civilwarbeginning


 * The Civil War - Part 1 ** When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860, South Carolina had decided that they had had enough. They left the United States and declared themselves an independent nation. Of course, the United States couldn't just allow South Carolina, and the other states in the South that soon followed to just run off and declare themselves a new country. They belonged to the United States, and it was the United States' job to keep the states together and united. Unfortunately, keeping the United States together cost more than 600,000 American lives, but by the end of the war, the United States had changed. Slavery was declared illegal, and African Americans looked forward to a time, when maybe one day, they would be treated as equals with whites. Today, you will read about this war that claimed the lives of so many Americans and changed our nation forever. Click on the links below to read each person's story. Some of the people were from the Confederacy (the South) and some people were from the Union (the North). Each link tells you what the story is about, who told the story, and what side they were on. After reading, answer the questions at the bottom of each story.

1. Secession - soldier - Confederate

2. The Battle of Fort Sumter - soldier - Union

3. The beginning of the war - Abraham Lincoln - Union

4. The Battle of Bull Run - soldier - Confederate

5. Preparing the Army - George McClellan - Union

6. George McClellan's performance - Abraham Lincoln - Union

7. Civil War Camps - soldier - Union

8. Ironclads - soldier - Confederate

9. The Battle of Shiloh - Ulysses S. Grant - Union

10. The Battle of New Orleans - citizen - Confederate

11. Antietam - Robert E. Lee - Confederate

12. After Antietam - Abraham Lincoln - Union