What is the history of the Civil War?

Answer 1

A war between factions of the same country; there are five criteria for international recognition of this status: the contestants must control territory, have a functioning government, enjoy some foreign recognition, have identifiable regular armed forces, and engage in major military operations.

or in simple words,

A violent conflict between opposing groups within a country that becomes so intense that it appears like a war.

Answer 2

A civil war is one that is fought between two or more groups **within** a country. Ordinary wars are fought between two or more countries.
cilvil war is when theyyyy faught !!!! ahahahahaha

Answer 3

Fought 1861-1865, the American Civil War was the result of decades of sectional tensions between the North and South. Focused on slavery and states rights, these issues came to a head following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Over the next several months eleven southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. During the first two years of the war, Southern troops won numerous victories but saw their fortunes turn after losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863. From then on, Northern forces worked to conqueror the South, forcing them to surrender in April 1865.

Causes & Secession:

The roots of the Civil War can be traced to increasing differences between North and South and their growing divergence as the 19th century progressed. Chief among the issues were expansion of slavery into the territories, the South's declining political power, states rights, and the retention of slavery. Though these issues had existed for decades, they exploded in 1860 following the election of Abraham Lincoln who was against the spread of slavery. As the result of his election, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded from the Union. Causes of the Civil War

Fort Sumter & First Bull Run:

On April 12, 1861, the war began when Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor forcing its surrender. In response to the attack, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion. While Northern states responded quickly, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas refused, opting to join the Confederacy instead. In July, Union forces commanded by Gen. Irvin McDowell began marching south to take the rebel capital of Richmond. On the 21st, they met a Confederate army near Manassas and were defeated. Fort Sumter & First Bull Run

War in the East, 1862-1863:

Following the defeat at Bull Run, Gen. George McClellan was given command of the new Union Army of the Potomac. In early 1862, he shifted the army south to attack Richmond via the Peninsula. Moving slowly, he was defeated and forced to retreat after the Seven Days Battles. This campaign saw the rise of Robert E. Lee to the command of Confederate forces in the East. Shortly thereafter, a second Union army was defeated by Lee at the Second Battle of Bull Run. In September, Lee began to move north into Maryland. McClellan was sent to intercept and met Lee at Antietam on the 17th.

Despite having a larger force and knowledge of Lee's positions, McClellan was overcautious and failed to achieve a decisive victory. The win at Antietam permitted Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the South and altered the Union's war aims. Unhappy with McClellan, Lincoln gave command to Gen. Ambrose Burnside. In December, Burnside was beaten at Fredericksburg and replaced by Gen. Joseph Hooker. The following May, Hooker engaged Lee near Chancellorsville. Though outnumbered 2-to-1, Lee outmaneuvered Hooker forced him to retreat. War in the East, 1862-1863

War in the West, 1861-1863:

In February 1862, forces under Gen. Ulysses S. Grant captured Forts Henry & Donelson. Two months later he defeated a Confederate army at Shiloh, TN. On April 29, Union naval forces captured New Orleans. To the east, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg attempted to invade Kentucky, but was repelled at Perryville on October 8. That December he was beaten again at Stones River, TN. Grant now focused his attention on capturing Vicksburg and opening the Mississippi River. After a false start, his troops swept through Mississippi and laid siege to the town on May 18, 1863. War in the West, 1861-1863

Turning Points - Gettysburg & Vicksburg:

In June 1863, Lee began to move north towards Pennsylvania with Union troops in pursuit. Following the defeat at Chancellorsville, Lincoln turned to Gen. George Meade to take over the Army of the Potomac. On July 1, elements of the two armies clashed at Gettysburg, PA. After three days of heavy fighting, Lee was defeated and forced to retreat. A day later on July 4, Grant successfully concluded the siege of Vicksburg, opening the Mississippi to shipping and cutting the South in two. Combined these victories were the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. Gettysburg and Vicksburg

War in the West, 1863-1865:

In summer 1863, Union troops under Gen. William Rosecrans advanced into Georgia and were defeated at Chickamauga. Fleeing north, they were besieged at Chattanooga. Grant was ordered to save the situation and did so winning victories at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The following spring Grant departed and gave command to Gen. William Sherman. Moving south, Sherman took Atlanta and then marched to Savannah. After reaching the sea, he moved north pushing Confederate forces until their commander, Gen. Joseph Johnston surrendered at Durham, NC on April 18, 1865. War in the West, 1863-1865

War in the East, 1863-1865:

In March 1864, Grant was given command of all Union armies and came east to deal with Lee. Grant's campaign began in May, with the armies clashing at the Wilderness. Despite heavy casualties, Grant pressed south, fighting at Spotsylvania C.H. and Cold Harbor. Unable to get through Lee's army to Richmond, Grant attempted to cut the city off by taking Petersburg. Lee arrived first and a siege began. On April 2/3, 1865, Lee was forced to evacuate the city and retreat west, allowing Grant to take Richmond. On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House. War in the East, 1863-1865

Aftermath & Casualties:

On April 14, five days after Lee's surrender, President Lincoln was assassinated while attending a play at Ford's Theater in Washington. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was killed by Union troops on April 26 while fleeing south. Lincoln's death cast a pall across the nation and elevated Vice President Andrew Johnson to the presidency.

With the end of fighting a period known as Reconstruction began, with Union troops occupying Southern states and overseeing their gradual reintegration into the Union. Following the war, three amendments were added to the Constitution:

• 13th: Abolished slavery
• 14th: Extension of legal protection regardless of race
• 15th: Abolished all racial restrictions on voting

During the war, Union forces suffered approximately 360,000 killed (140,000 in battle) and 282,000 wounded. Confederates armies lost approximately 258,000 killed (94,000 in battle) and an unknown number of wounded. The total killed in the war exceeds the total deaths from all other US wars combined.
The American Civil War (1861-1865), in the United States often referred to as simply the Civil War and sometimes called the "War Between the States", was a civil war fought over the secession of the Confederate States. Eleven southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ("the Confederacy"); the other 25 states supported the federal government ("the Union"). After four years of warfare, mostly within the Southern states, the Confederacy surrendered and slavery was abolished everywhere in the nation. Issues that led to war were partially resolved in the Reconstruction Era that followed, though others remained unresolved.

In the presidential election of 1860, the Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln, had campaigned against expanding slavery beyond the states in which it already existed. The Republicans strongly advocated nationalism, and in their 1860 platform they denounced threats of disunion as avowals of treason. After a Republican victory, but before the new administration took office on March 4, 1861, seven cotton states declared their secession and joined to form the Confederate States of America. Both the outgoing administration of President James Buchanan and the incoming administration rejected the legality of secession, considering it rebellion. The other eight slave states rejected calls for secession at this point. No foreign governments recognized the Confederacy.

Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces fired on a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a volunteer army from each state to recapture federal property, which led to declarations of secession by four more slave states. Both sides raised armies as the Union seized control of the border states early in the war and established a naval blockade. Land warfare in the East was inconclusive in 1861-62, as the Confederacy beat back Union efforts to capture its capital, Richmond, Virginia, notably during the Peninsular Campaign. In September 1862, the Confederate campaign in Maryland ended in defeat at the Battle of Antietam, which dissuaded the British from intervening.[3] Days after that battle, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal.[4]

In 1863, Confederate general Robert E. Lee's northward advance ended in defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg. To the west, the Union gained control of the Mississippi River after the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862) and Siege of Vicksburg, splitting the Confederacy in two and destroying much of their western army. Due to his western successes, Ulysses S. Grant was given command of all Union armies in 1864, and organized the armies of William Tecumseh Sherman, George Meade and others to attack the Confederacy from all directions, increasing the North's advantage in manpower. Grant restructured the union army, and put other generals in command of divisions of the army that were to support his push into Virginia. He fought several battles of attrition against Lee through the Overland Campaign to seize Richmond, though in the face of fierce resistance he altered his plans and led the Siege of Petersburg which nearly finished off the rest of Lee's army. Meanwhile, Sherman captured Atlanta and marched to the sea, destroying Confederate infrastructure along the way. When the Confederate attempt to defend Petersburg failed, the Confederate army retreated but was pursued and defeated, which resulted in Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.

The American Civil War was one of the earliest true industrial wars. Railroads, the telegraph, steamships, and mass-produced weapons were employed extensively. The practices of total war, developed by Sherman in Georgia, the experimental use of the first usable predecessor of the machine gun and of trench warfare around Petersburg, all foreshadowed World War I in Europe. It remains the deadliest war in American history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 750,000 soldiers[5] and an undetermined number of civilian casualties. Historian John Huddleston estimates the death toll at ten percent of all Northern males 20-45 years old, and 30 percent of all Southern white males aged 18-40.[6] Victory for the North meant the end of the Confederacy and of slavery in the United States, and strengthened the role of the federal government. The social, political, economic and racial issues of the war decisively shaped the reconstruction era that lasted to 1877.

Answer 4

The American Civil War was fought in the the U.S. which was divided into two sides, the northern states and the southern states. The north wanted to keep the slaves and the south wanted to free them. President Abraham Lincoln was in power at that time.

Answer 5

It was NOT a declared war, but it was a war between two separate governments and two separate armies and navies.

Answer 6

well that's kind of an oximoron. a civil war means a nation or in this case a country split on two battling each other.

Answer 7

Family feud. A country fighting against itself is civil war.

Answer 8

Civil War is a war between the people of the same nation.