Just before sunrise on April 12, 1861, cannons fired from a Southern fort in South Carolina, aiming at a nearby U.S. Army fort called Fort Sumter. These shots started the Civil War—the deadliest conflict in American history. Over the next four years, about 620,000 people died (around 2.5% of the U.S. population at the time). It was a war that would change the country forever.

Background: In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president. Many people in the Southern states were angry because they thought Lincoln would try to end slavery. Even though he said he wouldn’t ban slavery in states where it already existed, he was firmly against allowing slavery in new states. Before he even took office, seven Southern states left the United States. They called themselves the Confederate States of America.

When the Confederate army attacked Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called for more soldiers to defend the country. This made four more states join the Confederacy. At the time, the U.S. Army was very small and mostly located out west. The war quickly became a fight not just about keeping the country together, but about ending slavery and protecting people’s rights.

The first big battle happened near Washington, D.C., and it showed everyone that the war was going to be long and hard. Many in the North had believed it would end quickly, but the Southern army was strong and determined. Soldiers in the Confederacy believed they were defending their way of life, which sadly included the system of slavery. Even poor white Southerners, who didn’t own enslaved people, still supported slavery because it kept them in a higher social position.

Meanwhile, President Lincoln had to be careful. Some states still allowed slavery but stayed in the Union. These "border states" were Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, and Lincoln didn’t want to lose their support.

Early on, the North tried to quickly capture the Southern capital of Richmond, Virginia, but failed. The Confederates were very motivated, and they used battle tactics like the scary "rebel yell" to intimidate Union troops. The war dragged on, with many battles taking place along the East Coast.

The North had some advantages: more people, more factories, and more money. But they struggled to find a strong general. That changed in 1864 when Ulysses S. Grant took charge. He used aggressive strategies to wear down the Southern armies. His plans caused a lot of loss on both sides, but the North was able to replace its soldiers while the South could not.

The war wasn’t only fought in the East. The Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, hoped to take over parts of the West, like New Mexico and Arizona. He even dreamed of creating a large slave empire reaching through Mexico and the Caribbean. But the Confederate invasion of New Mexico failed, and those big plans ended.

By April 1865, the Confederate forces were exhausted and surrounded. General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Grant at a place called Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The war was over.

The Southern states were devastated. Their farms, cities, and economy had been destroyed. The North had grown stronger and now had a powerful federal government. It had created new systems like the first income tax and helped build things like railroads and army forts.

Most importantly, slavery was finally abolished in the United States. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution made slavery illegal. While the end of slavery didn’t mean immediate equality, it was a huge step toward fairness and human rights. The Civil War helped create a stronger, more united country that continues to strive for justice for all people.

This time in history teaches us how important it is to stand up for what is right and to keep working toward freedom and equality for everyone.