The American Civil War social studies lesson for kids

The American Civil War social studies lesson for kids -  social studies skills studied in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th grades.

The American Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865, and saw the United States engaged in a battle against themselves. The division was between the slaveholding South, and the free North. Upon the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, the division erupted into a full-on conflict. 11 of the southern state seceded from the Union, turning their backs on a unified, single American nation. At this point, President Lincoln had only been in office for 6 weeks, and he declared the act of secession to be illegal. He requested 500,000 soldiers from Congress, to be dispatched to crush what could result in an aggressive rebellion.
In was in April, 1861 that the first shots were fired. What came next was a tragedy, of an unthinkable size. Millions of soldiers were wounded, and over 600,000 soldiers were killed. The South was sieged by violent fighting, and the Union almost collapsed under the force of a determined Confederate army.

Online Game on American Civil War

The war started hesitantly, but in July 1861, after the Battle of Manassas (better known as Bull Run) it became clear that this war would last for months, if not years. Battles were waged in Virginia and in Tennessee, with the Confederate arm taking victory after victory over ineffective and poorly led Union forces. Until, of course, September of 1862. This is when Confederate General, Robert E. Lee invaded Maryland and suffered a serious loss. This was the Battle of Antietam and it was the bloodiest battle the war was to see. The next year Lee’s army beat the Union and invaded Pennsylvania, which led to the Battle of Gettysburg. Gettysburg saw 50,000 men killed or wounded, and General Robert E. Lee and his army were forced to retreat, and were unable to invade again. Continue reading below>>>

Meanwhile, in the west, it was the Union’s General Ulysses S. Grant and his forces that captured a vital Confederate town, Vicksburg, on the 4th of July, 1863. It was on the very day that the Union’s victory at Gettysburg had made its way back to Washington. Even though the Union had won these vital battles, the war was not done. General Grant launched a major campaign in 1864, which saw many serious battles fought. The hope was that Lee’s army could be destroyed by wearing them down. Unfortunately, this plan failed. It was Union General, William Tecumseh Sherman who marched through George, from Atlanta to Savannah, setting fire to the countryside as he did so. The South was exhausted, and finally in the spring of 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House, which signaled the end of the American Civil War.
At the time, most Americans knew the true reason behind the Civil War was slavery, but it wasn’t until 1862 following Antietam that Lincoln started freeing the slaves. It was on the 1st of January, 1863 that Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves that had been captured. It was from that point on that the war officially was over the slavery issue. It wasn’t until the war finally finished, in December of 1865 that a ratification was made to the Thirteenth Amendment, freeing all of the slaves in America.