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Why did it happen?
• There are many reasons why
the Civil War was fought, and
these reasons change based
on which side you ask.
• Throughout this lesson we will
be exploring those reasons
and analyzing each side’s
mentality in the war.
• But first we will should begin
with a basic overview of the
war before we explore the
causes
Fort Sumter and the start of war
• The American Civil War began
in early 1861 when
Confederate troops in South
Carolina fired on the Union
Fort Sumter.
• Lincoln called for 75,000 men
to stop the rebellion and both
sides mobilized for war.
• The first major battle took
place at the Battle of Bull Run.
• After the initial onslaught both
sides realized they were in for
a long war.
Initial Southern Success
• For the first part of the
war, the South enjoyed
great success, driving
the Union armies out of
the south and even
invaded the North.
• Southern Success was
mainly due to several
factors, one was that the
North had incompetent
commanders and the
South had the military
brilliance of Robert E.
Lee.
Gettysburg and Turn of the War
• In the summer of 1863, the
Confederate Army invaded the
North seeking to draw the
Union Army into one last
decisive battle.
• However, at the Pennsylvania
town of Gettysburg it was the
North who gained the upper
hand.
• After a bloody three day battle
the Union prevailed as victors
and the Confederate Army fled
South to Virginia.
• Although the war raged for two
more bloody years, the South
never enjoyed the same
success it did in the beginning
of the war.
Appomattox and the end of the war
• In the summer of
1865, beaten and
tired, Lee surrendered
the to Ulysses S.
Grant, officially
ending the Civil War.
• Although many holdouts remained, the
Confederacy was
decisively crushed.
What Now?
• Now that we have had a brief overview of
the war, we will begin to more closely
analyze the causes of the war from both
northern and southern perspectives