soldiers sometimes used hot air balloons to spy on each other.
• Photographs were used in a big way for the first time in the Civil War.

Did You Know?

After the Civil War, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, which ended slavery in the United States forever.