The Civil War was a military conflict between The Union (America) and the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865. The first shots were fired by P G T Beauregard on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, in Charleston, SC. The war started in April 1861, and lasted until May 26, 1865. Over 600,000 lives were lost and around $5 billion dollars of property destroyed. This war opened many wounds that never healed and these wounds are still bleeding over 125 years later. Slavery is the main reason that has ever been given in the history books for this war. The southern states depended on Slavery to form their economy. There was also many slaves owned in the North. But another of the biggest reason that this war took place was a debate on whether or not the western territories should be permitted to have slavery. Northerners were concerned about this growth because they did not want to compete with more slave labor compared to their own. By 1860, the north and the south had developed 2 very different lifestyles. Each tried to impose its point of view on the country as a whole. Although compromises had kept the Union together for many years, in 1860 the situation became explosive. The election of Abraham Lincoln as president was viewed by the South as a threat to the Southern way of life and ignited the war.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
January 1861 -- The South Secedes.
February 1861 -- The South Creates a Government.
February 1861 -- The South Seizes Federal Forts
March 1861 -- Lincoln's Inauguration
April 1861 -- Attack on Fort Sumter.
April 1861 -- Four More States Join the Confederacy.
June 1861 -- West Virginia Is Born.
June 1861 -- Four Slave States Stay in the Union.
July 1861 -- First Battle of Bull Run
July 1861 -- General McDowell Is Replaced
July 1861 -- A Blockade of the South.
January 1862 -- Abraham Lincoln Takes Action
March 1862 -- McClellan Loses Command.
April 1862 -- The Battle of Shiloh
May 1862 -- "Stonewall" Jackson Defeats Union Forces
June 1862 -- The Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks).
July 1862 -- The Seven Days' Battles
August 1862 -- Pope's Campaign
September 1862 -- Harper's Ferry
September 1862 -- Antietam
December 1862 -- The Battle of Fredericksburg
January 1863 -- Emancipation Proclamation
March 1863 -- The First Conscription
September 1863 -- The Battle of Chickamauga
May 1863 -- The Battle of Chancellorsville
May 1863 -- The Vicksburg Campaign
November 1863 -- The Battle of Chattanooga
May 1864 -- Grant's Wilderness Campaign
May 1864 -- The Battle of Spotsylvania
June 1864 -- The Battle of Cold Harbor
June 1864 -- The Siege of Petersburg
July 1864 -- Confederate Troops Approach Washington, D.C.
August 1864 -- General William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign
November 1864 -- General William T. Sherman's March to the Sea
November 1864 -- Abraham Lincoln Is Re-Elected
January 1865 -- The Fall of the Confederacy
February 1865 -- Sherman Marches through North and South Carolina
February 1865 -- A Chance for Reconciliation Is Lost
April 1865 -- Fallen Richmond
April 1865 -- Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse
April 1865 -- The Assassination of President Lincoln
April-May 1865 -- Final Surrenders among Remaining Confederate Troop