Portal:American Civil War

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The American Civil War Portal

The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a sectional rebellion against the United States of America by the Confederate States, formed of eleven southern states' governments which moved to secede from the Union after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. The Union's victory was eventually achieved by leveraging advantages in population, manufacturing and logistics and through a strategic naval blockade denying the Confederacy access to the world's markets.

In many ways, the conflict's central issues – the enslavement of African Americans, the role of constitutional federal government, and the rights of states – are still not completely resolved. Not surprisingly, the Confederate army's surrender at Appomattox on April 9,1865 did little to change many Americans' attitudes toward the potential powers of central government. The passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution in the years immediately following the war did not change the racial prejudice prevalent among Americans of the day; and the process of Reconstruction did not heal the deeply personal wounds inflicted by four brutal years of war and more than 970,000 casualties – 3 percent of the population, including approximately 560,000 deaths. As a result, controversies affected by the war's unresolved social, political, economic and racial tensions continue to shape contemporary American thought. The causes of the war, the reasons for the outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of much discussion even today. (Full article)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Featured article

A drawing of Neosho as she appeared in 1863

The Neosho-class monitors were a pair of ironclad river monitors laid down in mid-1862 for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. After completion in mid-1863, both ships spent time patrolling the Mississippi River against Confederate raids and ambushes as part of Rear Admiral David Porter's Mississippi Squadron. Both ships participated in the Red River Campaign in March–May 1864, although Osage supported the capture of Fort DeRussy in March and participated in the Battle of Blair's Landing in April. Osage was grounded on a sandbar for six months after the end of the campaign while Neosho resumed her patrols on the Mississippi. The latter ship supported the Union Army's operations on the Cumberland River and provided fire support during the Battle of Nashville in December.

Osage, after being refloated and repaired, was transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in early 1865 for the campaign against Mobile, Alabama. During the Battle of Spanish Fort in March 1865 she struck a mine and rapidly sank. The ship was later salvaged and sold in 1867. Neosho was decommissioned after the war and remained in reserve until sold in 1873. (Full article...)

More featured articles

Grand Parade of the States

The state of Rhode Island during the American Civil War remained loyal to the Union, as did the other states of New England. Rhode Island furnished 25,236 fighting men to the Union Army, of which 1,685 died. The state used its industrial capacity to supply the Union Army with the materials needed to win the war. Rhode Island's continued growth and modernization led to the creation of an urban mass transit system and improved health and sanitation programs. (Full article...)

More states articles

Featured biography

William Franklin Raynolds (March 17, 1820 – October 18, 1894) was an American explorer, engineer and U.S. army officer who served in the Mexican–American War and American Civil War. He is best known for leading the 1859–60 Raynolds Expedition while serving as a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers.

During the 1850s and again after his participation in the Civil War, Raynolds was the head engineer on numerous lighthouse construction projects. He oversaw riverway and harbor dredging projects intended to improve accessibility and navigation for shipping. As a cartographer, Raynolds surveyed and mapped the islands and shorelines on the Great Lakes and other regions. At least six lighthouses whose construction he oversaw are still standing. Some are still in use and of these, several are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Full article...)

More featured biographies

WikiProjects

edit

Featured picture

Image 1Robert E. Lee, by Levin Corbin Handy
Image 2John A. Dahlgren, by Mathew Brady
Image 3Richmond, Virginia after the American Civil War
Image 4The original sketch of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville, at and by William Waud
Image 5Francis B. Spinola, Brigadier General for the Union in the American Civil War, and Congressman from New York
Image 6John F. Reynolds, by Alfred Rudolph Waud
Image 7Abraham Lincoln's private secretary and biographer John Hay
Image 8First Battle of Bull Run map
Image 9Battle of Harpers Ferry, by Robert Knox Sneden
Image 10United States President (and former Brigadier-General) Benjamin Harrison
Image 11Charles Pomeroy Stone
Image 12Andersonville Prison at Andersonville National Historic Site, by John L. Ransom
Image 13Siege of Yorktown, by James F. Gibson
Image 14Atlanta roundhouse ruin at History of Atlanta, by George Barnard
Image 15Quaker guns, by George Barnard and James F. Gibson
Image 16Lithographic facsimile of the Bixby letter, by Huber's Museum
Image 17Military execution of the conspirators in the Abraham Lincoln assassination
Image 18Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, by Alfred Waud
Image 19Allan Pinkerton, President Lincoln, and John A. McClernand in 1862 by Alexander Gardner
Image 20President Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th President of the USA
Image 21George Atzerodt, by Alexander Gardner
Image 22Ulysses S. Grant, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 23Ambrose Burnside, by Matthew Brady
Image 24Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Image 25Christian Fleetwood
Image 26The print version of Sherman in South Carolina: The burning of McPhersonville at McPhersonville, South Carolina, by William Waud
Image 27Harriet Tubman
Image 28Daniel McCallum, by the Brady National Photographic Art Gallery
Image 29Battle of Franklin, by Kurz and Allison
Image 30Pickett's Charge, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 31Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers
Image 32William Birney
Image 33Braxton Bragg
Image 34The Chickahominy – Sumner's Upper Bridge at Peninsula campaign, by William McIlvaine
Image 35David Dixon Porter, by Mathew Brady
Image 36Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, by Thure de Thulstrup
Image 37George Armstrong Custer, by George L. Andrews
Image 38John Lorimer Worden, by Mathew Brady
Image 39Andersonville survivor
Image 40The burning of Columbia at Columbia, South Carolina in the American Civil War, by William Waud
Image 41Charles Griffin
Image 42Confederate casualties at Chancellorsville during the American Civil War, by the National Archives and Records Administration
Image 43Battle of Fort Sanders, by Kurz and Allison
Image 44African-American Civil War soldiers
Image 45William H. Seward, United States Secretary of State during the American Civil War
Image 46Abner Doubleday

Did you know...

... that Chinese-born Joseph Pierce enlisted as a Union Army soldier, fought at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, and was made a corporal?
... that the Battle of Saint Charles featured what is known as the deadliest shot of the American Civil War?
... that Dubuque, Arkansas, was destroyed in the American Civil War and is now covered by the waters of Bull Shoals Lake?
... that CSS Beaufort fought USS Albatross in the first ship-versus-ship action of the American Civil War?
... that Colonel Bradley Winslow was brevetted by US president Abraham Lincoln for "brave and gallant conduct" during the siege of Petersburg in the American Civil War?
... that the only functioning secondary school in Mississippi during the American Civil War was founded by Thomas S. Gathright?