The American Civil War
The American Civil War was fought between 1861 and 1865. It is said that the war arose as a result of increasing tensions and differences between the Northern and Southern States following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. There were many issues that were evident between the North and South, including, the expansion of slavery into the territories, the South's declining political power, states rights, and the retention of slavery. These are said to be the main causes of the war. These issues were however present in America decades prior to the beginning of the war. It only exploded following the election of Abraham Lincoln due to the fact that he was opposed to the spread of slavery. Over the next several months following Lincoln's election, eleven Southern States, including the States of South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas withdrew from their alliance and federation with the Union, including Abraham Lincoln himself, and became known as the Confederate States of America. Though the Confederates dominated battle for the first couple years of the war, the Union recorded victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863, which proved to be the turning point of the American Civil War. From then on, the Union forces worked hard to attempt to finally conquer the Confederates, until eventually, the Southern States surrendered in April of 1865. Following the war, the "Reconstruction" period had begun with Union troops stationed and occupying the Southern States in order to oversee that they would gradually convert to the Union. Five days after the surrender of the Confederates, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while at the Ford's Theatre in Washington. However, Lincoln's fight for the annihilation of slavery with the Union has never been forgotten.