The Civil War

When the Founding Fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution, they thought about including something that would eliminate slavery. In the end, they decided it wasn’t the right time. Southern plantations depended on slaves for free labor; northern industries relied on slaves too. Private citizens and the slaves themselves would have to…

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a slave child? Or how the slaves came to be in America?   Slavery is not a new idea, but has been around for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians all kept slaves. Today, slaves are…

Black people first began coming to America in the 1600s, as slaves for plantation owners who had come from Spain and England. These Africans helped build the country in those early days, yet they’re rarely mentioned.   Fun Facts During the 1700s, American colonists were getting tired of Britain’s rule…

In November of 1863, President Lincoln came to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to dedicate the Gettysburg War Cemetery, the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. As he came to Gettysburg on the train, he wrote a simple speech. This speech was only about four minutes long. Many…

The Civil War killed more men than all other U.S. wars combined – over 600,000 soldiers. New technologies such as the telegram and railway made communication and the delivery of supplies and weapons more efficient. The weapons themselves were more powerful, more accurate, and more lethal. Fun Facts Although the…

The Civil War lasted four years. At its end, over 600,000 soldiers were dead. Much of the South lay in ruins. Yet, the Union had been saved and the practice of slavery abolished. Fun Facts On July 20, 1861, Union troops moved toward the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, just…

The Civil War was often called the “Brother’s War” because it pitted states, towns, villages, and even families against each other. For example, Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, had three brothers who fought for the Confederacy and were killed. Many of the soldiers and officers for both sides had…

Trouble between the North and the South over the issue of slavery had been brewing for over 50 years, but finally exploded in 1860 when Abraham Lincoln was elected President. Seven Southern states left the Union, forming a new country. Fort Sumter, a fort controlled by the Union, sat on…

The mid-1800s were a time of intense conflict in the United States. Northerners believed passionately that a free country could not practice slavery. Southerners believed they had a right to decide for themselves what would happen in their states. Many Southerners wanted to secede from the United States. Northerners (and…

In the years before the Civil War, the Northern states blossomed into thriving industrial areas. Factories produced goods, such as furniture, clothing, and tools, which were shipped to the West, as well as to other countries. The Northern states were becoming wealthy. People came to the cities looking for jobs,…