The Civil War was known as one of the bloodiest wars fought on American soil. On April 12, 1861, the first shot of the Civil War was fired from Fort Sumter. It was estimated to have 620,000 casualties, which is the most ever in an American war. The Civil War had three main causes, slavery, states’ rights, and secession. It altered the direction of the country by eliminating slavery, weakening states’ rights, and strengthening the power of the Federal Government. For decades, slavery in the United States was considered normal, and in particular, the South depended heavily upon slavery for its economy. Slavery previously existed in both the Northern and Southern parts of America, but in the very early 1800’s, attitudes changed in the Northern States toward …show more content…
Many Southerners thought they should run their own country, but in order to do that, a border would have to be drawn to separate the free states in the North and pro-slavery states in the South. Previously, the South sent many empty threats regarding secession, including one in 1850 as well as in the election years of 1856 and 1860. They feared that a Republican president, in particular, would not be sympathetic to slavery. “Meanwhile, [on February 8, 1861] secessionist leaders were able to create their new nation—the Confederate States of America in slightly more than three months’ time.” (Epperson 2005 52). The Confederate States ultimately consisted of Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Virginia. The South wanted to expand slavery westward, but the Federal Government sought to prevent that, which led to the outbreak of the Civil War. The Civil War ended with the Union Army’s victory over the Confederate Army on April 9, 1865 in Appomattox,