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American Civil WarThe American Civil War, fought from 1861 to 1865 between the Union and 11 Southern states that had seceded to form the Confederacy, remains the nation's deadliest conflict, with an estimated 700,000 soldiers killed—more than in all other US wars combined. About two-thirds of those deaths resulted from disease rather than combat. The war's root cause was slavery—particularly its expansion into new territories—and the South's effort to preserve a system built on enslaved labor. Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election on a platform opposing the spread of slavery triggered secession and open conflict after Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in April 1861. Early Confederate victories gave the South initial momentum, but Union military strength and resources gradually turned the tide. The Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 marked a decisive shift, ending Confederate advances into the North. The war ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia—just days before Lincoln's assassination. The conflict and its aftermath reshaped America socially and technologically. It accelerated industrialization by expanding railroads and spurring advances in communication and medicine. By the war's end, the country had abolished slavery, expanded federal authority, and begun Reconstruction—though the conflict's divisions remain visible today.Explore American Civil War

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Hear how the world reacted to the American Civil WarEuropean nations closely watched the Civil War for its economic and political consequences. Some European nations quietly engaged diplomatically with the Confederacy but withheld recognition. When the Union made slavery's abolition a central cause, European public opinion turned sharply against the South. History Matters US westward expansion—and the status of slavery in the new territories—was a major cause of the American Civil WarThe addition of new western lands forced the nation to confront whether slavery would spread beyond the South. Each debate over the admission of a new state sharpened the divide between free and slaveholding regions. US History Scene Fracking originated in the American Civil WarAfter witnessing how artillery created fissures in narrow water channels, a Civil War veteran wondered if the process could be replicated in underground wells to extract oil. He patented an "exploding torpedo" for this purpose, which became the foundation for future fracking techniques. American Oil & Gas Historical Society 37 maps that explain the American Civil WarThis collection of 37 maps tells the story of the American Civil War as well as any historical account. See how and where the war began and why, and where the major battles were fought. Discover how the North achieved victory and the many ways the war changed America forever. Vox How the peach became Georgia's fruit, though it makes fewer than other statesAfter the Civil War, the state sought to redefine its agricultural traditions away from slave-dependent cotton. One innovator, Samuel Rumph, crossed two breeds of peach, resulting in the Elberta, which could travel farther without spoiling. The state embraced this delicious identity to transcend its earlier reputation. Vox Abolitionists shaped American history from the Revolution to the Civil WarAbolitionists of all backgrounds organized against slavery from the founding era onward. Historian Manisha Sinha argues that their decades of activism fundamentally shaped American democracy and made emancipation possible. Learn about political conventions held before the Civil War by Black Americans to organize for civil rightsBeginning in 1830, free Black men and women across the US and Canada held "Colored Conventions"—state and national political meetings that served as a cornerstone of 19th-century Black organizing for civil and human rights. Listen to firsthand accounts of how Black Americans fought to end slavery and shape ReconstructionThis podcast explores the actions of Black Americans who fought for freedom before, during, and after the Civil War—highlighting their key role in abolition and the Reconstruction era. In 1882, American Express began offering money orders to compete with the US Postal ServiceMoney orders were American Express' first move into financial services. USPS launched its money order service in 1864 as a way for Civil War soldiers to send money back home. Between the 1880s and 1920s, immigration into the United States surged;the American Express money order service gave immigrants a way to send money to family members living in other countries. The ACLU was founded in 1920 in direct response to the suppression of speech during World War IThe mass arrest and prosecution of anti-war activists, socialists, and immigrants under the Espionage and Sedition Acts prompted a group of civil libertarians to form the American Civil Liberties Union to defend constitutional rights. EBSCO Sojourner Truth's 'Aint I a Woman?' speech addressed the disparity between the treatment of white and black women in AmericaTruth, a former slave, delivered the address acknowledging both abolition and the treatment of women at a Women's Convention in 1851. She is believed to have spoken with little to no preparation beforehand. Different versions of the speech exist, as there is no officially published version. National Park Service Zora Neale Hurston used her anthropological training to interview a man who had survived the slave tradeThe writer's interviews with Cudjo Lewis documented the man's enslavement and travel from Africa to the United States. It also captured the story behind Africatown, a community in Alabama that emerged after the Emancipation Proclamation. Hurston's book was not published during her lifetime, though it was finally released in 2018 as "Barracoon: The Story of the Last 'Black Cargo.'" Bibliology Early American citizenship was defined inconsistently by individual statesThe original US Constitution did not define national citizenship, leaving it to the states to apply their own rules. This led to inconsistent and often exclusionary standards across the country until after the Civil War. National Constitution Center Hear the stories of Black congressmen who served during ReconstructionThis podcast explores the Black congressmen of the 1870s, like Hiram R. Revels and Joseph Rainey, many of whom were born into slavery and symbolized the hope of a more racially equal post-Civil War America. The election of 1868 cemented power and support for Radical ReconstructionIn the first presidential election after the Civil War, Republican Ulysses S. Grant defeated Democrat Horatio Seymour. President Andrew Johnson, deeply unpopular with both parties, was denied renomination. Grant's victory reflected Northern support for Reconstruction. American Battlefield Trust Paul Robeson was the Harlem Renaissance's chief renaissance manRobeson played many roles throughout his life: He was an All-American football player who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, earned a law degree while playing in the NFL, starred in numerous films and Broadway shows, and became an outspoken advocate for labor and civil rights. His vocal criticism of US involvement in the Korean War led to his passport being voided and a protracted struggle with the US government. Rutgers University HH Richardson developed the Romanesque architectural styleThe Richardsonian Romanesque style, which the architect developed during the 19th century, blended the Roman and Renaissance arches found in France with the pointed arches of Victorian Gothic. Below is a fountain designed by Richardson honoring Detroit's 16th governor. JSTOR Daily Hamilton has appeared on US paper currency since the Civil WarSince the US began printing money in 1861, Alexander Hamilton has appeared at different times on the $5, $2, $20, $50, $500, and $1000 bills. Since 1928, he has remained on the $10 bill—making him, alongside Benjamin Franklin, one of the two non-presidents currently on US currency. Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History The first recorded American Mardi Gras was in AlabamaFrench explorers observed celebrations in what would become the United States in the late 1600s, but the first recognized modern American Mardi Gras took place in Mobile, Alabama, on New Year's Eve, running from 1830 into 1831. By 1840, the town had incorporated costumes, masks, and themes into its parade. After the Civil War, Mobile's Mardi Gras was moved to the more traditional date of Fat Tuesday. By 1850, a group from Mobile migrated to New Orleans, bringing the city's traditions with it. Encyclopedia of Alabama View animated battle maps from every major skirmish of the warThe American Battlefield Trust's animated maps trace every major Civil War battle with moving troop lines, narration, and historical context—bringing the strategies, turning points, and human cost of the war to life. American Battlefield Trust See rare Civil War photographs preserved by the National ArchivesThe Civil War was the first major American conflict documented by a camera, with its images distributed widely to the public. The National Archives' digital collection offers thousands of original Civil War images: portraits, battlefields, hospitals, and everyday life. National Archives Lincoln's Gettysburg Address became one of the most famous speeches in American historyDelivered by Lincoln on Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of a national cemetery, the 272-word Gettysburg Address reframed the war as a struggle for equality. The speech would be cited as a moral touchstone for later movements such as women's suffrage and civil rights. Ken Burns Bills passed during the Civil War shaped postwar AmericaDespite the war with the South, Congress passed transformative laws like the Homestead Act and the Morrill Land-Grant College Act, which encouraged westward settlement and expanded higher education. Minneapolis Federal Reserve The Civil War introduced many technological advances to both society and warfareThe conflict accelerated innovations—including railroads, telegraphs, ironclad ships, and mass-produced weapons—while advances in photography, medicine, and manufacturing transformed how Americans communicated, healed, and built after the war. ThoughtCo The Civil War was the deadliest conflict in American historyBetween 1861 and 1865, an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers died from battle and disease—more than in all other US wars combined. American Battlefield Trust Hughes reported on Black Americans volunteering in the Spanish Civil WarIn 1937, the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper sent him to cover the Black soldiers who’d left the US to fight in the International Brigades cooperating with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Hughes’ dispatches mainly focused on the racially integrated military companies, something that was prohibited in the US. Literary Hub Watch Ken Burns' documentary series on the American RevolutionIn "The American Revolution," filmmaker Ken Burns presents the conflict as both a global war and a civil war, telling its story through the lives of soldiers, civilians, enslaved people, Native nations, and international allies. PBS Mapping fiction's imagined breakdowns of the US after apocalypsePost-apocalyptic fiction in the US is at least a century old, and how the future is envisioned reflects contemporary anxieties and divisions. This piece examines the various creative maps birthed from the tradition from Jack London's 1912 "The Scarlet Plague," a pandemic novel set in 2073, through Stephen King's "The Stand", dystopian "The Hunger Games," and visions of civil war. Big Think The Pearl Harbor attack led to the mass internment of Japanese AmericansIn the months after Pearl Harbor, the US forcibly removed and incarcerated about 120,000 Japanese Americans—two-thirds of them citizens. Driven by fear and racism, the policy is now recognized as a grave violation of civil rights. Densho: Japanese American Incarceration and Japanese Internment The 20th-century rise of fascism affected the World CupSpain, in the midst of a civil war, did not participate, and Japan, after invading China, pulled out of the competition. An additional six Central and North American teams scratched by the time that year's World Cup began. Literary Hub US military professionalism gave America a decisive edge in the warThe professionalism and engineering expertise of West Point–trained officers—like Grant, Lee, and Meade—gave the US a major advantage in the Mexican-American War, helping them win every major battle. Smithsonian Magazine The Mexican-American War trained future Civil War generalsMany key military leaders of the Civil War—including Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson—first saw combat in the Mexican-American War, gaining battlefield experience that shaped their later commands. ThoughtCo The Mexican-American War led to the birth of the Associated PressTo cover the distant war efficiently, rival New York newspapers pooled resources to share reports from the front—forming what became the Associated Press. The war marked a turning point in how Americans received real-time news about foreign conflicts. Zócalo Public Square Learn how Mexico’s anti-slavery stance shaped the US–Texas conflictHistorian Alice Baumgartner explores how Mexico’s abolition of slavery clashed with Anglo settlers' ambitions in Texas. The episode reveals how enslaved people fled south to freedom, reshaping the politics that led to Texas independence and the Mexican-American War. Texas Public Radio Mexico admired Lincoln for opposing the war and supporting Mexican sovereigntyAs a congressman, Abraham Lincoln condemned the Mexican-American War as unjust. Years later, as president, he backed Mexico’s fight against French occupation. His principled stance earned enduring respect and monuments across Mexico. Smithsonian Magazine The Compromise of 1850 tried to settle disputes over land gained from MexicoTerritory acquired in the Mexican-American War reignited fierce debates over slavery’s expansion. The Compromise of 1850 aimed to ease tensions by admitting California as a free state and letting other territories decide the issue—but the compromise ultimately failed and helped pave the way to the Civil War. Encyclopedia Britannica The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo forced Mexico to surrender over half its territorySigned in 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war but came at a steep cost for Mexico—ceding 55% of its territory, including California and the Southwest, in exchange for $15 million and vague promises to protect Mexican residents. HISTORY Thoreau’s 'Civil Disobedience' was largely a protest against the Mexican-American WarHenry David Thoreau refused to pay taxes that funded what he saw as an unjust war waged to expand slavery. His act of protest inspired his famous essay Civil Disobedience, a foundational text for nonviolent resistance. The School of Life President Polk deliberately provoked war with MexicoAfter Mexico refused to sell California and New Mexico, President James K. Polk ordered US troops into disputed territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande—knowing it would likely spark a conflict. When fighting broke out, he used it to justify declaring war. HISTORY Was disease the biggest killer in the Civil War?Diseases like dysentery, typhus, and malaria killed nearly two-thirds of those who died during the US Civil War. Living conditions and certain medical practices made the impact of illness even worse. Stanford's Kathryn Olivarius explains why disease was so much worse than combat in historical conflicts. American History Hotline New Deal programs still shape mandatory federal spending todayMany of the largest items in today's federal budget—especially mandatory programs—trace their origins to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. This podcast explores how those policies reshaped federal spending and government responsibility. This is Democracy Podcast The national debt is the total amount the US government owes its creditorsThis US Treasury page explains what the national debt is, how it accumulates from annual deficits, and why rising debt can affect interest costs, fiscal flexibility, and long-term economic stability. Treasury.gov Poet Oliver Wendell wrote an unofficial fifth verse for the anthemFrancis Scott Key’s version features four verses, though only one is usually performed. American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote an additional fifth verse during the Civil War, lamenting the country’s internal division. NPR An archive of some of America's most significant shipwrecksFrom The Portland—known as New England's "Titanic"—to the Civil War's USS Monitor, this archive from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides overviews of some of the most well-known shipwrecks in US history. National Marine Sanctuaries The food took root with Black Americans in the Civil War eraBecause the technique requires little equipment and can tenderize tough or undesirable cuts of meat like ribs, barbecue took root among impoverished Black Americans in the late 1800s. When these communities moved north during the Great Migration, barbecue followed. Schnitzel & Stories The US officially adopted an income tax in 1913The US first levied income taxes during the Civil War, but modern income taxes became an American fixture in 1913. Two years earlier, Congress passed the 16th Amendment to give the government the right to tax individuals' and businesses' income. The US still technically levies the same federal income tax now as it did then—though it's evolved. Investopedia Throughout most of the 1800s, US currency was backed by silver and goldIn post-Civil War America, the government moved to use only the gold standard. This was how US currency was backed for decades in the US. You can read a comprehensive explainer on the gold standard and its history in the US to learn more. Investopedia Ginsberg's 'Howl' portrayed people outside the American mainstreamThe poem’s portraits of people on society's fringes—including vivid descriptions of drug use, psychiatric wards, and homosexuality—led to its seizure by US Customs agents and the arrest of its publisher Ferlinghetti. The American Civil Liberties Union defended both in a landmark trial that ruled the book was not obscene. NPR Mail-in voting has been used in US elections since the Civil WarAmericans have cast mail-in ballots for more than a century, but COVID-19 greatly expanded their use. Modern systems track ballots and often require signature verification, increasing access while maintaining election security. California Institute of Technology The real stories behind America's national parksThe history and impact of national parks is complex. The authors of "Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and The National Park Idea" curated this list of nonfiction books examining American national parks from a variety of perspectives. Literary Hub

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