The Civil War
The Civil War split the nation, it was the only civil war the United States ever had. The North and the South were at war because they lived different ways of life. The economy in the South was based on agriculture and growing cotton, meanwhile the North was industrialized with factories and manufacturing. In the South, growing and harvesting cotton required many workers. Cotton was usually made in plantations, there were many plantations across the South. There were 4 million African slaves in the work force for growing and harvesting cotton. Luckly, by the 1800's the African slave trade became illegal, yet existing slaves were not freed by the South. People of the North pushed to abolish slavery, but the South thought that it would have a severe economic impact on cotton plantations. Abaraham Lincoln was against slavery. So when he was elected president, seven states from the South seceded from the United States, these states were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. These states formed the Confederated States of America. In April 12, 1861, the confederated forces captured Fort Sumter. After Fort Sumter was captured, four other Southern states seceded, these were Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Then the Civil War started.