Module 5: The Civil War and Reconstruction - 1860 to 1877

The Civil War began with the attack on Fort Sumter in 1861 and ended when the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in 1865. While the American Revolution created the United States, the Civil War determined what type of nation the United States would become. The Civil War proved the United States was not a confederation of sovereign states. A Union victory preserved a nation that was indivisible. The Civil War showed that the country was willing to fight to ensure that all citizens of the United States had an equal right to liberty.