#separator:tab #html:false #tags column:4 Main cause of the Civil War Disagreement over slavery and whether it could spread into new states and territories us-civil-war Union The Northern states that stayed in the United States us-civil-war Confederacy The eleven Southern states that left the Union us-civil-war Secession A state's decision to leave the Union us-civil-war First state to secede South Carolina, in December 1860 us-civil-war Abraham Lincoln 16th president; his election in 1860 led Southern states to secede us-civil-war Jefferson Davis President of the Confederacy us-civil-war Fort Sumter (1861) Confederate guns fired on this South Carolina fort, starting the war on April 12 us-civil-war Border states Slave states that stayed in the Union: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri us-civil-war Robert E. Lee Commanding general of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia us-civil-war Ulysses S. Grant Union general who led all Union armies and later became president us-civil-war William T. Sherman Union general who led the March to the Sea through Georgia in 1864 us-civil-war Stonewall Jackson Confederate general famous for standing like a stone wall at Bull Run us-civil-war George McClellan Union general who trained the Army of the Potomac but moved cautiously us-civil-war Anaconda Plan Union plan to squeeze the South by blockading ports and taking the Mississippi River us-civil-war Blockade Using ships to keep supplies from reaching or leaving ports us-civil-war First Battle of Bull Run (1861) First big battle, in Virginia; showed the war would be long us-civil-war Ironclad Warship covered in iron plates us-civil-war Monitor and Merrimack (1862) First battle between ironclad ships; neither side won clearly us-civil-war Battle of Shiloh (1862) Bloody Tennessee battle that showed how costly the war would be us-civil-war Battle of Antietam (1862) Fought in Maryland on September 17; the bloodiest single day in American history us-civil-war Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln's order, effective January 1, 1863, freeing enslaved people in areas in rebellion us-civil-war 54th Massachusetts Famous regiment of Black soldiers led by white officers; attacked Fort Wagner in 1863 us-civil-war Black soldiers About 180,000 Black men served in the Union Army us-civil-war Robert Gould Shaw White colonel who led the 54th Massachusetts us-civil-war Harriet Tubman in the war Served the Union as a scout, nurse and spy us-civil-war Battle of Fredericksburg (1862) Confederate victory in Virginia with heavy Union losses us-civil-war Battle of Chancellorsville (1863) Lee's bold victory in Virginia, though Jackson was fatally wounded us-civil-war Siege of Vicksburg (1863) Grant captured this Mississippi River city after weeks of siege us-civil-war Battle of Gettysburg (1863) Three-day battle in Pennsylvania; Lee's northern invasion was turned back us-civil-war Pickett's Charge Failed Confederate assault on the last day at Gettysburg us-civil-war Turning points of 1863 Gettysburg and Vicksburg, both ending July 3-4 us-civil-war Gettysburg Address Lincoln's short speech in November 1863 about equality and a 'new birth of freedom' us-civil-war Draft riots (1863) Violent protests in New York City against the military draft us-civil-war Habeas corpus Right to challenge your imprisonment; Lincoln suspended it during the war us-civil-war Clara Barton Nurse who helped wounded soldiers and later founded the American Red Cross us-civil-war Dorothea Dix in the war Led the Union Army's nurses us-civil-war Women in the war Served as nurses and spies, ran farms and businesses, and a few disguised themselves to fight us-civil-war Soldier's diet Hardtack, a hard cracker, was a common food us-civil-war Hardtack A hard, dry biscuit given to soldiers us-civil-war Minie ball A cone-shaped rifle bullet that made battles deadlier us-civil-war Disease in the war More soldiers died of illness than of wounds us-civil-war Mathew Brady Photographer whose team showed the war's reality to the public us-civil-war Telegraph in the war Let Lincoln and generals send orders quickly us-civil-war Railroads in the war Moved troops and supplies quickly, especially for the Union us-civil-war Sherman's March to the Sea (1864) Union army cut through Georgia, destroying railroads and supplies us-civil-war Atlanta captured (1864) Sherman took Atlanta in September 1864, helping Lincoln win re-election us-civil-war Election of 1864 Lincoln won a second term us-civil-war Thirteenth Amendment Ended slavery in the US; passed by Congress in 1865 and ratified that December us-civil-war Siege of Petersburg Months-long Union siege in Virginia in 1864-65 us-civil-war Appomattox Court House Virginia town where Lee surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865 us-civil-war Lee's surrender April 9, 1865, effectively ended the war in the East us-civil-war Lincoln's assassination John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln on April 14, 1865; he died the next day us-civil-war Andrew Johnson Became president after Lincoln's death us-civil-war Casualties About 620,000 soldiers died in the war us-civil-war Dred Scott decision (1857) Supreme Court ruled Black people could not be citizens and Congress could not ban slavery in territories us-civil-war Missouri Compromise 1820 plan that tried to balance slave and free states us-civil-war Compromise of 1850 Package of laws including California as a free state and a stronger Fugitive Slave Act us-civil-war Fugitive Slave Act Law requiring that escaped enslaved people be returned us-civil-war Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) Let settlers vote on slavery in those territories, leading to 'Bleeding Kansas' us-civil-war Bleeding Kansas Violent fighting in Kansas over slavery in the 1850s us-civil-war John Brown's raid (1859) Abolitionist John Brown attacked the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia us-civil-war Uncle Tom's Cabin 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe that turned many against slavery us-civil-war Harriet Beecher Stowe Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin us-civil-war Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858) Illinois Senate debates that made Lincoln famous us-civil-war Stephen Douglas Illinois senator who debated Lincoln over slavery us-civil-war Republican Party Founded in 1854 to oppose spreading slavery into territories us-civil-war Sectionalism Loyalty to a region more than to the whole country us-civil-war States' rights Idea that states hold powers the federal government should not control us-civil-war Cotton in the South The Southern economy depended heavily on cotton grown by enslaved labor us-civil-war North's economy Based more on factories, trade and smaller farms us-civil-war Frederick Douglass in the war Urged Lincoln to free enslaved people and let Black men fight us-civil-war Contrabands Name for enslaved people who fled to Union lines us-civil-war Homestead Act and Morrill Act (1862) Laws passed during the war that gave land to settlers and colleges us-civil-war Greenbacks Paper money the Union printed to pay for the war us-civil-war Gettysburg National Cemetery Burial place for Union dead, where Lincoln spoke us-civil-war Battle of Mobile Bay (1864) Union naval victory under Admiral David Farragut that closed a key Confederate port us-civil-war Clara Barton's Red Cross Founded in 1881 after her war work us-civil-war Juneteenth June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free; now a national holiday us-civil-war Civil War War within one country between two sides us-civil-war