American Civil War

A war fought in the United States, 1861-65, over issues such as state vs. national sovereignty and slavery vs. abolitionism. The two sides consisted of the United States of America (known more commonly as the Union and consisting of fifteen northern states, plus California) and the newly formed Confederate States of America, consisting of eleven southern states who stood for state's rights and slavery. The Union eventually triumphed in 1865 after a long and costly struggle on both sides, and the seceding states were eventually readmitted to the Union. The war has been called the first official modern war, as both sides incorporated telegraph communication, the use of railroads as transportation, the introduction of new military technology such as rifled muskets and ironclad warships and the doctrine of "total war," or war against civilians as well as military personnel. Finally, the war produced such iconic figures in American history as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant (who later became President), Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Joshua L. Chamberlain and countless others.

As a side note, many today commonly believe the war was fought over slavery alone. While slavery was eventually used by the Union to justify the war, the issue of state's rights vs. national sovereignty first caused the outbreak of war. There are perhaps thousands of books written on the American Civil War, its cause and its aftermath, so I suggest you read those and get a better understanding of the subject that from what I can tell you.

To those who think the civil war was over slavery, there were slaves in the united states nearly a hundred years before the civil war (and long before the US was a country on American land), yet no president lifted a finger to help them (many of the earliest presidents were slaveowners, of course they weren't lifting fingers to help). Lincoln issued the emancipation of slaves entirely for political/PR reasons, to gain public support for his cause (reunification of the country) from as many people as he could in the North and South. The North wanted to regain control of resources south of the Mason Dixon, which proved problematic with the Southern States seceded. A lot led up to the Civil War.

What the American Civil War of the 1860s might soon be called, thanks to a few fringe groups of fucking crazy people.