American Civil War – Introduction

The American Civil War was fought between 23 Northern States (known as the Union) and 11 Southern States (known as the Confederates, or sometimes the Slave States). The war started in 1861 and ended four years later in 1865. The North won.

Although slavery was one of the main issues, the Southern States’ rift with the North was caused as much by the Government’s imposition of tariffs on imported goods. The tariffs hit the southern states hard because they imported far more goods than the industrialised north.

NOTE: Apart from the Northern and Southern States, there were also several “Border States” in between. These were Slave States that decided not to join with the Confederates. We will look at these later.

The following pages should help you remember some of the facts about the American Civil War and some key people involved in it.