Over four hundred years of history, the United States has also made mistakes. Its greatest mistake was the Civil War. Radical factions fought like enraged bulls, plunging the nation into chaos and devastation. Scorched-earth tactics were used, and the war dragged on for four years, killing hundreds of thousands in exceptionally brutal fashion. President Lincoln ultimately won, yet was assassinated by a man from the North. The South required twenty-five years to rebuild.

One hundred and fifty years later, resentment in the South has not fully disappeared. Confederate flags are still displayed in some places. The disorderly emancipation of Black slaves left many without livelihoods, forcing them to drift from place to place. Decayed Black neighborhoods formed in cities such as New York and Chicago and have remained difficult to rebuild to this day. Problems of crime, racial conflict, and social tension continue to surface. The psychological and spiritual trauma has never been fully healed. These are lingering toxic legacies of the Civil War.

The Cause of War: Slavery

To Northerners, slavery was a moral issue; to Southerners, it was a matter of economic survival—an irreconcilable conflict between moral principle and material interest. By the 1850s, U.S. cotton production accounted for 70 percent of the world’s supply, providing massive inputs for British and American textile industries.

In 1860, the United States had four million slaves, most of whom labored in cotton fields. Southern plantation owners, especially cotton growers, were utterly dependent on enslaved Black labor.

The South Declares Secession

The war arose from deep divisions over slavery. Northern states advocated freedom for slaves, while Southern “slave states,” determined to protect the enormous profits generated by slave-based cotton agriculture, insisted on maintaining slavery. Congress debated slavery for two or three decades without compromise. Successive presidents adopted conciliatory positions to preserve national unity.

Lincoln opposed slavery and held a firm stance. When he was elected president in 1860, the South could no longer tolerate the situation. That year, seven Southern states declared secession from the Union and formed the “Confederate States.” In 1861, four more states joined, bringing the total to eleven. They mobilized armed forces and expelled federal troops stationed in the South.

The War Begins

At dawn on April 12, 1861, the American Civil War began. A cannon shell screamed through the sky over Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, and exploded above Fort Sumter, a U.S. federal military installation on an island near Charleston. The Battle of Fort Sumter ended with the surrender of federal forces. The battle lasted 33 hours, with more than 4,000 artillery rounds fired, yet no casualties occurred during the fighting. The following day, as federal troops prepared to evacuate the fort, an explosion killed one Union soldier.

President Lincoln ordered military action against the “rebellious” states. After four years and more than ten major battles marked by ferocious combat, the South ultimately surrendered. The Union was preserved, and slavery was abolished in the United States.

Virginia was the first state to secede after the war began. It occupied a strategic position directly across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Virginia’s secession also cost the Union an important military commander—General Robert E. Lee. Lee, a Virginian, had served more than 30 years in the U.S. Army.

Large-Scale and Bloody Warfare

The Battle of Shiloh was the first engagement in Western history involving as many as 100,000 troops. It gave Americans their first true taste of the horrors of modern warfare. The Union won the battle but paid a terrible price: 13,000 Union soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing, while Confederate casualties exceeded 10,000.

After two years of intense fighting, both sides suffered enormous losses and mounting pressure, especially the South, whose manpower and industrial capacity were relatively weak.

By 1863, the South faced severe shortages of supplies. Food and weapons could no longer meet military demands. Desperate to boost morale, General Robert E. Lee believed that invading the North would serve as a powerful stimulant, striking fear into Northerners and weakening their resolve.

At Fredericksburg, located between Washington and Richmond, Lee assembled a force of 75,000 troops. On June 3, he ordered an advance and encountered a Union force of 7,000. The Union troops were caught completely off guard. The Confederate army won an easy victory: more than half of the Union force was captured, and the rest fled in disarray.

Civil Unrest and Opposition to the War

Anti-war sentiment surged in both the North and the South. Several protests against conscription erupted, some turning violent. In the North, a political movement opposing the war emerged. Its supporters wore copper one-cent coins bearing Native American profiles and were known as “Copperheads.”

Poor citizens opposed the draft because wealth could exempt one from service. The conscription law allowed two ways out: paying $300 or hiring a substitute. Those who could do neither were forced to enlist or face execution as deserters. In New York City, public anger and panic finally exploded.

Mobs attacked draft offices, and riots spread rapidly, lasting three days. Rioters beat police officers to death. All Black people they encountered were beaten, burned, or lynched. Many white citizens who attempted to protect Black residents were also killed. When the riots subsided, 1,000 people were dead.

The Civil War did not enjoy broad popular support. Many people cared little about who won or lost and only hoped to avoid being caught in the fighting. In the North, many young men refused to enlist and staged protests.

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation

At the beginning of 1863, the political direction of the Civil War changed. President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves in the South free. Southern slaveholders largely ignored it. Nevertheless, the proclamation transformed the war from a struggle to preserve the Union into a fight to abolish slavery.

Heavy Casualties

Union General Grant agreed to allow Confederate prisoners to return home. On July 4, 1863, Grant and Confederate General Pemberton signed surrender terms. The Siege of Vicksburg lasted 47 days and marked the Union’s greatest victory to that point. Grant removed 30,000 Confederate soldiers from the war, captured 60,000 rifles and 170 cannons, and delivered a devastating blow to the already resource-starved South.

Even more significant was the loss of Confederate control over the Mississippi River. With Vicksburg captured, the Union controlled the entire river, effectively splitting the Confederacy in half.

In June 1864, the Battle of Cold Harbor ended a month-long Union offensive that nearly reached the outskirts of Richmond, the Confederate capital. Union casualties exceeded 50,000, while Southern losses totaled only about 20,000.

The Union’s Scorched-Earth Campaign

Union General William Tecumseh Sherman led a campaign through the South, ordering Atlanta burned to the ground. The city was nearly destroyed. On his 350-kilometer march to Savannah, Sherman burned and destroyed everything in his path, carving a corridor of devastation more than 100 kilometers wide—an operation known as Sherman’s March.

Sherman stated that he wanted Georgians to suffer and for Confederates to realize that their government could not protect them. Union soldiers looted farms and villages, seizing food, clothing, and livestock. Anything they could not take was destroyed. Homes, barns, warehouses, shops, factories, bridges, and railroads were burned or dismantled.

Sherman’s army encountered little resistance. Small Confederate cavalry units harassed the fringes of the advancing force but inflicted minimal damage. On December 22, 1864, Sherman reached Savannah and sent word to President Lincoln, asking permission to present the city as a Christmas gift.

Sherman’s campaign shattered Confederate morale. By then, only South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia remained under Confederate control.

Confederate Surrender

The ceasefire agreement stipulated that Confederate troops did not have to surrender directly to Sherman but were required to disband. Soldiers were allowed to return home with their weapons after signing pledges to cease fighting and obey federal and state laws.

Sherman stated that, in return, the president would recognize state governments that pledged loyalty to the Constitution, restore federal courts in the South, and guarantee political rights to all citizens under federal and state constitutions. As long as Southerners lived peacefully and obeyed the law, there would be no federal interference.

General Johnston ultimately chose to surrender. His troops laid down their arms on April 26. Other Confederate units soon followed, and soldiers began returning home.

Capture of the Confederate President

After the Confederate government collapsed, President Jefferson Davis fled southward, planning to cross the Mississippi River to reorganize Confederate forces or, failing that, escape to Mexico.

On May 10, 1865, Union troops captured Davis in southern Georgia and transported him to Fort Monroe in Virginia. He was held under heavy guard for several months but was never brought to trial. He was released in 1867.

President Lincoln Assassinated (1865)

In April 1865, Lincoln attended a play at a theater in Washington, D.C. While seated in his box, a man approached quietly from behind, holding a pistol in one hand and a dagger in the other. He raised the gun, aimed at the back of Lincoln’s head, and fired. Lincoln died shortly thereafter at the age of 56.

The nation was shocked. A grand state funeral was held. The assassin was later killed during pursuit.

Four Years of War: 650,000 Dead

Four years of civil war preserved the American Union. The Northern victory answered definitively whether states had the right to secede and resolved the long-standing issue of slavery. The cost was enormous.

The Union mobilized 2.2 million troops, while the Confederacy mobilized 1.06 million. At the time, the U.S. population was 26 million—nearly a full national mobilization. Total military deaths reached 650,000. Approximately 10 percent of young men in the North died, while in the South the figure reached 30 percent. Hundreds of thousands more were wounded, many permanently disabled.

Severe Destruction

Northern war expenditures totaled $3.5 billion, and Southern losses were comparable. Because most fighting occurred in the South, the devastation was concentrated there. Hundreds of towns and cities were damaged or destroyed. Atlanta and other cities were leveled.

Sparsely populated areas were also ravaged. Union forces swept through the South, leaving devastation everywhere. Farmhouses and homes were burned to the ground. Livestock and grain were seized or destroyed.

Southern transportation systems suffered the greatest damage. Most railroads were destroyed. The few remaining trains were overused and worn out. Ferries were destroyed, and roads and bridges were left in ruins.

The South lacked funds for reconstruction. Merchants and wealthy landowners had invested heavily in Confederate bonds, which were now worthless. War debts were unpayable. Congress abolished slavery, emancipated Black Americans, and passed laws to protect their rights. Four million freed slaves gained freedom but lacked skills, jobs, and livelihoods. Many resorted to theft to survive, creating severe public security problems in the South.

Twenty-Five Years of Southern Reconstruction

Southerners faced a bleak future. They had lost the war, and their economy lay in ruins. Many areas lacked food, and people went hungry. Farmers had no seeds or livestock to plant crops. The South lacked funds for reconstruction. Meanwhile, Radical Republicans in Washington demanded harsh punishment for the South, worsening conditions.

Radical Republicans opposed providing aid and instead demanded the sale of Southern property to repay Northern war debts.

President Andrew Johnson adopted a policy of leniency. He granted amnesty to all Southerners who pledged loyalty to the Union and compliance with anti-slavery laws. He also allowed former Confederate officials to participate in elections, resulting in many being elected to office.

Postwar reconstruction transformed the Southern economy. White landowners divided large plantations into smaller plots and leased them to Black farmers. Tenants received seeds, tools, and a year’s supply of necessities. A large share of the harvest went to the landowners. This sharecropping system spread throughout the South and lasted nearly 100 years. It allowed Black farmers to work for themselves and gradually improve their living conditions.