Civil War 101

​The American Civil War was fought between southern and northern states of the United States. The southern states didn't want to be part of the United States and decided to make their own country. However, the northern states wanted to stay as a whole.

​The Southern states were worried that if the US expanded, they would gain less power. They wanted to have their own power and make their own laws. Many Northern states had outlawed slavery and they were worried that the US would outlaw slavery in all the states.

• ​The Southern states wanted to break away, or secede.

• They made their own country called the Confederates States of America, or the Confederacy.

• They had their own president, Jefferson Davis.

• The confederacy was made up of 11 Southern states.

• ​The president of the US and the North was Abraham Lincoln.

• ​The North consisted of 25 states and was bigger, and more industrialized than the South.

• ​They had more people, resources, and wealth - giving them an advantage during the war.

​The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history. Over 600,000 soldiers died in the war. The fighting stopped when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865.