AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (1861-1865).

American Civil War Background: In the mid-19th century, while the United States was
experiencing an era of economic growth. While in the North, manufacturing and industry was well
established, and agriculture was mostly limited to small-scale farms, the South's economy was
based on a system of large-scale farming that depended on the labor of black slaves in cotton and
tobacco plantations. Abolitionist sentiment grew in the North after the 1830s and northern
opposition to slavery's extension into the new western territories led many southerners to fear that
the existence of slavery in america (the base of the economy in the southern States)was in danger.

The Facts: The American Civil War was fought from 1861 to 1865 in the United States
after several Southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of
America (the "Confederacy" or the "South"). The states that remained were known as the "Union"
or the "North". After four years of bloody combat that left over 600,000 soldiers dead and destroyed
much of the South's infrastructure, the Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and the
difficult Reconstruction process of restoring national unity and guaranteeing rights to the freed
slaves began.

In the 1860 presidential

election, Republicans, led
by Abraham Lincoln, opposed
the expansion of slavery
into United States' territories.
Lincoln won, but before his
inauguration on March 4, 1861,
seven slave states with cotton-
based economies formed the
Confederacy. The Confederates
assumed that European countries
were so dependent on southern
cotton that they would intervene;
none did and none recognized
the new Confederate States of America.

Although the 23 states of the Union enjoying an enormous advantage in population,

manufacturing (including arms production) and railroad construction, the Confederates had a strong
military tradition, along with some of the best soldiers and commanders in the nation. They also had
a cause they believed in: preserving their long-held traditions and institutions, among these being
slavery.
Confederates did not need to invade and hold enemy territory to win, but only needed to fight a
defensive war to convince the North that the cost of winning was too high. The North needed to
conquer and hold vast stretches of enemy territory and defeat Confederate armies to win.
Costs of the War: The war produced about 1,030,000 casualties (3% of the population),
including about 620,000 soldier deaths, two-thirds by disease. Based on 1860 census figures, 8% of
all white males aged 13 to 43 died in the war, including 6% in the North and 18% in the South. The
war destroyed much of the wealth that had existed in the South. Most banks and railroads were
bankrupt. Income per person in the South dropped to less than 40% of that of the North, a condition
which lasted until well into the 20th century. Southern influence in the US federal government,
previously considerable, was greatly diminished until the second half of the 20th century.
Slavery during the War: To Northerners, in contrast, the motivation was primarily to
preserve the Union, not to abolish slavery. Abraham Lincoln consistently made preserving the
Union the central goal of the war. Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation
angered Democrats (they thought that freeing the blacks, they would flee to the North). The
Emancipation allowed free slaves and fugitive slaves to join the Union Army. About 190,000
volunteered. During the Civil War, sentiment concerning slaves, and emancipation in the United
States was divided. In 1861, Lincoln worried that premature attempts at emancipation would mean
the loss of the border states. Only when the south began to collapsed Lincoln resolved to abolish
slavery by constitutional amendment. After winning the election of 1864, Lincoln made the passage
of the Thirteenth Amendment his top legislative priority. Every Republican supported the measure,
as well as 16 Democrats. The amendment finally passed by a vote of 119 to 56, narrowly reaching
the required two-thirds majority. Lincoln signed the amendment on February 1, 1865.
The assassination of President Lincoln: 16th president of the
USA, serving from March 1861 until April 15th 1865. The
assassination occurred five days after the commander of the
Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, General Robert E. Lee,
surrendered to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and the Union
Army. The assassination of Lincoln was planned and carried out by
the well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, as part of a larger
conspiracy in a bid to revive the Confederate cause. Learning that
Lincoln was to attend Ford's Theatre in Washington, John Wilkes
Booth masterminded the simultaneous assassination of Lincoln,
Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward. By murdering the
president and two of his possible successors, Booth and his co-conspirators hoped to throw the U.S.
government into disarray. Lincoln occupied a private box above the stage with his wife Mary. At
10:15, Booth slipped into the box and fired a single-shot into the back of Lincoln's head.

Volunteer ACTIVITIES.
1. A brief biography of Lincoln: a presentation with the most important facts of his life.
2. A description of Abraham Lincoln's Monument in Washington D.C.

ACTIVITIES.
1. Why the southern States proclaimed the Confederacy?.
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2. Why southern States were confident of their victory?.
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3. What were the economic differences between North and South before the Civil War?.
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4. What was the Emancipation Proclamation?.
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5. What proclaimed the 13th Amendment?.
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6. What happened on April 15th 1865?.
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7. True or false, convert false sentences into true.
Ulyses S. Grant was the commander in chief of Half million of people died in the American
the Union Army. Civil War.
13th Amendment was passed by unanimity in the 150.000 african-americans volunteered in the
Congress and Senate. Union Army.
John W. Booth stabbed Lincoln in the Carnegie's South's economy was based on large-scale
Theatre. plantations of custard apples and tomatoes.

8.Who was Robert E. Lee?.

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